Somewhere in the process of studying the heavens, the concept evolved that the configurations and actions of the celestial bodies absolutely affected human destinies and were symbols in the heavens’ from which inevitable events could be foretold. If an eclipse occurred or a comet appeared at the time of the demise of a great king or governmental leader, or when coincidentally with a remarkable divine event, some plague, flash flood, or drought indisposed the people, these sky and earth occurrences were apt to be regarded as effects and causes. Such people as the primitive Egyptians made creative tales that linked the yearly flooding of the Nile with the planets of the heavens.

The early people observed the stars on clear nights, devising a godlike power there, and they selected certain collections of stars, which they named after the champions of their stories, and after customary animals. After many ages of observing the Moon , planets, Sun, and constellations, ancient peoples learned to distinguish and predict patterns. The world’s first calendars were firmly established on the phases of the Moon. Sky watchers perceived that between two full Moons there were occasionally 29 days and other times 30 days. The year could be assorted in 12 “moonths,” adding up to about 354 days. For a small number of years this lunar calendar would work well, but each yearly period ended 11 days to soon! So after about eight years, the lunar calendar would be about three months in front of the seasons.

In Egypt, flourishing crops depended on the Nile’s yearly flood. After calculating time in lunar months for thousands of years, the Egyptians perfected a more accurate calendar with the aid of a star. Astronomers perceived that shortly before the Nile reached flood stage every year, the star Sirius appeared on the horizon just prior to dawn. This observation helped them save the lunar calendar in stride by adding extra months. By 2800 BC, Egypt had firmly incorporated a 365-day year.

By observing the Sun’s rising point on the horizon every morning, ancient astronomers discovered that the point relocated each day. In the summer it moves its way a fraction farther south each morning. In the winter it moves its way back near the north again. June 21 distinguishes the Sun’s most northern point dubbed the summer solstice. Some ancient monuments were arranged to pinpoint that day: At Stonehenge, England, the Sun rose above a stone marker. Within the circle of stone blocks, inhabitants probably held ceremonies to honor the sunrise and to implore for a season of good crops.

The origin of Astronomy and astrology has common roots. The early development of Astronomy was devoted to the difficultes of the determination of the seasons and the calendar. Today, astrology is commonly taken to foreordain the fate of a person, as resolved by the planets at the instant of his or her birth. Horoscopes were not feasible until the discovery and use of methods for deciding the positions in the sky of the planets. Astronomers of later days were accountable in their investigations to the observations made and written by these primitive astrologers-astronomers.

The first phenomena to be famed would be the regularly repetitious dawn, sunset, daylight, sunrise , twilight, and night. Next to the calculation of a day thus supposing, the month would be incorporated as related to the Moons’ phases. In moderate regions the first astronomical perception might have been the inconstant length of a day of the route of the Sun at rising and setting. Amid the brightest stars, Mercury, Mars, Venus , Jupiter, and Saturn were soon renowned to be moving in the Zodiac with random positions. The name planet ( from the Greek word, planetes, a wanderer ) was later bestowed to them because of the alternating of periods.

The contrasted groups of stars that humankind named after their heroes and well recognized animals were called constellations. Forty-eight appointed constellations that we use today have derived from extremely ancient times.

Ideas about the universe in the great civilizations around 1000 BC were straightforward : The Earth is flat and covered by a enormous dome carrying the stars. The Babylonians theorized that the Earth floated on a huge ocean. The Chinese and the Egyptians believed the Earth to be cube shaped.