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3 votes
1 answer
533 views

Numbers 80 to 85 in Ancient Astronomy

Do any numbers in between 80 and 85 (or thereabouts) hold any relatively important or relatively obvious meaning in ancient astronomy ? A few clarifications: By ancient I mean related to human ...
Lucian's user avatar
  • 109
6 votes
1 answer
426 views

How were the orbits of planets first mapped out?

I'd like to know how the orbits of planets were first 'mapped out' and to understand the maths behind it. e.g. How do we know what position in space a planet will be at certain time so that spacecraft ...
Ross's user avatar
  • 61
9 votes
2 answers
470 views

Why didn't Johannes Kepler use data about more planets?

In Astronomia Nova (1609) Johannes Kepler used observations of Mars in order to refute circular orbits. Throughout Astronomia Nova he hardly even mentions other celestial objects than Mars, Earth and ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
  • 11.4k
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was the progress of astronomy in the 1800s surprisingly slow, and if so why? [closed]

The 1800's was a century of fantastic scientific discoveries in chemistry, geology, biology, engineering and so on. Is it correct to say that astronomy did not keep up with this development? And if ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
  • 11.4k
5 votes
1 answer
3k views

How did Copernicus get the idea of heliocentric model?

The heliocentric model marked the beginning of modern astronomy. But what were the reasons which led Copernicus to think that the earth orbited the sun. I've read that his model was based on ...
Yashbhatt's user avatar
  • 738