01.05.2023 Views

Constellations Thesis Book by Nesrin Zidan

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

...

122

The 48 constellations originally

listed by Ptolemy were expanded upon by

European astronomers and celestial cartographers

throughout the 16th and 17th

centuries AD; these additional constellations

were mostly “new discoveries” made

by the Europeans who first discovered

the southern hemisphere (The Constellations).

Because of the rise of the religious

influence of the church, in Europe, at this

time, the Middle Ages are typically seen

as a dark era for scientific knowledge and

advancement. The Middle East, however,

was the region that surpassed Greek advancements.

From the ninth through the

sixteenth centuries A.D., astronomy flourished

all over the Muslim world, including

the Arab states of the period, Persia, and

Central Asia.

As a result, during ancient astronomy’s

Golden Age, impressive astronomical

observatories were constructed in what

is now known as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Iran,

and Uzbekistan. Hundreds of stars and

constellations, including Altair, Deneb,

Vega, and Rigel, and lunar craters bearing

Muslim astronomers’ names, such as Alfraganus,

Albategnius, and Azophi, show

that Arabic astronomy is still influential

today (The History of Astronomy: A Timeline,

2019).

Modern astronomy in Europe

started to truly emerge during the Renaissance

period, with Copernicus’ publication

of his book “De Revolutionibus

Orbium Coelestium” in 1543 A.D., which

revived Aristrachus’ heliocentric theory

of the universe using actual backed data.

Moreover, Tycho Brahe made precise and

thorough observations of the locations of

the planets in 1576 AD to further support

the Copernican system’s superiority to the

Ptolemaic one.

After learning that the planets

orbit the Sun in an elliptical, rather than

a circular, manner, Johannes Kepler later

established his three laws of planetary

motion in 1605 A.D. The invention of the

refractor telescope by Dutch eyeglasses

manufacturer Hans Lippershey in 1608

A.D. marks the beginning of observational

equipment designed for astronomical

purposes.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!