Search Results
| Search type | Search syntax |
|---|---|
| Tags | [tag] |
| Exact | "words here" |
| Author |
user:1234 user:me (yours) |
| Score |
score:3 (3+) score:0 (none) |
| Answers |
answers:3 (3+) answers:0 (none) isaccepted:yes hasaccepted:no inquestion:1234 |
| Views | views:250 |
| Code | code:"if (foo != bar)" |
| Sections |
title:apples body:"apples oranges" |
| URL | url:"*.example.com" |
| Saves | in:saves |
| Status |
closed:yes duplicate:no migrated:no wiki:no |
| Types |
is:question is:answer |
| Exclude |
-[tag] -apples |
| For more details on advanced search visit our help page | |
Results tagged with astronomy
Search options answers only
not deleted
user 364
The study of celestial objects and phenomena outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
3
votes
When did humans realize that there is no air on the Moon?
You could also ask when people decided that there was air on Earth. The concept of “air”, as opposed to “wind”, is a relatively advanced (and relatively abstract) notion, which probably came up at abo …
- 3,545
5
votes
Why didn't Aristarchus' theory of Heliocentrism stick?
Alexandre has given a very good answer to this question, but I have some remarks about his conclusion:
“To conclude, there was no real reason in antiquity to prefer the heliocentric system in compari …
- 3,545
24
votes
Accepted
Who first measured the distance to the Moon? How was it done?
It happened long before Newton. In the second century BC Hipparchus used lunar parallax to calculate a value for the minimum and maximum distance of the earth and moon. His results are very close to t …
- 3,545
2
votes
Why did Greek Olympic games take place every fourth year?
The estimate of the length of the tropical year and the synodic month by Meton, Hipparchus and others has no bearing on the system of four-year Olympiads. The use of a 365-day year with a leap day eve …
- 3,545
1
vote
Were people in the ancient or medieval times aware of how exactly a solar year is equal to a...
These values were adopted by Ptolemy and became “common knowledge” among people who were interested in astronomy, whether in the Greek world, or in the Islamic world, or even in Western Europe. …
- 3,545
7
votes
What is the historical basis for the length of a year?
The ancients distinguished two separate motions of the sun. On the one hand, the sun and all the stars seem to rotate around the Earth from East to West once every day. This was explained by the daily …
- 3,545
5
votes
When was the issue of time zones at different longitudes first described?
This is an interesting question because the answer depends on how you actually conceptualise time. In the ancient world, the usual system of time keeping involved “seasonal hours”. This means that the …
- 3,545
0
votes
Does Heliocentrism predate Copernicus?
As the other answers have stated, the heliocentric model goes back to Aristarchus, but it had no followers in the Middle Ages, whether in Christendom or in Islam. Some Indian (e.g. Aryabhatta) and Mus …
- 3,545
0
votes
Why does the start of the calendar year not correspond to a natural event?
There are calendars where the New Year does correspond with a “natural” (or more specifically: astronomical) event. In luni-solar calendars (Babylonian, Ancient Greek, Chinese, Jewish, Indian etc.) th …
- 3,545