No one knows for sure how or when astronomy began. Perhaps a shooting star attracted the attention of an observant cave man and he began to study the sky in search of answers. Perhaps a lost hunter followed the setting sun towards his home and then was able to keep traveling when he realized that a star in the sky was shining steadily in the same direction. However, although we do not know who the first stargazer was, we do know quite a bit about early astronomy.

Hundreds of years ago, people began to look to the night sky for answers to a wide range of problems. While few people today think of astrology as being a scientific part of astronomy, many early astronomers considered it to be one of the main purposes of stargazing. They would spend hours studying the stars as they attempted to create accurate predictions about the future. These people were careful to keep accurate notes on their observations. Other astronomers studied the stars to tell time or to decide on the best locations for their homes. Still others worshiped the stars or created religions that centered on the night sky. These early astronomers were located in a wide range of places, but the most well known were the Mayans and the Chinese.

As civilizations advanced, astronomy became more advanced, as well. The early Greeks were fascinated with the night sky. They began to map out the stars. As they studied the sky, they began to identify constellations and gave many of them names. The Greeks believed that many of the stars and constellations were actually gods or goddesses. Surprisingly enough, with all of the advances astronomy has made since this time, these names are still used to identify the stars. We are fortunate that while much of the world was in chaos during the Dark Ages, Arabic people became fascinated by astronomy. They studied the work of the Greeks and actually translated much of it into Arabic, preserving it from complete destruction.

As the Dark Ages finally ended, Europeans once more became interested in astronomy. Despite their careful study of the sky, most people thought everything revolved around the earth. They even thought the earth was the center of our Solar System. However, a man names Copernicus had a radical new theory. He announced that his observations had led him to believe that the Sun was actually in the Solar System's center. He developed a set of rules for the Solar System that is still being used today, the Three Laws of Planetary Motion. Many people consider this to be the start of modern astronomy.

Soon after this, the next great stride in astronomy appeared when Hans Lippershey invented a telescope. Hans did not use his invention to gaze at the stars. However, his telescope excited Galileo, who realized that it would enable him to see more of the heavens than anyone had ever seen. Galileo worked to improve the telescope and began to use it to explore the sky in the early 1600's. He became the first astronomer to use a telescope to view the stars. He discovered that the Milky Way was actually made up of many stars and that the moon had craters and mountains on its surface. Even more exciting for him was his discovery of Jupiter's moons. He found that they did not revolve around the Sun. Since everyone thought everything in the Solar System revolved around the Sun ever since Copernicus developed his Three Laws of Planetary Motion, this was exciting news for astronomers.

As telescopes grew stronger, people continued to make new discoveries about the sky. However, they still had much to learn. They weren't sure if the Milky Way was only one of many galaxies or if the other galaxies they saw were just large stars. They didn't know any planets existed outside of our Solar System. In fact, they didn't even know how many planets we had in the Solar System. As late as the 1990's, we were still learning that astronomers were mistaken about theories that had been considered true for centuries. Perhaps some day in the future, we will look back on astronomy and say that the true beginning of astronomy was in the twentieth century.