ASTR 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Egyptian Astronomy, Celestial Pole, Astronomical Object
Document Summary
From these patterns, they were able to determine the time of lunar phases and the times when planets would be in opposition. One of the main reasons that the babylonians were interested in the positions of celestial objects was their interest in astrology. The babylonians believed that the influence of the sun, Moon, and planets extended to natural events, such as floods and earthquakes. It became important to them to predict the positions of celestial objects in order to forecast natural events that might have considerable effects on political and military affairs. Eventually the babylonians developed mathematical descriptions of planetary motions. They were able to express the position of a planet as the sum of a series of regular cycles, which took different lengths of time to complete. The babylonians used mathematical expressions to produce almanacs that, like our own almanacs, gave the positions of the planets for key dates, such as the beginning of the month.
