Our Place in Space

Our Place in Space — page 1 — Early Earthlings on a Scary Planet Imagine being one of the first people on Earth What would you think about the ground under your feet the sky above What are those bright objects in the night sky that seem to move and change And wow Why does that huge blinding orb that keeps you warm seem to disappear only to come back over and over again These natural mysteries outside a human’s control were treated in many ways throughout ancient history Most people thought various gods and goddesses controlled the mysteries around them 4

Our Place in Space — page 2 — An Astronomical Treasure The Nebra sky disk is believed to be one of the earliest records of astronomical observation The 12 inch 30 centimeter bronze disk was created sometime around 1600 BCE The 3,600-year-old disk discovered by amateur treasure hunters in Germany in 1999 features an intricate depiction of the sun moon and stars Native Americans were also drawing what they observed in the sky at about the same time The Nebra sky disk can be seen at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle Germany 5

Our Place in Space — page 3 — In ancient mythology various gods controlled the oceans In Greek mythology Poseidon was king of all the sea gods The king of the Roman seas was called Neptune Sumerian myths proclaimed that Amathaunta was the goddess of the oceans The sky became the heavens holding power over their very existence The oceans and tides were also powerful forces that commanded their respect The ancient Greeks worshipped Gaea their word for Mother Earth They believed that she created the universe The ancient peoples told many stories or myths describing these and other supernatural beings and their activities It was their way to explain what was going on in the world around them 6

Our Place in Space — page 4 — While most people tried to define the unknown as divine beings that ruled over their lives there were early scientists who wondered about these mysteries in other ways The earliest recorded scientists who tried to understand the mystery of the heavens were the Babylonians in 1600 BCE They studied the positions and movements of planets the moon and the stars recording their findings In the beginning these scientists suggested that the Earth was flat or cylindrical and surrounded by a cosmos Shaping Our Understanding Despite scientific evidence that Earth was a sphere by about 300 CE some early Christians decided this notion was a pagan absurdity It wasn’t until about a thousand years later that pretty much everyone was convinced that our planet was actually round This woodcut from 1475 illustrates the firmament or sky that people believed separated the Earth from the heavens or waters above it It is described in the Genesis creation narrative in the Hebrew Bible Christian Old Testament 7

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