Jonathan Powell from Cave Art to Hubble: a History of Astronomical Record Keeping Astronomers’ Universe

Jonathan Powell From Cave Art to Hubble: A History of Astronomical Record Keeping Astronomers’ Universe Series editor Martin Beech, Campion College, The University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6960 Jonathan Powell From Cave Art to Hubble A History of Astronomical Record Keeping Jonathan Powell Ebbw Vale, UK ISSN 1614-659X ISSN 2197-6651 (electronic) Astronomers' Universe ISBN 978-3-030-31687-7 ISBN 978-3-030-31688-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31688-4 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents 1. Introduction . 1 Recording the Night Sky . 1 A Landmark Day . 4 Forwards to the Past . 7 2. Cave Paintings That Recorded the Night Sky . 9 Primitive Artwork . 9 The Pictograph . 10 Knowledge of the Skies . 13 Gobekli Tepe . 14 Lascaux . 15 3. Other Ways the Ancients Kept Astronomical Records . 17 Ach Valley Tusk Fragment . 17 Nebra Sky Disc . 21 The Dendera Zodiac . 24 The Farnese Atlas . 27 4. The Astrolabe . 29 The Revolution in Depicting the Night Sky . 29 History of the Astrolabe . 30 Construction of the Astrolabe . 37 5. Supernovae . 39 Documenting Explosions in the Heavens . 39 The Supernova of 1054 . 41 Chinese and Japanese Records . 44 The Arab World . 47 Native American . 48 European and American . 53 vi Contents Other Records of Supernova . 58 RCW 86 ...................................... 58 SN 393....................................... 60 SN 1006...................................... 60 SN 1181...................................... 65 SN 1572...................................... 67 SN 1604...................................... 71 SN 1885A .................................... 76 SN 2003 fg.................................... 78 6. Mercury Transitions . 81 The Planet Mercury . 81 Early Observations of Mercury . 86 Transits of Mercury . 91 7. Mapping the Sky, From Shi Shen to Charles Messier . 93 The Greeks . 94 The Egyptians . 96 Ancient Chinese . 101 The Persians . 107 Europe . 111 Digital Age . 120 8. The 1639 Transit of Venus . 121 Earth’s Sister World . 121 Revising Kepler’s Rudolphine Tables . 125 Observation of the Transit . 128 9. Comets . 135 A Fiery Visitor . 135 Early Records . 135 The Chaldeans . 136 Chinese Astronomers . 136 Greek Astronomers . 141 The Middle Ages . 143 Early Modern Period . 144 Late Modern Period . 149 Comet of 1910 . 152 The Ultimate Recording Methodology? . 154 10. Astronomical Observatories . 163 A Dedicated Place to Observe the Skies . 163 Ground-Based Observatories . 164 Stonehenge ................................... 164 Wurdi Youang ................................. 166 Contents vii Goseck Circle ................................. 167 Kokino....................................... 168 Cheomseongdae ............................... 169 Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory .............. 173 Uraniborg Observatory.......................... 174 Paris Observatory .............................. 176 Royal Greenwich Observatory.................... 179 Radio Astronomy . 181 Observatories Above Earth . 184 The Future of Space Travel . 206 Gamma Ray, X-ray, and Infrared – Multi-Messenger Astronomy . 207 11. Fossils, Tree Rings, and Ice . 215 Mother Nature’s Records . 215 Fossils . 215 Tree Rings . 218 Solar Storms .................................. 220 Comet Impact or Supervolcano? .................. 224 Ice . 226 Antarctic Impacts . 229 Supernovae . 231 Glossary ��233 Index ��259 1. Introduction Recording the Night Sky Throughout history, the desire to document happenings and events has been an integral cornerstone in humankind’s advance- ment to acknowledge, understand, and preserve the very fiber of what the eye beholds, which in turn contributes to our ultimate survival and existence. This fiber remains intertwined between our past and present, with the present allowing our future selves to grow and nurture, learning from what past knowledge has been acquired. Without this kernel of guidance through documentation of the past, there would be no root from which to develop, no steer- ing wheel, no beam of light to shine forward into the enveloping darkness of an uncertain future. History is a vital link in an exten- sive chain that binds humankind, its thoughts, its reactions, and its judgements. This is in some cases a necessary evil but also, by the same token, both a positive attribute and ultimate tribute, the veritable recording of life’s tapestry, which in turn unfolds over time, revealing a picture whose sum total is greater than the indi- vidual mosaic-like artwork that forms it. From the seemingly simple artwork that adorns many cave walls throughout the world to the high-end spectrum of modern recording capabilities, the documenting of the night sky has created a catalog of our history on Earth, a history that generations of custodians have seen fit to record as an often-permanent record of their time on Earth. As much as fossils give vital clues to understanding the creatures that once roamed the land, artwork can yield very much the same results if looked upon and studied suf- ficiently. Interpretation is the key that unlocks the past. Let us not forget the number of times a species of which nobody knew the existence of is discovered, adding to the ever- increasing back catalog of animal life that lived on land, domi- nated the skies and swam in our oceans. Every time there is a new discovery, another part of the jigsaw is acquired – a jigsaw that will © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1 J. Powell, From Cave Art to Hubble, Astronomers’ Universe, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31688-4_1 2 1. Introduction probably never be completed, as new finds add an extra dimen- sion to our understanding, changing our perceptions, as much as they deepen and enhance our knowledge of the past. It might once have been said of early cave art and engravings, that these were – simple cave drawings by a primitive and intellectually deficient collection of our human ancestors. Perhaps at first this may well have been the way in which such findings were viewed, but as the decades have passed, new light has been thrown on the cave drawings, a light that has shone beyond the ignorance and often arrogance of a society that at the time was possibly too quick to dismiss, too hasty in judging, and ultimately wrong in determin- ing the meaning behind such work, and those who created it. A precedent exists for not being as dismissive as those who went before us, as such simple drawings can in fact reveal much more than initial viewing may suggest. It is hard to believe that as the decades pass, ground-breaking advances in many areas of science will not continue and, in retrospect, the discover- ies of today merely serve as the notches of forward progression towards a better way of understanding, a fresher way of com- prehending, and a simpler and more satisfying way of conquer- ing that which serves to halt progress most – in many cases, humankind itself. Many years from now, what we believe to be cutting-edge will be so dated and antiquated that our future selves to may look back with bafflement as to why what seems so obvious at that point didn’t seem so in the past. Fundamentally, this applies to cave art and the causal link between the intellectual level and rea- son the drawings were made by the people who made them, and the actuality and reality that have been bestowed amongst our ancient relations. Although modern technology used to record the sky is ultimately more comprehensive, more intense, with possibly for some an elitist edge that precludes everyone’s involvement, and cave art perhaps a more collective endeavor, the parallels between the two forms are unequivocally linked. From Cave Art to Hubble attempts to address all the vari- ous methods used to record the night sky throughout history. Although the book strives to cover the array of potential documenting applications, be it in the form of art, the work of a scribe, or one who weaves patterns on

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