astronomy

Term: astronomy

Literally meaning: “law(or order)  of the stars”

Origin: Anc Greek

ἄστρον/astron(=star, flame)

+νόμος/nomos(=division, law) > νέμω/nemo(=distribute, divide)

Coined/History

In early times, astronomy was related with  the observation of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye. All ancient cultures such Chinese  Egyptian and Greek civilization had myths and stories about universe creation.The Greeks was not the first culture with universe predictions and observations but their philosophers was widely distributed by the Romans ans consequently for hundreds of years. Eratosthenes of Cyrene ( c.276BC-c.195BC)  measured the circumference of the earth to within 3000 Km and Aristarchus of Samos (310BCE-ca.230BCE) first stated that earth revolves around the sun. There were also some cultures which used some structures like ancient calendars but we know little about this. Modern astronomy dates in Europe in about 1300 AD.

Definition

Astronomy is the science which deals with the universe such as position, motion and composition of stars and galaxies.