He used a system of circles to show how the planets moved. Ptolemy, a Roman who lived and worked in Egypt, tried to solve this problem in 140 CE. If everything in space went around the Earth this didn't make sense. The main issue is that planets sometimes seem to move backwards across the sky. It also explained why planets seem to move faster than stars in the night sky. This belief seemed to explain why stars look like they move around the Earth once a day. This idea is called the geocentric model which means Earth-centred. The ancient Greeks thought the Earth was the centre of the Universe. Her tables listing the positions of the stars were used for the next 1200 years. This plotted the positions of stars in the night sky. She designed a machine, known as an astrolabe. In 400 CE Hypatia was the one of the world's leading mathematicians and astronomers. He was also the first to measure the distance to the Moon. You can try out his experiment yourself on the summer solstice! Hipparchus was the first person to record the wobble of the Earth as it spins on its axis. Eratosthenes first worked out the distance around the Earth (it's circumference) in 240 BCE. The ancient Greeks also did a lot of work in astronomy and maths. Here some of the first dedicated spaces were set up to study the night sky. Today, this area of the world is in Iraq and Syria. The first sky maps were made around 1000 BCE by the Assyro-Babylonians. It was very useful for planning when to plant crops, or for finding your way. This information was used to make calendars and measure time. Using what was known about the positions of stars, eclipses, and Moon phases star maps were made. They have looked at the movement of the stars and the changes of the Sun and Moon. People have looked to the skies for thousands of years. Our ideas about the Solar System and space have changed over time.
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