The need for more accurate measurements of the planets position in the sky is no longer essential

Students use metric measurement, including astronomical units (AU), to investigate the relative size and distance of the planets in our solar system. Then they use scale to model relative distance.

Educational Resources in Your Inbox

Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

Aaboe, A. 1980. Observation and theory in Babylonian astronomy. Centaurus 24: 14–35.
MathSciNet Article Google Scholar
Aaboe, A. 2001. Episodes from the early history of astronomy. Berlin: Springer.
Book MATH Google Scholar
Aaboe, A., and A.J. Sachs. 1966. Some dateless computed lists of longitudes of characteristic planetary phenomena from the late-Babylonian period. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 20: 1–33.

MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Aaboe, A., and A.J. Sachs. 1969. Two lunar texts of the achaemenid period from Babylon. Centaurus 14: 1–22.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Aaboe, A., Britton, J.P., Henderson, J.A., Neugebauer, O. and Sachs, A.J. 1991, Saros cycle dates and related Babylonian astronomical texts, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 81, part 6.
Brack-Bernsen, L., and H. Hunger. 1999. The Babylonian zodiac: Speculations on its invention and significance. Centaurus 41: 280–292.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Brack-Bernsen, L. and Hunger, H. 2005/6, On the atypical astronomical cuneiform text E. Archiv für Orientforschung 51, 96–107.
Britton, J.P. 1998. Planetary theory in Babylon. Journal for the History of Astronomy 29: 381–385.
Article Google Scholar
Britton, J.P. 2002. Treatments of annual phenomena in cuneiform sources. In Under one sky: Astronomy and mathematics in the ancient near east, vol. 297, ed. J.M. Steele and A. Imhausen, 21–78., Alter Orient und Altes Testament Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.
Google Scholar
Britton, J.P. 2010. Studies in Babylonian lunar theory: Part III. The introduction of the uniform zodiac. Archive for the History of Exact Sciences 64: 617–663.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
de Jong, T. 2007. Astronomical dating of the rising star list in MUL.APIN. Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 97: 107–120.
Google Scholar
de Jong, T. 2012. Babylonian observations of venus: Arcus visionis, atmospheric extinction and observational practice. Journal for the History of Astronomy 43: 391–409.

Article Google Scholar
de Jong, T. 2017. On the origin of the lunar and solar periods in Babylonian lunar theory. In Studies on the ancient exact sciences in honour of Lis Brack-Bernsen, ed. J.M. Steele and M. Ossendrijver, 105–126. Berlin: Springer.
Google Scholar
Gray, J.M.K., and J.M. Steele. 2008. Studies on Babylonian goal–year astronomy I, A comparison between planetary data in goal–year texts, almanacs and normal star almanacs. Archive for the History of Exact Sciences 62: 553–600.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Hoffleit, D., and C. Jaschek. 1991. The bright star catalogue. New Haven: Yale University.
Google Scholar
Hollywood, L., and J.M. Steele. 2004. Acronycal risings in Babylonian astronomy. Centaurus 46: 145–162.
Article Google Scholar
Huber, P. 1957. Zur täglichen Bewegung des Jupiter nach babylonischen Texten. Zeitschrift für Assyriologie and vorderasiatischen Archeologie 52: 265–303.
Google Scholar
Huber, P. 1958. Über den Nullpunkt der babylonischen Ekliptik. Centaurus 5: 192–208.
Article Google Scholar
Huber, P. 2011. The astronomical basis of Egyptian chronology of the second millennium BC. Journal of Egyptian History 4: 172–227.
Article Google Scholar
Hunger, H., and D. Pingree. 1999. Astral sciences in mesopotamia. Leiden: Brill.

Book Google Scholar
Hunger, H., Sachs, A.J. and Steele, J.M. 2001, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. V: Lunar and Planetary Texts, Vienna (ADRT V).
Hunger, H. and Sachs, A.J. 2006, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. VI: Goal–Year Texts, Vienna (ADRT VI).
Hunger, H. and Sachs, A.J. 2014, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. VII: Almanacs and Normal Star Almanacs, Vienna (ADRT VII).
Jones, A. 2004. A study of Babylonian observations of planets near normal. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 58: 475–536.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Neugebauer, O. 1955. Astronomical cuneiform texts, vol. 3. London: ACT.
Book MATH Google Scholar
Neugebauer, O. 1975. A history of ancient mathematical astronomy, vol. 3. Berlin: HAMA.
Book MATH Google Scholar
Neugebauer, O., and A.J. Sachs. 1967. Some atypical astronomical cuneiform texts. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 21: 183–217.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Ossendrijver, M. 2011. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy. Berlin: Procedure Texts.
MATH Google Scholar
Pedersen, O. 1974. A survey of the almagest. Odense: Odense University.
MATH Google Scholar
Rochberg, F. 2004. The heavenly writing: Divination, horoscopy, and astronomy in mesopotamian culture. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Book Google Scholar
Roughton, N.A., J.M. Steele, and C.B.F. Walker. 2004. A late Babylonian normal and Ziqpu star text. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 58: 537–572.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
Sachs, A.J. 1952. A late Babylonian star catalog. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 6: 146–150.
Article Google Scholar
Sachs, A.J. and Hunger, H. 1988, 1989, 1996, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia,Vols. I, II and III, Vienna (ADRT I–III).
Simon, J.L., P. Bretagnon, J. Chapront, M. Chapront-Touzé, G. Francou, and J. Laskar. 1994. Numerical expressions for precession formulae and mean elements for the Moon and planets. Astronomy & Astrophysics 282: 663–683.
Google Scholar
Swerdlow, N.M. 1998. The Babylonian theory of the planets. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Book Google Scholar
Swerdlow, N.M. 1999. Acronychal risings in Babylonian planetary theory. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 54: 49–65.
MathSciNet Article MATH Google Scholar
van der Waerden, B.L. 1974. Science awakening II: The birth of astronomy. Groningen: Springer.
Book Google Scholar