Astronomy is the scientific study of objects and phenomena beyond the earth's atmosphere by means other than visiting them or sending probes. The history of astronomy is the study of the development of astronomy from the earliest written records to somewhere very near the present time.
Astrology is not astronomy, but it did play a role in the development of astronomy. Babylonian astrologers' determination of the positions of stars may be found here, their study of the effects of those positions on human affairs will not.
The history of the scientific search for extra-terrestrial intelligence may be found here. UFOs visiting earth will not.
This category is not limited to Western astronomy. The written history of other astronomical traditions will be listed here.
Atlas of the heavens as seen by the astronomers of the time of its 1661 printing: Copernicus, Ptolemy, Brahe, and Aratus. Entire book has been digitized and the images may be browsed or searched. www.lib.utah.edu/digital/cellarius.html
The oldest exact astronomic constant? The ratio of earth rotations to lunar orbits in Aryabhata's AD 498 writing. www.jqjacobs.net/astro/aryabhata.html
Announcements of discussions (in Oakland, California), open to the public, on various astronomy history topics, and an archive of past discussions nchalada.org
Frederik Kaiser (1808-1872) and the professionalisation of Dutch astronomy; The "Lost Letters" of J.C. Kapteyn (1851-1922); Many history of astronomy and history of science links with a Dutch flavour. www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~heijden/history.html
Tutorial/historical exposition of the motion of Earth in space, Newtonian mechanics and spaceflight, on a high school level. www.phy6.org/stargaze/Sintro.htm
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