Astronomy: The Size, Composition, and Surface Features of the Planets Orbiting the Sun

Product Description

As long as there have been people on Earth, they have looked at the sky and observed the motions of the planets, wondering about the significance of the planets that traversed the sky. Many earlier civilizations endowed the distant planets with mystical or religious significance, and a number of ancient civilizations carefully tracked the motion of the planets and created systems based on their movement to mark the passing of time. For instance, the ancient Maya tracked not only the movement of the Sun and Moon but also that of Venus and Jupiter. And it was in 2136 BC in ancient China that the first eclipse of the Sun was recorded.