The heritage of ancient Iranian astronomy

Safaei Iraj, University of Kashan Observatory -UKO

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Abstract

In this article we discuss briefly the influence of Iran’s ancient astronomy on rest of the world from four aspects. One aspect is the mythology, where a number of symbols and rich cultural heritage can be found in the astronomy in the world. The second aspect are the measurements and the calculations, where Iranian astronomers not only invented many of the most important ancient instruments, but also made remarkable observations of their time, which remained unsurpassed until optical instruments were available. In this section we briefly present some of these ancient instruments. Third aspect is the daily life applications of astronomy, where in examples like calendar, the utmost possible precision was used. The fourth aspect is astrology or the interpretation of stars, which although has lost the scientific basis, but its deeper and hidden concepts can be revealed in a closer look. At last we take a look on the impact of the invention of modern optical instruments of the man’s current approach to astronomy, and the current stance of Iranian astronomy in the world

Presented by Safaei, Iraj; International Tusi Conference on Astrophysics, 23-25 May, 2009, Maragha, Iran.