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Prehistory

• How old are the earliest astronomical structures known?
• Why did ancient sites have circular stone arrangements?
• What is Stonehenge?
• Why was it important for ancient civilizations to mark
  the directions where astronomical objects rise and set?
• How can we use astronomy to find out when seasons will change?
• Which astronomical site is the oldest one known?

The Classical Period: The Middle East, Greece, and Egypt

• What part of the world do we trace the earliest attempts to understand the Solar System to?
• What point of view did the ancient Greeks contribute to astronomy?
• Which ancient people first attempted to explain astronomical observations of planet motion?
• Why is Eratosthenes remembered in the history of Astronomy?
• Why is Aristarchus remembered in the history of Astronomy?
• What is the main assumption in a geocentric model of the Universe?
• What celestial objects were known from antiquity until the 16th century?
• Why did Aristotle conclude that the Earth did not revolve around the Sun?
• Which observed facts seem to support geocentric models?
• As the Earth is moving along its orbit, why don't we "feel" this motion?
• Why don't we feel a "wind" as the Earth moves through space?
• Why don't we see parallax in the stars as the Earth moves, without a telescope?
• Why were ancient astronomers trying to see stellar parallax?

Ptolemy and Retrograde Motion

• Why is Ptolemy important in the history of Astronomy? When did he live?
• What is the retrograde motion of Mars?
• How did geocentric models explain the retrograde motion of Mars?
• What is an epicycle?
• Why do we not believe in Ptolemy's model for the solar system today?

The Middle Ages

• How did the ancient Chinese contribute to astronomy?
• In what ways did the Arabs contribute to astronomy?