Sources
The texts in which people watched, computed and explained the planets turning back, from Babylonian tablets to the modern meme, and where to read each one.
Sources44
Earliest · Venus Tablet of Ammiṣaduqac. 1700–1550 BCE
Myths checked28
Shelf dial · date × culture
Mathematical astronomyTheory / modelAstrologicalObservation recordPopular cultureOne mark per source, set clockwise by date from 1800 BCE to 2026; a date range is drawn as an arc. Each ring is a culture, Babylonian innermost.Rings, inside out: Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Islamic, Medieval, Early modern, Modern. Modern studies of Babylonian texts sit on the outer ring, at the date they were written. Rehm's papyrus: a station template for Saturn has no firm date and is not placed.
The shelf
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Search
Mesopotamia · 08
Babylon kept the first station records.
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1700–1550 BCE (observations); copies from the 8th–7th centuries BCE | Venus Tablet of AmmiṣaduqaAnonymous (Babylonian)Astrological | General | Astrological |
| c. 652–61 BCE | Astronomical DiariesAnonymous (Babylonian scribes)Observation | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Observation |
| c. 380–50 BCE | Babylonian planetary ephemeridesAnonymous (Babylonian scribes)Math. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 350–50 BCE | Jupiter 'trapezoid' procedure textsAnonymous (Babylonian scribes)Math. astronomy | Ju | Math. astronomy |
| 3rd–1st centuries BCE | Goal-Year TextsAnonymous (Babylonian scribes)Observation | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Observation |
| c. 3rd–1st centuries BCE | Almanacs and Normal Star AlmanacsAnonymous (Babylonian scribes)Math. astronomy | Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| 1889 | Astronomisches aus BabylonJoseph Epping & Johann N. StrassmaierMath. astronomy | General | Math. astronomy |
| 1907–1935 | Sternkunde und Sterndienst in BabelFranz Xaver KuglerMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
Greece and Rome · 13
Greek geometry turned the stations into a model.
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 375 BCE (Republic); c. 360 BCE (Timaeus) | Republic X: the Spindle of NecessityPlatoTheory / model | General | Theory / model |
| c. 350–330 BCE | Metaphysics Λ.8AristotleTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| c. 2nd–1st century BCE (debated); reconstruction 2021 | Antikythera Mechanism: Front Cover InscriptionAnonymous (Greek makers)Math. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| Hipparchus fl. c. 150–127 BCE; reported by Ptolemy c. 150 CE | Hipparchus in Almagest IX.2Hipparchus of NicaeaObservation | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Observation |
| c. 1st century BCE – 5th century CE (papyri); edition 1999 | Astronomical Papyri from OxyrhynchusAnonymous (Greco-Egyptian scribes)Math. astronomy | General | Math. astronomy |
| 1st century BCE (often placed c. 50 BCE) | Introduction to the PhenomenaGeminusMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| 1st century CE (Greek original); Arabic version c. 800 CE | Carmen AstrologicumDorotheus of SidonAstrological | General | Astrological |
| c. 77–79 CE | Natural History, Book IIPliny the ElderTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| early 2nd century CE | Expositio rerum mathematicarumTheon of SmyrnaTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| c. 150 CE | Almagest, Book XIIClaudius PtolemyMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 150–170 CE | TetrabiblosClaudius PtolemyAstrological | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Astrological |
| c. 150–175 CE | AnthologyVettius ValensAstrological | General | Astrological |
| Roman period (papyrus); published 2018 | Rehm's papyrus: a station template for SaturnAnonymous (Greco-Egyptian scribe)Math. astronomy | Sa | Math. astronomy |
Asia, Islam and medieval Europe · 11
The stations were tabled from China to Castile.
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 100–90 BCE | Shiji, Treatise on the Celestial OfficesSima QianAstrological | Ma Ju | Astrological |
| System c. 1st century BCE – early 1st century CE; Hanshu compiled c. 58–111 CE | Santong li: the Five StepsLiu XinMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| compiled c. 58–111 CE | Hanshu, Treatise on Celestial PatternsBan GuAstrological | Ve Ma | Astrological |
| 499 CE | ĀryabhaṭīyaĀryabhaṭaMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 6th century CE | Bṛhat Saṃhitā, ch. 6: the course of MarsVarāhamihiraAstrological | Ma | Astrological |
| c. 900 CE (observations 877–918) | al-Zīj al-Ṣābiʾal-BattānīMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 1025–1028 CE | Doubts concerning PtolemyIbn al-HaythamTheory / model | General | Theory / model |
| 13th century CE (al-ʿUrḍī d. 1266) | Treatise on planetary retrograde motionMuʾayyad al-Dīn al-ʿUrḍī (attributed)Theory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| 1261–1264 CE | Theorica planetarumCampanus of NovaraTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| 14th century CE (author d. 1375/6) | Nihāyat al-sūlIbn al-ShāṭirTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| c. 1391 CE | A Treatise on the AstrolabeGeoffrey ChaucerObservation | General | Observation |
Early modern and modern · 12
The Sun moved to the centre, and retrograde became a view.
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1508–1514 (manuscript) | CommentariolusNicolaus CopernicusTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| 1543 (manuscript c. 1520–1541) | De revolutionibus orbium coelestiumNicolaus CopernicusMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 1580–1600 | Tycho Brahe's Mars observationsTycho BraheObservation | Ma | Observation |
| 1609 | Astronomia novaJohannes KeplerTheory / model | Ma | Theory / model |
| 28 December 1612 – 28 January 1613 | Galileo's notes recording Neptune as a 'fixed star'Galileo GalileiObservation | Ne | Observation |
| 1632 | Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondoGalileo GalileiTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| 1647 | Christian AstrologyWilliam LillyAstrological | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Astrological |
| presented 7 August 1709 | Cassini's apparent path of MercuryJ. D. CassiniMath. astronomy | Me Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| 1756 (1st edition); many later editions | Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's PrinciplesJames FergusonTheory / model | Me Ve | Theory / model |
| late 19th century | Late-19th-century British astrology periodicalsVariousAstrological | Me | Astrological |
| plates 23 and 29 January 1930 | Pluto discovery platesClyde W. TombaughObservation | Pl | Observation |
| 1970s–present | 'Mercury retrograde' as a popular catch-allVariousPopular culture | Me | Popular culture |