Study examines celestial women in African traditions

The achievement required many researchers and observatories, not a single telescope.

The timeline places Babylonian eclipse tablets and Chinese sunspot reports before telescopic European solar research.

Under particular atmospheric conditions, large sunspots and unusual solar effects could be recorded without telescopes.

Historical reports extend the baseline for studying solar activity and its influence on Earth.

Including Asian and Mesopotamian observations shows that systematic solar knowledge did not begin with the European telescope.

The publication discusses relationships among Moon phases, menstruation, fertility, agriculture and social expectations.

Examples from different regions cannot stand for an entire continent with many languages, histories and knowledge systems.

Focusing on women changes which practices and interpreters become visible in the historical record.

The infrared observatory lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.

NASA, ESA and CSA collaborated on the telescope and its scientific instruments.