Hubble records its millionth science observation

Careful observation and transmission can be rigorous even when knowledge is not stored in books or institutions.

The authors compare written colonial sources, oral traditions and astronomical calculations to identify observational knowledge.

Accounts may preserve unexpected celestial events as well as repeating lunar, solar and seasonal cycles.

Stars and their rising or setting positions can mark directions, travel routes and seasonal change.

Researchers need to respect community authority, restricted knowledge and the harms created when outsiders extract cultural information.

The target was the hot gas giant HAT-P-7b, observed for atmospheric signatures.

The milestone reflects decades of research by many teams using the orbiting observatory.

The selected observation illustrates how exoplanets became part of Hubble’s science program.

The publication surveys calendars, navigation, cardinal directions, eclipses, meteor impacts and oral explanations of the sky.

Astronomical knowledge appears within social responsibilities, stories, ceremonies and relationships with land.