Meet
Ulugh Beg
Stars & measurement
Their story. Your next idea.
Ulugh Beg was a ruler, astronomer, and mathematician in the fifteenth century. He built an observatory at Samarkand for observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets.
1001 Inventions, p. 271
observatorya place equipped for studying the sky
measureto compare something with a chosen unit
YOUR TURN · 10 MINUTES
Keep a sky notebook
Paper, a pencil, and a grown-up.
- Choose a safe place to look at the evening sky with a grown-up.
- Draw the Moon if it is visible. Write the date and time beside your drawing.
- Look again on another evening from the same place. Add a second drawing.
- Compare what you noticed. Which questions would need more observations?
Never look directly at the Sun. Watch from the ground with a grown-up.
Let’s wonder
Why might repeated measurements be better than a single guess?
My next question: __________________________________________________