June 4, 780 BCE
- First total solar eclipse reliably recorded by Chinese. [1]
June 15, 763 BCE
- Assyrians record total solar eclipse event on clay tablet. [1]
March 19, 721 BCE
- First recorded lunar eclipse, seen in Babylon. [1]
April 22, 687 BCE
- Chinese record a meteor shower in Lyra. [1]
April 6, 648 BCE
- Earliest documented total solar eclipse; chronicled by Greeks. [1]
May 28, 585 BCE
- Thales Miletus predicts solar eclipse; Persian-Lydian battle ends. [1]
March 30, 239 BCE
- First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
May 22, 12 BCE
- A daytime meteor shower, possibly Zeta Perseid observed in China. [1]
66
- January 26
- Fifth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
141
- March 20
- Sixth predicted perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
185
- December 7
- Emperor Lo-Yang, China sees supernova (MSH15-52?). [1]
218
- May 17
- Seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
295
- April 20
- Eighth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
374
- February 16
- Ninth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
- April 1
- Halley's Comet approaches within 0.0884 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
451
- June 24
- Tenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
512
- June 29
- A monastic chronicler in Ireland records a solar eclipse. [5]
585
- April 28
- War between Lydia and Media ended by solar eclipse. [1]
607
- March 13
- Twelfth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
- April 19
- Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
760
- May 22
- Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
837
- February 27
- Fifteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
- April 10
- Comet 1P/837 F1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0334 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth, the closest in 2000 years. [1]
1006
- April 30
- Brightest supernova in recorded history is observed. [1]
- May 1
- Supernova observed by Chinese and Egyptians in constellation Lupus. [1]
1054
- July 4
- The Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians observe a bright supernova, the remnants of which form the Crab Nebula. [1] [5] [523.125]
1056
- April 22
- Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye. [1]
1066
- March 23
- 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
1145
- April 22
- 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
1178
- June 18
- In Canterbury, five men observe explosions on the Moon; likely the origin of lunar crater Giordano Bruno. [1] [521]
1181
- August 4
- Supernova seen in Cassiopia. [1]
- August 6
- Supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers. [1]
1264
- October 3
- Comet said to predict the death of Pope Urban IV is last seen. [1]
1275
- March 4
- Chinese astronomers observe a total eclipse of the sun. [5]
1345
- March 20
- Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction; thought "cause of plague epidemic". [1]
1456
- June 9
- 23rd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
1497
- March 9
- Nicolaus Copernicus first recorded astronomical observation. [1]
1504
- February 29
- Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians. [1]
1514
- April 26
- Copernicus makes his first observations of Saturn. [1]
1572
- November 6
- Supernova is observed in the constellation known as Cassiopeia. [1]
1576
- May 23
- Tycho Brahe given Hveen Island to build Uraniborg Observatory. [1]
1579
- August 8
- Cornerstone is laid for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory. [1]
1604
- October 9
- Supernova 1604 - the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way - is seen for the first time. [5] (October 8 [1])
1610
- January 1
- German astronomer Simon Marius first discovers the Jupiter moons, but does not officially report it, Galileo does on July 1 1610. [1]
- January 7
- Galileo discovers first three Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede. [1]
- January 13
- Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, fourth satellite of Jupiter. [1]
1612
- December 15
- Simon Marius, is first to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope. [1]
- December 28
- Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star. [5] (January 29, 1613 [1])
1630
- May 17
- Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, first to see two belts on Jupiter surface. [1]
1631
- November 7
- Pierre Gassendi observes transit of Mercury predicted by Kepler. [1]
- December 6
- First predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed. [1]
1633
- February 13
- Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun. [1] [5] [129]
1638
- June 25
- A lunar eclipse becomes the first astronomical event recorded in US. [1]
1639
- December 4
- Jeremiah Horrocks makes the first observation of a transit of Venus. [5] (November 24 [1])
1642
- August 13
- Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap. [1]
1655
- March 25
- Christiaan Huygens discovers Titan, Saturn's largest moon. [1] [5]
1661
- May 3
- Johannes Hevelius observes third transit of Mercury ever to be seen. [1]
1662
- September 16
- Flamsteed sees solar eclipse, first known astronomical observation. [1]
1671
- October 25
- Giovanni Cassini discovers Iapetus, satellite of Saturn. [1]
1672
- December 23
- Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn. [1]
1675
- June 22
- Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II. [1]
1678
- February 13
- Tycho Brahe first sketches "Tychonic system" of solar system. [1]
1679
- November 3
- Great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet. [1]
1682
- May 1
- Louis XIV and his court inaugurate Paris Observatory. [1]
1686
- August 18
- Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus. [1]
1690
- December 23
- John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it is undiscovered. [1]
1702
- April 20
- Comet C/1702 H1 approaches within 0.0437 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
1715
- April 29
- John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time. [1]
- May 3
- Edmund Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads". [1]
1743
- February 8
- Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
1753
- May 6
- French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle. [1]
1758
- December 25
- Halley's comet first sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch during return. [1]
1759
- March 13
- 27th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1]
1760
- January 8
- Comet C/1760 A1 (Great comet) approaches within 0.0682 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
1774
- January 11
- Messier adds M51 (spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici) to his catalog. [1]
- March 4
- William Herschel becomes the first to sight the Orion Nebula. [1] [5]
1778
- June 24
- David Rittenhouse observes a total solar eclipse in Philadelphia. [1]
1781
- March 13
- Sir William Herschel sees "comet" (really discovered Uranus). [1]
1783
- May 4
- Herschel reports seeing a red glow near lunar crater Aristarchus. [1]
1787
- January 11
- William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. [1] [5]
- August 19
- W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. [1]
1789
- August 28
- Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus. [1] [5]
- September 17
- William Herschel discovers Mimas, satellite of Saturn. [1]
1791
- February 17
- Messier catalogs M83 (spiral galaxy in Hydra). [1]
1801
-
- The first asteroid is spotted in space. [526.118]
1802
- March 28
- Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man. [5]
1803
- April 26
- A large shower of several thousand stony meteorites occurs near town of L'Aigle in Northern France. Physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot writes official report for French Ministry of Interior, that establishes acceptance that stones sometimes do fall to Earth. [1] [523.21] [526.117]
1805
- December 9
- Comet 3D/1805 V1 (Biela) approaches within 0.0366 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
1819
- July 4
- William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet. [1]
1825
- December 6
- US President John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory. [1]
1826
- February 28
- M Biela, an Austrian officer, discovers Biela's Comet. [1]
1835
- August 25
- The New York Sun publishes the first of six articles about life discovered on the Moon, attributed to astronomer John Herschel. (After several weeks the story is revealed to be a hoax, likely written by a writer for the New York Sun.) [1]
1836
- May 15
- Francis Baily observes "Baily's Beads" during annular solar eclipse. [1]
1838
- June 12
- Hopkins Observatory is dedicated in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
1839
- January 2
- First photo taken of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre). [1]
- January 9
- Thomas Henderson measures first stellar parallax (Alpha Centauri). [1]
- December 18
- First celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper, New York City, New York. [1]
1840
- March 23
- Draper takes first successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype). [1]
1841
- July 3
- John Couch Adams decides to determine the position of an unknown planet by irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus. [1]
1842
- April 13
- Lord Rosse successfully casts 72-inch (183cm) mirror for a telescope. [1]
- August 31
- US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress. [1]
1845
- February 15
- William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, first uses 72-inch (183 cm) reflector. [1]
1846
- September 23
- Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest find Neptune. [1]
- October 10
- Neptune's moon Triton is discovered by William Lassell. [1]
1847
- July 1
- Amateur astronomer M Hencke discovers second asteroid Hebe. [1] [1]
- October 1
- Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet. [1]
1848
- September 19
- William Cranch Bond (US) and William Lassell (England) independently discover Hyperion, moon of Saturn. [1] [845]
1849
- December 18
- William Bond obtains first photograph of Moon through a telescope. [1]
1850
- July 17
- Harvard Observatory takes first photograph of a star (Vega). [1]
1851
- July 28
- Total solar eclipse is captured on a daguerreotype photograph. [1]
- July 29
- A De Gasparis discovers asteroid #15 Eunomia. [1]
- October 24
- William Lassell discovers Ariel and Umbriel, satellites of Uranus. [1]
1852
- June 24
- J R Hind discovers asteroid #18 Melpomene. [1]
1853
- April 29
- Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
- November 9
- Origin of Carrington rotation numbers for rotation of the Sun. [1]
1854
- June 10
- Georg F.B. Reiman proposes that space is curved. [1]
- July 22
- J R Hind discovers asteroid #30 Urania. [1]
1857
- March 25
- Frederick Laggenheim takes first photo of a solar eclipse. [1]
- June 27
- H Goldschmidt discovers asteroid #45 Eugenia. [1]
1858
- June 2
- Donati Comet first seen, named after its discoverer. [1]
- September 28
- Donati's comet is the first to be photographed. [1]
1859
- March 26
- First sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury. [1]
- September 1
- RC Carrington and R Hodgson make first observation of solar flare. [1]
- October 19
- Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope. [1]
- December 15
- GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun. [1]
1861
- June 28
- Leipzig Observatory discovers short-period (6.2 years) Comet d'Arrest. [1]
1862
- January 31
- Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius. [1]
- July 16
- Lewis Swift in Marathon, New York, USA, discovers a comet in constellation of Camelopardalis. [801.111]
- July 19
- Horace Parnell Tuttle at Harvard College Observatory independently discovers a comet in constellation of Camelopardalis. (The comet is later named 109p Swift-Tuttle.) [801.111]
1864
- August 5
- Spectrum of a comet observed for first time, by Giovanni Donati. [1]
1866
- June 15
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #88 Thisbe. [1]
1867
- July 7
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #92 Undina. [1]
1868
- July 11
- J C Watson discovers asteroid #100 Hekate. [1]
- August 18
- Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse. [1]
1870
- December 22
- Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse. [1]
1871
- July 23
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #114 Kassandra. [1]
- December 12
- Jules Janssen discovers dark lines in solar corona spectrum. [1]
1872
- July 31
- C H F Peters discovers asteroids #122 Gerda and #123 Brunhild. [1]
1873
- June 13
- J C Watson discovers asteroid #132 Aethra. [1]
1875
- June 3
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #144 Vibilia and #145 Adeona. [1]
- June 8
- A Borrelly discovers asteroid #146 Lucina. [1]
- July 10
- L Schulhof discovers asteroid #147 Protogeneia. [1]
1876
- July 12
- Paul Henry discovers asteroid #164 Eva. [1]
1877
- August 12
- Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons. [1] [5]
- August 17
- Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos. [1]
1878
- June 18
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #188 Menippe. [1]
1879
- June 13
- A Borrelly discovers asteroid #198 Ampella. [1]
- July 9
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #199 Byblis. [1]
- July 27
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #200 Dynamene. [1]
1880
- September 30
- Henry Draper takes first photograph of the Orion Nebula. [1]
1882
- July 4
- Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in San Francisco, California. [1]
- July 19
- J Palisa discovers asteroid #226 Weringia. [1]
- December 6
- Atmosphere of planet Venus detected during transit. [1]
1884
- June 27
- J Palisa discovers asteroid #237 Coelestina. [1]
- July 1
- V Knorre discovers asteroid #238 Hypatia. [1]
1885
- June 5
- J Palisa discovers asteroid #248 Lameia. [1]
- August 30
- 13,000 meteors seen in one hour near Andromeda. [1]
- November 27
- Earliest photograph of a meteor shower is made. [1]
1886
- June 28
- C H F Peters discovers asteroid #259 Aletheia. [1]
1887
- June 8
- A Borrelly discovers asteroid #268 Adorea. [1]
1890
- July 15
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #294 Felicia. [1]
1891
- June 11
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #311 Claudia. [1]
1892
- September 9
- Almalthea, 5th moon of Jupiter, discovered by EE Barnard at Lick. [1]
1893
- July 4
- A Borrelly discovers asteroid #369 Aeria. [1]
- July 14
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #370 Modestia. [1]
- July 16
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #371 Bohemia. [1]
1895
- June 20
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #404 Arsinoe. [1]
- July 23
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #405 Thia. [1]
1897
- May 21
- Yerkes Observatory 40-inch (1-metre) refractor used for first time. [1]
- October 21
- Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago is dedicated. [1]
1898
- July 16
- A Charlois discovers asteroid #437 Rhodia. [1]
1899
- March 18
- Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, is discovered by Pickering. [1]
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