Distinctive twinkling star clusters were deemed "constellations," while fixed, celestial bodies were identified as "planets."
Humans have stargazed since the dawn of time. Over thousands of years, our prehistoric ancestors tracked awesome phenomena such as powerful eclipses and short-range comets, as well as frequent cyclical patterns. Distinctive twinkling star clusters were deemed "constellations," while fixed, celestial bodies were identified as "planets." Underneath the calm of the velvety night sky, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — known as the "classical planets" — were discovered.