Astronomy The Mayans are well known for their precise calendar and astronomy.

They were keen observers who kept a count of the days and the planets readings. The results of Mayan observations and calculations of astronomical phenomena are concentrated in the Dresden Codex The Maya believed that the Earth was the center of all things and everything else revolved around it. Their belief was that the stars, moons, sun and planets were all gods and were greatly involved in human affairs and so their movements were watched closely. They believed that planets and the stars were very important thus the kings timed their accession rituals in tune with the stars and the Milky Way. The cosmology of the Maya was a living, religious philosophy that permeated their lives to a degree that might seem excessive to modern people. They were astute observers, sensitive to the cyclical nature of the sun, moon and planets. (Wilbur, 2009) Venus Venus was the most important planet for the Mayans and for this reason they planned their sacrifices and rituals around its cycle. They specifically looked out for the inferior conjunction, the time when Venus is between the earth and the sun. Right after this was the heliacal rising, they most feared the first Heliacal Rising after Inferior Conjunction (Michaelb, 2005) The Sun The Mayans were particularly interested in the sun, so much so that most of the Maya cities were located south of the latitude where the sun crossed over the Maya latitude, so that they could observe the sun directly overhead during the time that the sun was passing over their latitude.

The Maya accurately calculated times when the sun would rise and set, and even more amazing, they determined the length of the solar year to be 365 days. The Maya were expert at predicting solar phenomena, such as eclipses, equinoxes and when the Sun reached its apex. (Sherrill, 2007) The Moon Maya astronomers analyzed and predicted the Moons movements with great accuracy. They could predict the eclipse ahead of time, even the ones they would never see. They believed that when the sun came up the moon goes down into the underworld. Maya dynasties often claimed to be descended from the Moon (Michaelb, 2005) Milky Way They called it the Wakah Chan or also World Tree, which was represented by a tall and majestic flowering tree, the Ceiba. They believed that all life came from here. Pleiades The Tzolk'in is the sacred calendar of the Maya and is based on the cycles of the Pleiades. The elders say the universe comes from the Pleiades. With the Hubble Telescope, it was discovered about ten years ago, that there is a place where stars are born in a great spiral that originates at the site of the Pleiades (Michaelb, 2005)

Calendar The ancient Mayas are known for their famous long count calendar. They invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity Their pyramid in Chechen Itza was used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar year. (Web exhibits, 2008) The Maya calendar uses three different dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). Long Count The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from the Mayan creation date. Their number system is based on the digit 20 hence they counted from 0 to 19 The Maya name for a day was k'in Twenty of these k'ins are known as a winal or uinal (20 days). Eighteen winals make one tun (1 year). Twenty tuns are known as a k'atun (20 years). Twenty k'atuns make a b'ak'tun (394 years). (Web Exhibits, 2008) Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is the basis for a popular belief that the world will end on December 21, 2012. However December 21, 2012 is simply the day that the calendar will go to the next b'ak'tun, at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle The Maya believed that the universe ended every 5125.25 years, at which point everything would be destroyed and recreated anew. (Palmowski, 2007)

It is really interesting that the Maya believe in cycles of creation and destruction, and that our world is only one in a succession of universes, and that we are doomed to be destroyed like the universes before us, but another will come to take our place. This cyclical thought is also portrayed in their calendars. They believe that the last cycle was destroyed by a flood and this one would be destroyed by earthquakes. Tzolkin The Tzolkin date is a combination of two week lengths. The name Tzolkin means count of days. The Mayans used two different calendar weeks, one was a numbered week of 1 to 13 days and the other was a named 20 days calendar. Both were used side by side. The exact origin of the Tzolk'in is not known, but there are several theories. First that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. Second the length of human pregnancy and third that the calendar is based on the crop cycles. (Web Exhibits, 2008) Haab The Haab consisted of 18 months of 20 days each, followed by 5 extra days, known as Uayeb. This gives a year length of 365 days. In contrast to the Tzolkin dates, the Haab month names changed every 20 days instead of daily The five days of Wayeb, were thought to be a dangerous time and were observed as days of prayer and mourning. Fires were extinguished and the population refrained from eating hot food. Anyone born on those days was "doomed to a miserable life." (Web Exhibits, 2008)

Bibliography
Michaelb, (2005) venus, the maya astronomy page, Retrieved from http://www.michielb.nl/maya/venus.html Palmowski, K. (2007) Readings November 1, anth235, Retrieved from http://anth235.pbworks.com/w/page/13274181/Readings%20November%201 Sherrill, L.S, (2007) Astronomy of the Mayan, Star Teach Astronomy Education, Retrieved from http://www.starteachastronomy.com/mayan.html Web exhibits (2008) The Mayan calendar, Calendar through the ages, Retrieved from http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html Wilbur, J (2009) Revised Maya Lesson Plan for PowerPoint. Art lit @ cms. Retrieved from http://cmsartlit.blogspot.com/2009/10/revised-maya-lesson-plan-for-powerpoint.html