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Egyptian Astronomers
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The Egyptians began to study the stars very
early on their history. They were among the first astronomers, and the temple
of the sun god at Heliopolis became an important center for the study of
astronomy. For the ancient Egyptians, astronomy was closely connected with the
telling of time. They developed a calendar of 365 days a year. They also
divided the day and night into 24 hours - the length of the hours changed
according to the season - and were among the first people to begin the day at
midnight. Based on contacts with Egyptian astronomers and observations carried
out in Egypt, the Roman leader, Julius Caesar, introduced the Julian calendar,
which
divided the year into 365 days with a leap year every four years. This calendar
was used until a slightly modified version, called the Gregorian calendar
replaced it in 1582.
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