50 Years Ago Astronomy

50 years ago, a search for proof that the Maya tracked comets came up short

Excerpt from the June 30, 1973 issue of Science News

A photo of the pages of a book called the Dresden Codex.

Ancient Maya people tracked eclipses and other astronomical phenomena in a book called the Dresden Codex (several pages shown). Researchers suspect the Maya also may have tracked comets and meteorite showers, but evidence is sparse.

SLUB Poster/Wikimedia Commons

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

- More than 2 years ago

The cover of Science News from June 30, 1973.

Comets, novas and the Mayans — Science News, June 30, 1973

Did the Mayans record novas and comets? … Comparing dates of known historic novas and comets with [20] Mayan dates, [a researcher] found no acceptable correlation.