Prehistory. 1  Chang, Kwang-chih. 2  Discovery of residue from fermented beverage consumed up to 9,000 years ago in Jiahu, Henan Province, China. 3  Zhu, Rixiang; Zhisheng An; Richard Potts; Kenneth A. Hoffman. 4  The Discovery of Early Pottery in China by Zhang Chi, Department of Archaeology, Peking University, China.
There are a couple of popular ways of specifying the location of a celestial object. The first is what you would probably use to point out a star to your friend: the altitude-azimuth system. The altitude of a star is how many degrees above the horizon it is (anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees). The azimuth of a star is how many degrees along the horizon it is and corresponds to the compass direction. Azimuth starts from exactly North = 0 degrees azimuth and increases clockwise: exactly East = 90 degrees, exactly South = 180 degrees, exactly West = 270 degrees, and exactly North = 360 degrees = 0 degrees.
Polaris hasnât always been the North Star and wonât remain the North Star forever. For example, a famous star called Thuban, in the constellation Draco the Dragon, was the North Star when the Egyptians built the pyramids. But our present Polaris is a good North Star because itâs the skyâs 50th brightest star.So itâs noticeable in the sky. It served well as the North Star, for example, when the Europeans first sailed across the Atlantic over five centuries ago.or example, a famous star called Thuban, in the constellation Draco the Dragon, was the North Star when the Egyptians built the pyramids. But our present Polaris is a good North Star because itâs the skyâs 50th brightest star. So itâs noticeable in the sky.