For as long as humans have walked the Earth, the great endless sky and the countless stars that fill it have left us in a state of awe-inspired wonderment. Similarly, the study and exploration of space have been a priority for humankind for millennia. From the ancient Assyrians and Greeks to the greatest minds of the Renaissance and up to the billionaire space explorers of the 21st century, incredible amounts of time and effort have gone into better understanding our celestial surroundings.
Click through the following gallery to learn about some of the greatest discoveries of astronomy and our universe.