For as long as people have looked up into the night sky, they have tried to understand the heavens. The earliest human civilizations interpreted the movements of the planets and stars, the occurrence of shooting stars, supernovas, and comets, and other astronomical events as the activities of supernatural beings. By several thousand years ago, people figured out that planets and stars moved in regular patterns, the beginning of the science of astronomy. The modern science of astronomy got a real boost with the development of optics and telescopes in Europe in the 18^th century. Rather than relying on their eyes alone, people were able to examine objects in the sky in more detail.