Mythology of the Mayas

Visit the links below to learn about Mayan myths related to objects in the sky, and aspects of their world.

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Maya astronomers had a remarkably accurate knowledge of the apparent motion of <a href="/venus/venus.html&edu=elem">Venus</a>. They knew on what day Venus would appear again in the east after it had disappeared in the west. Venus, the morning star, was the patron planet of warfare.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>

Explore Mythology of the Mayas

The Earth: Bacabs

The Maya believed the Earth was flat with four corners. Each corner was a direction shown by ...Read more

The Rain: Xib Chac

Xib Chac was the Mayan rain god. He was a fair god, and was shown by many colors. He was often ...Read more

The Moon: Ix Chel

Ix Chel, the "Lady Rainbow," was the Moon goddess in Mayan mythology. The Mayans associated ...Read more

Venus: Kukulcan

The ancient Mayans used the doorways and windows of their buildings to look at things in space. ...Read more

The Planet Mars

Mayans were sophisticated observers of the sky. Mayans used their astronomical knowledge to ...Read more

The Milky Way

Mayans seem to have thought of the Milky Way as the road along which souls walk into the underworld. ...Read more

Historical Events

9/28 Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer, died on this date in 1953 Details
9/28 Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, died on this date in 1895 Details
9/29 Friedrich Mohs, a German geologist, died on this date in 1839 Details

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Did you know?

Did you know that early Chinese believed that there were ten suns that appeared each day in the sky during the ten-day Chinese week?

Did you know that bodies in the solar system orbit the Sun in elliptical orbits?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

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Aa
xAa : Hawaiian name for a type of lava flow with a surface that is broken into rough angular fragments which develop during cooling and loss of gas from pahoehoe flows.

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Research Highlights

Scientists Study "Glaciovolcanoes," Mountains of Fire and Ice

In the spring of 2010, the eruption of a volcano called Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland cancelled many flights in Europe. Eyjafjallajökull is a glaciovolcano, which means it's a volcano that is covered by...Read more


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