Maya astronomy is the study of the stars, planets, sun, and other astronomical occurrences by the
Precolumbian Maya Civilization of
Mesoamerica. The
Classic Maya in particular saw the Maya develop some of the most accurate pre-telescope astronomy in the world, aided by
their fully developed writing system and
their positional numeral system, both of which are fully indigenous to Mesoamerica. The Classic Maya understood of many astronomical phenomena: For example, their estimate of the length of the synodic
month being more accurate than Ptolemy's, and their calculation as to the length of the tropical solar year was more accurate than that of the Spanish when the latter first arrived.