How Does Ancient Mayan Astronomy Portray the Sun, Moon and Planets?

The Mayan sun god was Kinich Ahau, one of the creator gods more powerful than the Mayan pantheon. During the day, Kinich Ahau would shine in the sky, and at night, transform himself into a jaguar and pass through the underworld.

The moon was associated with a maiden, an old woman, and a rabbit. The powerful Maya moon goddess Ix Chel fought with the sun and made him go to the underworld every night. Ix Ch’up was another moon goddess, young and beautiful.

• The Maya knew about Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter and tracked their movements. They determined that a year of Venus relative to Earth was 584 days long. Modern science determined it at 583.92 days.
  
• Venus was associated with war. The Maya arranged battles to coincide with the movements of Venus.
  
• The stars were less significant to the Maya. They used the stars to predict when seasons would come and go.

Mayan buildings were often laid out in accordance with astronomy. Temples and pyramids were designed so that the sun, moon, stars, and planets would be visible from the top or through specific windows at certain times of the year.

The Mayan calendar was associated with astronomy. The Maya used two calendars: The Long Count calendar was divided into a solar year as a base, and the Calendar Round consisted of two calendars - a 365-day solar year and a 260-day Tzolkin cycle.