Observing the components of the Universe are dependent upon the human ability to look beyond the Earth. Prior to the invention of the telescope, people had few tools to explore space. Egyptians carefully watched the Sun for years and recorded the sunrises and sunsets with just their eyes as their guide. They were the first to record the position of stars in the heaven repeats after 365 sunrises and sunsets. People in Egypt, India, China, Mesopotamia, and the Americas also observed the stars and divided them into recognizable groups which are now called constellations. Most civilizations realized that there are 7 planetary bodies that moved, the Sun, the Moon, and 5 planets and created legends and myths of these gods. Other early cultures, from all the continents, based many beliefs on astronomical observations, but all these early people just used their sight as their only tool.

This planetary nebula could not be seen by ancient civilizations.