Like most Persian mathematicians of the period, Omar Khayyám was also famous as an astronomer. In 1073, the Seljuk Sultan Sultan Jalal al-Din Malekshah Saljuqi (Malik-Shah I, 1072-92), invited Khayyám to build an observatory, along with various other distinguished scientists, one being Shamse Tabrizi, his mentor and the father of Kimia Khatoon, with whom he fell in love. Eventually, Khayyám and his colleagues measured the length of the solar year as 365.24219858156 days. Omar's calendar was more accurate than the Gregorian calendar of 500 years later. The modern Iranian calendar is based on his calculations.
Heliocentric theory
It is said that Omar Khayyám also estimated and proved to an audience that included the then-prestigious and most respected scholar Imam Ghazali, that the universe is not moving around earth as was believed by all at that time. By constructing a revolving platform and simple arrangement of the star charts lit by candles around the circular walls of the room, he demonstrated that earth revolves on its axis, bringing into view different constellations throughout the night and day (completing a one-day cycle). He also elaborated that stars are stationary objects in space which, if moving around earth, would have been burnt to cinders due to their large mass.
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