Abstract
Astronomy shares many similarities with historical sciences: the reconstruction of token events, the lack of manipulation, and the reliance on traces. I highlight two benefits of viewing astronomy as a historical science. First, the methodology of historical sciences constitutes a more sufficient description of how astronomers study token events and regularities. Second, how astronomers identify traces of past events offers a more delicate understanding of what traces are. The identification of traces is only gradually achieved through iterations between data-driven approaches and theory-driven approaches, together with the cross-validation between multiple relevant historical events and between diverse datasets.
