-
Period: Feb 19, 1473 to May 24, 1543
Copernicus
Copernicus created a simplified heliocentric model of the universe that comflicted with the teachings of the Church. -
Period: Dec 14, 1546 to
Tycho Brahe
Made the most precise astronomical measurements of the day, including planetary and stellar positions. -
Period: Feb 15, 1564 to
Galileo Galilei
Studied and analyzed astronomy and physics. He discovered mountains and craters on the surface of the moon. -
Period: Dec 27, 1571 to
Johannes Kepler
Established the laws of planetary motion. -
Lippershey
Hans Lippershey submits the first recorded patent for a refracting telescope. -
Galileo
Galileo uses a refracting telescope to observe the moons of Jupiter. -
Period: to
Giovanni Cassini
Measured the rotational periods of Jupiter and Mars. -
Period: to
Christiaan Huygens
Discovered the true shape of Saturn's rings. -
Period: to
Isaac Newton
Discovered the laws of motion and gravitation. -
Period: to
Edmond Halley
Developed a theory of comet orbit that proved that the comet of 1682 was periodical. -
Newton
Newton invents the first reflecting telescope. These telescopes use mirrors instead of lenses. -
Opticks
Newton publishes Opticks, a book describing the nature of light. -
Period: to
William Herschel
Discovered Uranus and its two brightest moons. -
Period: to
Thomas Henderson
Was the first person to measure the distance to a star. -
Period: to
Johann Gottfried Galle
Was the first person to observe Neptune based on the calculations of Urbain Le Verrier. -
Period: to
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Discovered that stars are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. -
Period: to
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar
Made contributions to the theories of stellar evolution and structure. -
First Radio Telescope
Karl Janky, and engineer at Bell Telephone, invents the world's first radio antenna designed for observing radio waves from space.