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382 BCE
Aristotle
384-322 BC Aristotle knew many things about astronomy. He knew how the moon has phases and we can see the moon from the light of the sun. He believed that the earth was round. He also believed that the earth was in the center and everything else rotated around it. This was later improved on when it was discovered the sun was in the middle. -
100
Ptolemy
100-168 Ptolemy was most famous for his almagesti. This was his way of determining the positions of the planets. This was later proven wrong but still helped modern day astrology. He also created the geocentric theory. This was the idea that the earth was in the center of the universe. This was also proven wrong. -
1473
Copernicus
1473-1543 Copernicus created the heliocentric theory. This theory meant that the earth was in the center of the universe. This idea is still believed and has been proven. He back up his theory by studying the planets. He also believed that the earth rotates on its axis. -
1546
Tycho Brahe
1546-1601 Tycho created many astrology instruments. He also backed up the heliocentric theory with his study's. In 1572 he observed a super nova. Tycho used instruments to make precise predictions on where certain stars were. These predictions were later checked and were very close. -
1564
Galileo
1564-1642 Galileo after hearing of the invention of the telescope quickly made his own version. While looking at the sky he observed the moons phases and wrote them down. He also discovered four moons revolving around the earth. He discovered many stars with his telescope and many other things. -
1570
Hans Lippershey
1570-1619 Hans was most famously known for creating the telescope. According to what historians know he was the first person use glass lenses like this. This invention helped astronomers in the future study our sky. -
1571
Johannes Kepler
1571-1630 Johannes was most commonly know for discovering the three laws of planetary motion. The first rule is that the planet orbits around the sun. The second rule is known as the area law. and the third rule is there is an exact relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times. Johannes work turned copernicuses heliocentric idea a dynamic universe. -
Giovanni Cassini
1625-1712 With the creation of telescopes Giovanni started studying the planets. He was the first to observe Jupiter's satellites with his vary powerful telescope. After observing mars he determined that the rotation takes 24 hours and 40 minutes. He was only about 3 minutes off. -
Sir Issac Newton
1643-1724 Sir Issac Newton was most famously known for his law of gravity. The first law was that an object will be still until an external force moves it. The second law is The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force. And the third law is every action has an equal and opposite reaction. -
Difference Between Refracting and Reflecting Telescope
The difference between a refracting and reflecting telescope is a reflecting telescope uses two mirrors which reflect your site. The reflecting mirror is useful because it eliminates chromatic aberration. -
William Herschel
1738-1822 Once William Created his own very powerful telescope he discovered Uranus and its two moons. He also discovered Saturns sixth and seventh moon. William observed 2500 new star nebulaes and recorded them in “The General Catalog of Nebulae”. -
Percival Lowell
1855-1916 Lowell built an observatory in Flagstaff and started studying mars. His theory was that irrigation covered mars but this was proven incorrect. He also was a big help in the discovery of Pluto. 14 years after his death Pluto was officially discovered. He also made a mathematical study of Uranus. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
1873-1967 Ejnar with no previous education in astronomy started his study on stars. Ejnar discovered that the color of the star is connected to the true brightness of the star. He called this spectroscopic parallaxes of stars. This was that if the star was red it was cool but bright and the opposite for blue. -
Albert Einstein
1879-1955 Albert Einstein is most famously know for his work on physics. He created the equation e=mc squared. The equation basically shows how energy and mass are interchangeable. Some applications of Einsteins work include gravitational waves, Mercury's orbit, and gravitational lensing. -
Edwin Hubble
1889-1853 While Hubble was examining m33 and m31 (two spiral universes near ours) he noticed a pulsating star known as ceipheid variable in every one of them. These stars are special because the pulsating allows for astronomers to calculate the distance of how far away they are. While Hubble was studying universes he also came to a conclusion that they are moving away from the Milky Way -
Karl Jansky
1905-1950 Karl discovered radio waves extraterrestrial source which led to radio astronomy. Karl was an engineer at the time and was told to track down various forms of interference that was plaguing telephone communication. To do this he made an antenna and instead of finding the answer to his problem he discovered radio waves coming from the stars. -
Sputnik
1957 Sputnik was a Soviet Union satellite. Sputnik weighed 83.6 kg and was launched in 1957. Sputnik was about the size of a beach ball but did not look like one. The main reason for sputnik was to calculate the density of the upper atmosphere. After being in air for 4 months Sputnik burned up on earth. Sputnik achieved their goal of calculating the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere. -
Yuri Gagarin
1961 Yuri Gagarin was the first person in space. Yuri was a Soviet Union pilot and cosmonaut. In 1961 he set out on a space mission. Yuri's space mission lasted 108 minutes. After launching into the atmosphere he orbited around the earth for a little more then one orbit then landed back on earth unharmed. After this mission he was known as the first man in space. -
John Glenn
1921-2016 In 1959 John started going through rigorous training preparing for there mission to orbit the earth. Him and his group was named Mercury 7. John and his comrades mission was to orbit around the earth. In 1962 John launched his space ship and orbited around the earth successfully three times completing his mission. This made Mercury 7 the first Americans to orbit the earth. -
The Apollo Program
1963-1972 The Apollo program was designed for getting a human to the moon and have them safely return home. Apollo 8 completed one full lunar orbit and returned to earth. Lunar 10 did the same thing as Apollo 8. It wasn't until Apollo 11 that they made contact with the moon. They landed on the moon collected some quick samples and returned to earth. There was many more time where the moon was orbited or landed on until 1972 when Apollo was shut down. -
Neil Armstrong
1930-2012 In 1969 Neil along with Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins launched into space. This space mission was named Apollo 11 and the aim was to land on the moon. After four days of travelling Neil used the Eagle lunar landing module to land on the moon. As he said the now historic words ¨This is one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind¨ he took his first steps on the moon making him the first man on the moon. Neil then stress fully returned home with his crew. -
The First Space Shuttle Flight
1981 The first Space Shuttle Flight was a space mission to orbit earth. The shuttle completed 36 orbits and it took 2 days and six hours. This was the first space-rated orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. -
Mars Pathfinder Expedition
1996 launched in 1996 the Mars Pathfinder was made and launched to explore Mars and test out new technology. not only did it accomplish its goal it also brought back tons of information for the United States to study. -
Cassini Orbiter
1997 Cassini-Huygens was one of the most ambitious missions ever launched into space. Cassinis mission was to analyze Saturn and it’s moons. Using many different instrumwnts such as a wave length recorder. The orbiter was very successful. -
China Lands on The Dark Side of The Moon
2019 China has recently managed to land on the dark side of the moon (the side we never see). This was a huge step for China’s space system because that they were always considered behind. China landed, took samples, and returned to earth.
