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384 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle was a student of Plato, the teacher of Alexander the Great, and very influential during the middle ages. He also concluded that the sun orbits the earth and that earth was the center of the universe. Aristotle also believed that the planets and stars were perfect spheres though earth was not. -
100
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was important because he was a an ancient astronomer, geographer, and mathematician who thought that the earth was the center of the universe. Ptolemy thought that the earth was the center of the universe and that theory was called the geocentric theory. He considered that the earth was the center of the universe which was called the "Ptolemy system". -
1473
Copernicus
Copernicus was important because he thought different than the rest of the ancient astronomers and established that the earth and other planets orbited the sun instead of the earth. Copernicus discovered that the earth revolved around the sun instead of the sun revolving around the earth. Copernicus finished his first manuscript of his book "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" in 1532, in the book he said that the earth revolves around the sun. -
1546
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe discovered and made new instruments to look at space before telescopes were Invented. He helped overturn the geocentric theory and proved that the sun was the center of the earth. Tycho Brahe was very accurate with his predictions and proved a lot of his predictions. -
1564
Galileo
Galileo was important because he made a lot of discoveries with telescopes. Galileo discovered the four massive moons of Jupiter with the help of telescopes. Galileo was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer who made many discoveries about space. -
1570
Hans Lippershey
Hans Lippershey was important because he was the first person to try to obtain a patent for the telescope and possibly could have built a telescope. Hans Lippershey takes credit for inventing the compound microscope. Hans Lippershey was possibly the first inventor of the telescope because he was the first person to obtain a patent. -
1571
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was important because he played a key role in the scientific revolution in the 17th century and contributed a number of scientific breakthrough including his famous laws of planetary motion. He discovered that three major laws of planetary motion. He was a German astronomer, mathematician, and an astrologer. Johannes Kepler is best known for his laws of planetary motion and his books. -
Giovanni Cassini
Giovanni Cassini was associated with a number of scientific discoveries and projects. He discovered the Cassini Divisions in the rings of Saturn in 1675. He was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and engineer. He is also known for his work in the fields of astronomy and engineering. -
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton was important because he discovered and invented many things during his lifetime. He discovered the three laws of motion and his own mathematical description of gravity. He developed the theory of gravity, the laws of motion, and invented another type of mathematics called calculus -
William Herschel
William Herschel was important because he discovered planets and observed the heavenly bodies in astronomy. He discovered the planet Uranus and several moons around gas giants. He also discovered a catalog of 2,500 celestial objects that's still is use today. William Herschel was a German-born British astronomer and discovered moons and the planet Uranus. -
Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell was important because he was an astronomer, author, and mathematician who founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. He discovered on mars that there could've been life on mars because there were canals in his drawings of mars. He discovered Uranus and almost discovered Pluto. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar Hertzsprung because he classified types of stars by relating their color to their brightness. He discovered the “1627 Ivar” which is an elongated stony asteroid/near earth-object of the Amor group and the “1702 Kalahari” which is an asteroid that orbits the sun every 1,767 days. Ejnar Hertzsprung discovered two asteroids and developed the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. -
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is known for his influence on the philosophy of science and is best known for his mass-energy equivalence formula E=MC2 which is the worlds most famous equation. He discovered the theory of relativity and the equation E=MC2 which foreshadowed the invention of both the atomic power and the atomic bomb. Albert Einstein’s work helped scientists study everything like gravitational waves and Mercury’s orbit. -
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble was important because his research helped prove that the universe is expanding, and created a classification system for galaxies that has now been used for many decades. Edwin Hubble discovered “1373 Cincinnati” which is an asteroid that is in a comet-like orbit from the Cybele region, located at the outermost rim of the asteroid belt. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. -
Karl Jansky
Karl Jansky was important because he suspected that the signal he was assigned to study intermittent static sources that might be interfering with radio waves originated in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. He discovered radio waves emanating from the Milky Way. Karl Jansky first discovered radio waves emanating from the Milky Way and is considered one of the figures of radio astronomy. -
John Glenn 1962
John Glenn was important because he was the first American to orbit the earth. John Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission which made him the first American to orbit the earth. John Glenn was an astronaut that was the first American in space in 1962 -
Neil Armstrong 1969
Neil Armstrong was an Astronaut, military pilot, and an educator who was the first man on the moon. Later missions carried lunar rover’s that were driven across the satellite’s surface. Neil Armstrong was an American astronaut who was the first person to land on the moon. -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin was important because he flew to space in 1961 and was one of the defining moments of the 20th century while he changed th face of space history because he would be the first human in space. Yuri Gagarin discovered a brief period of weightlessness and very high G-forces during re-entry. Yuri Gagarin was an astronaut and the first human in space when he left to the launch pad on April 12, 1961 -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the world’s first artificial satellite that was the size of a beach ball which weighed only 183.9 pounds and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. Sputnik discovered earth’s magnetic fields by detecting a doughnut shaped region of high-energy particles encircling the planet. Sputnik was sent into space as a satellite getting placed into a low Earth orbit. -
1972 The Apollo Program
The Apollo program was the third U.S. human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space administration. The Apollo Program discovered orbital sea-surface radar and operated a solar observatory with extremely valuable results. The Apollo Program was a program that sent humans to space and landed humans on the moon six times. -
1981 First Space Shuttle flight
The 1981 First Space Shuttle flight occurred on April 12, 1981 that had two crew members, John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen. The 1981 was the first spacecraft that had people aboard during its debut flight. The 1981 Space Shuttle was the first Program that carried humans on their shuttles. -
1996 Mars Pathfinder Expedition
The 1996 Mars Pathfinder Expedition was launched on December 4, 1996 and landed on July 4, 1997 and used an innovative method of directly entering the Martian atmosphere. It was the first ever robotic rover to the surface of the red planet. The mars pathfinder was launched into space to land on mars and explore it. -
Cassini Orbiter
The Cassini Orbiter was important because without it there may be no data about space. The Cassini orbiter discovered jets of water erupting from Enceladus, and tracking down a few new moons for Saturn -
The Difference between refracting and reflecting telescopes
A reflector telescope uses two mirrors instead of two lenses, it was made to combat chromatic aberration. A refractor telescope uses a lens as its objective to form an image.
