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100
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was an Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of Greek descent. He was one of the most influential Greek astronomers of his time. He believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe. The word for earth in Greek is Geo, so we call this idea a "geocentric" theory. -
322
Aristotle
Aristotle, a greek philosopher and scientist. He was one of the greatest figures of Western philosophy. Aristotle was a teacher of Alexander The Great and a student of Plato. He was born in Greece and became interested in nature and anatomy as he got older. -
1473
Copernicus
Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was instrumental in establishing the concept of a heliocentric solar system, in which the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the solar system. He was born in 1473 in Poland. Before he died in 1543 he wote 2 books. -
1546
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman, astronomer, and writer known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. He was born in the then Danish peninsula of Scania. He was known for the Tychonic system and Rudolphine Tables. -
1564
Galileo
Galileo is an Italian astronomer, mathematician, physicist, philosopher and professor who made pioneering observations that laid the foundation for modern physics and astronomy. He also constructed a telescope and supported the Copernican theory Galileo's most important discovery was Jupiter and its 4 moons now known as the Galilean moons. -
1570
Hans Lippershey
Hans Lippershey was a Dutch eyeglass maker who many historians believe was the inventor of the first telescope and is also sometimes credited with the invention of the compound microscope. Lippershey was born in Wesel, Germany in 1570 and settled in the Netherlands, opening a spectacles shop in Middleburg. -
1571
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. He was born in Germany in 1571. -
Giovanni Cassini
Astronomer Giovanni Cassini is associated with a number of scientific discoveries and projects, including the first observations of Saturn's moons. He was born in italy, in 1625. Cassini is known for his work in the feilds of astronomy and engineering. -
Sir Issac Newton
Sir Issac Newton is an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution. He was born in the UK. Newton developed the theory of color. -
Difference between refracting and reflecting telescopes
A reflector telescope uses two mirrors instead of two lenses. Isaac Newton developed this telescope to combat chromatic aberration. The refractor telescope is to gather the light coming from a distant object, such as a star, and bend it into a single point of focus. The refractor is better for observing the planets and the moon and the reflector for deep-sky objects. The refracter was invented before the reflecting telescope. -
William Herschel
William Herschel became well known for his finding of the planet Uranus and its 2 major moons Titania and Oberon. He was born in Germany. He found Uranus by inventing a telescope because you could not be seen with the naked eye. -
Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell was born in Boston, MA. He was an astronomer and mathmatician. Lowell had is own labotoray built in Flagstaff, AZ where he made is own discoveries. He was best known for speculation that there was life on Mars, a vision that has had enormous impact on the development of Science Fiction. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar Hertzsprung was a Danish chemist and astronomer born in Denmark. He had no formal education in astronomy but studied in technological colleges. He developed the temperature of stars against their luminosity or the colour of stars against their absolute magnitude called the HR Diagram. -
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German mathematician and physicist. He invented the Einstein Refrigerator and Gas absorption heat pump. As a physicist, Einstein had many discoveries, but he is perhaps best known for his theory of relativity -
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble was an American Astronomer whose research helped prove that the universe is expanding, and he created a classification system for galaxies that has been used for several decades. Hubble made many discoveries and the most important is The Hubble Space Telescope which was named after him. -
Karl Jansky
Karl Jansky was an American physicist and radio engineer who in August 1931 first discovered radio waves emanating from the Milky Way, Jansky invented the Radio Telescope to help this discovery. -
John Glenn
John Glenn is an United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, and the fifth person and third American in space. After his retirement from NASA, Glenn served as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio for 25 years. -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet pilot. He became the first human to journey into outer space when his Vostok spacecraft completed one orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961(108 minutes). Gagarin was born in Russia and grew up on a farm with his father. -
Sputnik
Sputnik is a series of Soviet artificial satellites, the first of which was the first satellite to be placed in orbit. History Changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. -
The Apollo Program
This program was designed to land humans on the moon and bring them back safely.The Apollo Program was the first program to succeeded in landing the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions and did not return any data. -
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. Armstrong was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. He was born in 1930 in Ohio. -
First Space Shuttle Flight
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program, which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. The mission lasted 2 days and 6 hours with 36 orbits complete and 2 members on the shuttle. -
Mars Pathfinder Expedition
Mars Pathfinder is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997.The Mars Pathfinder Expedition was launched December of 1996 and landed July of 1997. It was designed to land on Mars. The purpose of Pathfinder was to prove that the concept of “faster, better and cheaper” missions would work. -
Cassini orbiter
The Cassini orbiter was mainly designed to study saturn and take pictures. Cassini was one of the most ambitious missions ever launched into space. Loaded with an array of powerful instruments and cameras, the spacecraft was capable of taking accurate measurements and detailed images. The Cassini was launched on October 15, 1997, and landed on saturn September 15, 2017. Loss of contact with Cassini took place that night. -
Total Lunar Eclipse
The Total Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth's dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of North America, South America, the eastern Pacific Ocean, western Atlantic Ocean, extreme western Europe, and extreme western Africa. This occured January, 20 & 21, 2019.
