-
322 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle contributed to subjects such as dance, theatre physics, mathematics, botany, logic, and medicine. He observed the phases of the moon, how eclipses work, and how we see the moon. He proved the earth was a sphere, and the earth is being pulled to the center, making it a sphere. -
168 BCE
Ptolemy
Ptolemy came up with the idea that the Earth was the center of the universe, and used the movement of the stars to predict the movements of planets. To prove this theory, he said the planets moved in epicycles. None of this was really true, but was accepted. -
1543
Copernicus
(1473-1543) Copernicus proposed the opposite theory of Ptolemy, saying planets revolved around the sun. He also said the rotation of the Earth was the cause of the setting and rising of the sun, the stars movement, and the seasons cycle. -
Tycho Brahe
(1564-1601) He created the Uraniborg his observatory, and created instruments that allowed him to see the motions of the planets more precise. He observed a supernova, comets, and created a model Solar System that was widely accepted for a long time. He created the model of Ptolemy’s theory. -
Hans Lippershey
(1570-1619) Hans Lippershey created the first telescope, spyglass, and microscope. His first invention was a looker, which were two lenses connected together used to look at distant objects. He wanted a patent for his looker, but was denied. -
Johannes Kelper
(1571-1630) Kelper created the three laws of planetary motion. First, the planets revolve in an elliptical orbit around the sun. Secondly, the line connecting the sun and a planet will be equal in area and time. Lastly, the semimajor axis of a planets orbit cubed will be equal to the period of a planet squared. -
Galileo
(1564-1642) In 1609, he created the telescope, using the spyglass. With the telescope, he studied the moon, Saturn, the Sun's sunspots, discovered four of Jupiter's moons, and observed the phases of Venus. -
Giovanni Cassini
(1625-1712) He discovered four of Saturn's moons and discovered Mars's rotational period. He proposed that the rings of Saturn were made of tiny moonlets that were to small to see separately. (Picture is Cassini's map of the moon) -
Sir Isaac Newton
(1643-1724) Newton created the Three Laws of Motion. The law of inertia says an item will remain still unless moved by an unbalanced force, or an object moving will continue moving unless disrupted by another force. The second law says speed is produced when another power acts on the other. The final law states there is an equal but opposite reaction for every action. He also proposed the law or gravity. -
William Herschel
(1738-1822) Herschel discover Uranus its two moons, and proposed that nubulae are made of stars. He backed up the theory that the solar system is moving , and he found out the direction the solar system is moving. He also proposed the Milky Way was a disc shape. -
Percival Lowell
(1855-1916) He made a observatory in AZ on a higher area to get above the pollution and smoke. He suspected there was another planet beyond Neptune. This lead to the discovery of Planet X, also known as Pluto. He also discovered the rotation of spiral galaxies and galactic redshifts. -
Karl Jansky
(1905-1950) Also known as the Father of Radio Astronomy, Jansky studied the radio frequencies from distant galaxies and stars. Using this frequency, him and others could uncover unknown stars and galaxies that did not light up and was hidden from sight to telescopes. His antenna system was called Jansky's Merry-Go-Round because it rotated in circles to scan the sky. -
Edwin Hubble
(1889-1953) Hubble was the first person to show that other galaxies exist. He has also show that the universe is expanding, and created the Hubble's Law to prove the Milky Way is moving farther away from other galaxies. -
Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)He has created two theories about gravity, Special and General Relativity. He also created a theory about the speed of light. He says light and time are constant, but are always changing. Einstein has also created theories about cosmology, gravitational lenses, dark energy, white dwarfs, black holes, astrophysical jets, and gravitational waves. -
Sputnik
(1957) Made by the Soviet Union, Sputnik was the world's first artificial satellite sent into the sky. It could orbit the Earth in 98 minutes, and began the U.S-U.S.S.R space race. It was 183.9 pounds and 22.8 inches in diameter. -
Yuri Gagarin
(1961) Yuri was the first person to fly in space. He flew in the Soviet Union's Vostok spacecraft, and orbited the Earth a little more than once. Although the Vostok had no safe way of landed, Yuri survived the crash and was welcomed back as an international hero. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
(1873-1967) He began classifying stars by their color to their brightness, and proved giant and dwarf stars existed. He also created the Cepheid variable scale, which was used to measure intergalactic distances. -
The Apollo Program
(1963-1972) The Apollo program consists of 17 flights, and it's goal was to bring humans to the moon, and bring them back safely. Apollo 11,12,14,15,16, and 17 was successful. Apollo 7, 9, 8, and 10 all orbited the moon, but was not landed. Apollo 13 did not land, but brought photographs. They conducted experiments, and brought back samples. -
First Space Shuttle flight
(1981) The shuttle went to the moon with John Young and Bob Crippen, and was the first re-usable spacecraft. They would enter space like a rocket, but would return like a plane, gliding and smooth. It was launched in Florida on April 12, 1981. -
Mars Pathfinder Expedition
(1996) It was the first robotic rover to cover Mars. It was launched December 4, 1996. It weighed 23 pounds and carried tools for observations. It returned with 2.3 billion pieces of data, and about 17,000 pictures. It brought Mar's soil, rocks and data about climate. -
Cassini Obriter
(1997) It's purpose was to take pictures of samples of conditions of the atmosphere and light spectra. The Cassini-Huygens traveled to Saturn and it's moons. -
Difference between refracting and reflecting telescop
A refractor telescope uses light to focus on a single point. (such as stars and planets) It is used to look at things close up. A reflecting telescope uses mirrors instead of lenses. Light bounces of the mirrors and reflects in the eyepiece -
Neil Armstrong
(1930-2012) Neil was the first person to walk on the moon. Along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collin aboard the Apollo 11, it took 3 days to reach the moon. They explore the moon for more than 2 and a half hours, taking pictures and collecting rock samples. On the way back, they land in Hawaii, and within 3 and a half years, 10 other astronauts succeed on the same mission. -
Blood Moon
Named after it’s copper-like red color, a blood moon is a complete lunar eclipse with a full moon. The Earth covers the light from the sun, giving the moon that red color. The Moon could also seem yellow, orange, or brown depending on the atmosphere condition.
