Key Dates In The History of Astronomy

By paoantonh
  • 2016 BCE

    Aristarchus of Samos

    The Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos suggested that the Earth revolved around the sun.
  • 2016 BCE

    Stars Classified

    The Greek Astronomer Hiparchus classified the stars according to their apparent brightness.
  • 2016 BCE

    Ptolemy

    Ptolemy suggested a geocentric astronomic model. According to him, the Sun, the moon, and the five known planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) all revolved around the Earth
  • 2016 BCE

    Tyco Brahe

    Tyco Brahe carried out very detailed observationof the planets. Kepler deduced his famous planetary laws following Brahe´s observation
  • 2016 BCE

    Astrophysics

    The birth of the science Astrophysics thanks to the spectroscope, an apparatus which allows us to identify substances in the stars
  • Sep 15, 1543

    Copernicus and his heliocentric model

    He published his heliocentric model according to which the planets revolved around the Sun.

  • Galileo and his telescope

    Galileo used a telescope for the first time to observe the night sky. This was the birth of modern astronomy.

  • Isaac Newton

    He build the first telescope using mirrors instead of lenses.

  • Newton and his book

    Newton published his book The Principles of Natural Philosophy in which he explained the laws govening the movement of the planets.

  • Edmund Halley

    Edmund Halley explained Newton´s laws and predicted the return of the comet (which was to carry his name)

  • W.Herschel

    W.Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

  • F.W. Bessel

    F.W. Bessel measured the distance from a star for the first time using geometric methods. This, in turn, definitively proved that Earth follows an orbit around the Sun as Copernicus suggested

  • Discovery of Neptune

    The work carried out by Adams, Galle and Leverrier lead to the discovery of Neptune

  • E.P Hubble

    E.P. Hubble proved that some of the nebulas seen in the sky are in fact independent galaxies. He then discovered that the galaxies move away from each other.

  • Pluto

    C. Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto.

  • Extra-solar planets

    The discovery of the first extra-solar planets.