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384 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher that made lasting contributions to human life. Everything from biology to logic to ethics was what he studied and excelled in. His writings that were found were incredibly inspiring. In fact many people called him, “The First Teacher” at the time. He believed in a geocentric universe, the theory that the sun and the planets revolved around the Earth. -
100
Ptolemy
He was a famous astronomer that was born around 100 AD in Egypt. His theory (like Aristotle’s) was that there was a geocentric universe. He also created a 13 book series called the Almagest- this book contained a catalog of 1,022 stars. His main fields he studied were, geography, math, and astronomy. -
1473
Copernicus
Born on February 19 1473, Copernicus was an astronomer that came up with a theory that made people think differently about space. At the time many people thought that the Earth was the center of the solar system. Although using scientific evidence he came up with the theory that the Earth revolves around the sun and so does every other planet is the solar system. This is called a heliocentric universe (What we go by today). -
1546
Tycho Brahe
Born in Denmark in 1546, Tycho Brahe was an astronomer that made many contributions to space science. For example, he helped Copernicus’s idea turn into a more popular point of view. Instead of a geocentric universe he helped prove that the solar system was a heliocentric universe. Brahe also invented what is known as the Rudolphine Tables. This book full of star positions as well as minutes of arc. -
1564
Galileo
Galileo was an italian astronomer that was to have invented the first telescope, compass, and thermometer. He discovered planets such as Ganymede, Europa, Callisto, lo and even the rings of Saturn! He studied in the fields of astronomy, math and philosophy. -
1570
Hans Lippershey
It is not known who is actually the first inventor, yet Lippershey's patent application is the first documented record of the invention of such an instrument. He was the first person to file a patent for the invention so he got the credit. Little else is known about his early life. -
1571
Johannes Kepler
It is not known who is actually the first inventor, yet Lippershey's patent application is the first documented record of the invention of such an instrument. He was the first person to file a patent for the invention so he got the credit. Little else is known about his early life. -
Giovanni Cassini
Giovanni Cassini, an Italian astronomer, mathematician and engineer was a hard worker studied Mars. By calculating the parallax, he determined its distance from Earth. This allowed the first real estimation of the dimensions of the solar system. One of his other accomplishments was discovering the 4 moons of saturn. Fun Fact: they recently launched a spacecraft named the Cassini into the planet was named after him. -
Sir Isaac Newton
Born on January 4, 1643 Isaac Newton was a mathematician that was known as “one of the great minds of the 17th century.” He not only discovered the 3 laws of motion but, gravity, and the inflections and colors of light were apart of his portfolio. The new teaching of calculus (a more advanced math form) helped him prosper in the field of optics. He died on March 31st while sleeping. -
William Herschel
William Herschel was an astronomer that thought he discovered the first comet but it was later revealed that that comet was the planet we know today as Uranus. He kept in touch with many astronomers (one being Cassini). Cassini stayed in Paris so that the two could make simultaneous observations of Mars and, by computing the parallax, determined its distance from Earth. -
Percival Lowell
Percival was a writer, astronomer, astrologer and mathematician. He is best known for creating speculation that there was life on Mars, a vision that has had a huge impact on the development of Science Fiction. And the fact that he led to the discovery of Pluto. You may have heard but he was actually the founder of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Phoenix. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar was a Danish astronomer that invented the luminosity scale of Cepheid variable stars. The tool helped measure stars at an intergalactic universe. He used the scale to classify stars by their color and brightness. -
Albert Einstein
Einstein was a German-born physicist who created the special and general theories of relativity. He also won a Nobel prize for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Einstein was considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century. -
Karl Jansky
Jansky invented the source of radio waves although the discovery led to the field of radio astronomy. He was able to track down all the interference's of the stars, except for one. With later research done, he was able to point out the center of the Milky Way. -
John Glenn
During the early 1960’s the U.S and the Soviet Union were competing to see who would successfully orbit the Earth. Although the Soviets won the race, John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth with a time of 4 hours and 56 minutes. He successfully returned back home and later on made several more trip to space. -
Yuri Gagarin
Gagarin became the first person to fly to space. His mission was to circle the Earth for a bit more than 1 orbit in the Soviet Union’s Vostok spacecraft. At the time the Soviet Union and the U.S had been competing for “technological supremacy.” Decades after his trip, the Soviet is still honored at his home. -
Edwin Hubble
Hubble was an American originated astronomer that was the first to demonstrate the existence of the other galaxies besides the Milky Way. In 1929 he demonstrated that the universe was expanding. This was known to be one the most important cosmological discoveries of all time. -
Sputnik
On October 4, 1957, was the day the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite launched into space. It was about the size of a beach ball and took about 100 minutes to orbit the Earth. The purpose of Sputnik 1 was to give radio signals about the ionosphere. -
The Apollo Program
Apollo was the NASA program that resulted in American astronauts' making 11 space flights and walking on the moon. Six out of the seven flights landed on the moon. The first moon landing took place in 1969. Over all, 12 astronauts walked on the moon. The missions were to have astronauts to conducted scientific research there. They collected moon rocks to bring back to Earth to be studied and examined. -
What is the difference between refracting and reflecting telescopes?
A reflector telescope uses “two mirrors instead of two lenses.” When Isaac Newton developed this telescope to "combat chromatic aberration" (this is a rainbow seen around some objects viewed with a reflecting telescope) Light from an object would enter the telescope tube and would be reflected off a curved mirror at the end of the tube. A refracting telescope is “a telescope which uses a converging lens to collect the light.” -
Neil Armstrong
Armstrong was a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor that studied in the field of astronomy. The most important thing in his life was the fact that he was the first man to land on the moon in 1969. He became overwhelmingly popular when he came back from the Apollo 11 and landed safely. -
First Space Shuttle Flight
The first launch of the Space Shuttle occurred on 12 April 1981, exactly 20 years after the first manned space flight. Sadly, while the aircraft was taking off, all 7 of the passengers died due to the explosion only a minute and a half after the take off. The aircraft exploded because a piece of foam had fallen off the Shuttle's external fuel tank during launch. The foam hit the left wing and caused the aircraft to explode. -
Mars Pathfinder Expedition
Mars Pathfinder is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic Mars rover named Sojourner, which became the first rover to operate outside the Earth–Moon system. -
Cassini Orbiter
The Cassini spacecraft orbited Saturn from June 30, 2004, till September 15, 2017, when the orbiter ended its journey with a plunge into the planet's atmosphere. The mission is known for discoveries such as finding running water erupting from Enceladus, and tracking down a few new moons for Saturn. -
Find a current astronomy event
On January 31 2019, Astronomers recently discovered something out of this world! By using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study some of the oldest and faintest stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752 have made an unexpected sighting. They just discovered a dwarf galaxy in our cosmic universe, only 30 mil light-years away.
