Astronomy

Earth orbit cycle

280 BCE

Aristarchus suggests the Earth revolves around the Sun. He provides first estimation of Earth-Sun distance.

estimating the circumference

240 BCE

Eratosthenes measures the circumference of the earth with surprising accuracy!

First star map developed

130 BCE

Hipparchus develops the first acccurate star map and star catalogue with over 850 of the brightest stars.

Supernova in Taurus

1054

Astronomers observe supernova in Taurus.

Supernova in Cassiopeia

1572

Tycho Brahe discovers a supernova in constellation of Cassiopeia.

Telescope created

1608

Hans Lippershey, a Dutch spectacles maker invents the telescope.

Galileo has new discoveries with the telescope

1609

Galileo uses telescope for astronomical purposes. He discovers 4 Jovian moons, the Moon's craters and the Milky Way galaxy.

Father of astronomy

1610

Galileo was considered the father of observational astronomy. He was among the first to use a telescope to observe the sky and after constructing a 20x refractor telescope he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610. This was the first observation of satellites orbiting another planet.

Saturn's rings and Titan discovered

1656

Christian Huygens discovers Saturn's rings and Titan, the fourth satellite of Saturn.

Measuring the speed of light

1675

While in Paris, Danish astronomer Ole Romer measures the speed of light.

Discovery of the Saturn's rings being split into two

1675

Cassini discovers that Saturn's rings are split into two parts

Uranus discovered

1781

The discovery of Uranus by Herschel

Galaxies, nebula, and star clusters discovered

1781

Messier discovers galaxies, nebula and star clusters while looking for comets.

First asteroid

1801

Piazzi discovers first asteroid, Ceres.

Neptune discovered

1846

Johann Galle observes and discovers Neptune

Phobos and Deimos discovered

1877

Asaph Hall discovers Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars.

Discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way

1923

Hubble shows that galaxies exist outside the Milky Way galaxy.

Creation of radio telescope

1937

First radio telescope built by Grote Reber.

First Human in Space

Apr 12, 1961

April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft.

First American to orbit Earth

1962

John Glenn becomes first American man to orbit Earth.

Valentina Tereshkova

Jun 16, 1963

On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date

Walking on the moon

1969

Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the Moon as part of Apollo 11 mission.

First satellite to Jupiter

1972

The U.S. launches Pioneer 10, the first satellite destined for Jupiter.

Discovery of Uranus' rings

1977

Discovery of Uranus' rings

International Space Station constuction

1998

Construction begins on the International Space Station.

Detailed map of the Earth

2000

Space Shuttle Endeavor makes a detailed, global map of Earth

Water on Mars

2000

New evidence found for water on Mars.