History of Astronomy

  • Aristotle
    384 BCE

    Aristotle

    384-322 bc. To him the moon the sun the planets all moved as separate spheres. Proved that the earth was a sphere and all of the planets moved on there own spheres.Believed that the hearth is the center of the universe.All space stars moon sun where a sphere they all had.
  • Hipparchus
    190 BCE

    Hipparchus

    190-120bc.Founder of trigonometry.Discovered the precession of the equinoxes.Calculated the length of year to within 6 ½ minutes. He complied the first known star catalog.Calculated how far the earth and moon are away from each other.
  • Ptolemy
    100

    Ptolemy

    Ptolemy-100-170.Believed that the earth was the center of the universe(Ptolemaic).In greek geo meant earth so we call it “geocentric”.
  • Copernicus
    1473

    Copernicus

    Copernicus-1473-1543.Proposed that the earth revolves around the sun. Rather the earth be the center of the universe. Heliocentric is the model. Helio means sun and centric means center.
  • Tycho Brahe
    1546

    Tycho Brahe

    1546-1601.One of the individuals that helped overturn the belief of heliocentric of the universe with the sun at the center.
  • Galileo
    1564

    Galileo

    He was the first person to newly use the telescope. To see the four of the moons that are circling Jupiter,Venus,Saturn,and sun spots of the sun.This strengthened the belief of Copernicus.
  • Hans lippersey
    1570

    Hans lippersey

    He made the microscope and the eye glass. The telescope magnification is 3x.
  • Johannes Kepler
    1571

    Johannes Kepler

    Discovered the 3 motions.The planets move in elliptical orbits with the time necessary to traverse any arc of a planetary orbit is proportional to the area of the sector between the central body and that arc the area law and there is an exact relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times and the cubes of the radii of their orbits the harmonic law.
  • Sir Isaac Newton

    Sir Isaac Newton

    He invented calculus. Formed the law of gravitation and the law of motion. Invented reflecting telescope.
  • William Herschel

    William Herschel

    Founder of sidereal astronomy for the systematic observation of the heavens.
  • Percival Lowell

    Percival Lowell

    Predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune and initiated that the discovery of Pluto
  • Ejnar Hertzsprung

    Ejnar Hertzsprung

    Who classified types of stars by relating their colour to their absolute brightness.
  • Refracting Telescope

    Refracting Telescope

    A refracting telescope works bending light through a lens so that it forms an image into its original colors. Reflecting is when the light bounces off of a object and does not absorb the light.
  • Edwin Hubble

    Edwin Hubble

    Born in 1889. Studies of spiral nebulae proved the existence of galaxies other than our own Milky Way.
  • Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein

    Born in 1879. Was famous for his theory of relativity. Found the description of light.
  • Karl Jansky

    Karl Jansky

    He was born 1905. First discovered radio waves emanating from the Milky Way. He was also known for the first founder of the radio.
  • John Glenn

    John Glenn

    Was born in 1921. Became the first American to orbit the earth on the Friendship 7 mission.
  • Sputnik

    Sputnik

    Was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere with 4 external antennas to broadcast radio pulses.
  • Yuri Gagarin

    Yuri Gagarin

    Was born in 1934. Was the first human to travel to space when he launched into orbit on the Vostik 3KA-3 spacecraft.
  • Apollo Missions

    Apollo Missions

    The first apollo mission was a tragic failure. The Apollo missions 7and 9 were just a orbit around the moon and 6 of the mission were successful.
  • Neil Armstrong

    Neil Armstrong

    Was born in 1930. First person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
  • First Space Shuttle flight

    First Space Shuttle flight

    The first shuttle was launched in 1981. The space shuttle orbiter Columbia became the first shuttle to orbit the earth.
  • Mars Pathfinder expedition

    Mars Pathfinder expedition

    Was launched in 1996 and landed in 1997. The first ever robotic rover to the surface of the red planet.
  • Cassini Orbiter

    Cassini Orbiter

    Cassini's spacecraft made its final approach to Saturn. Has been exploring Saturn since 2004.
  • SpaceX Falcon Heavy

    SpaceX Falcon Heavy

    Was launched in 2018. Is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by one or two factors.Falcon Heavy is a partial reusable heavy launch vehicle to launch a Tesla Roadster.