Astronomy 2008: August 2008

Aristotle- Was born in384 BC and died in 322 BC.
-He studied the phases of the moon and knew that the sun had to be farther away than the moon.

Astronomy Book
Hipparchus- Born in 162 BC and died in 126 BC.
- He discovered the procession of the equinoxes, founded trigonometry, and he also created the first star catalog.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/hipparchus/

Ptolemy- No one is positive of his exact birth and death date but they range from March 127 BC and February 141. There have been speculations that his life lasted anywhere from 87 to 150 years.
- He classified and calculated the way the planets moved as they were known in his time.
- Almagest was a 13 book explanation of how astronomy worked. In that works he also included a star catalog that had 48 constellations , and all of the names are still in use today.

http://space.about.com/cs/astronomerbios/a/ptolemybio.htm

Carl Sagan- Born in 1934 and died in 1996.

- He was the co-founder of The Planetary Society.
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/sagan_carl.html

Stephen Hawking- Born January 8, 1942.

- Along with Roger Penrose, Stephen Hawking took Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and implied that space started with the Big Bang and would end with black holes.

http://www.hawking.org.uk/about/aindex.html

Pope Gregory XIII- Born in 1502 and died in 1585.

- He changed the yearly calander into what we know today.
http://www.answers.com/topic/pope-gregory-xiii

Albert Michelson- Born 1803, died 1989

- He measured the diameter of Alpha Orinis, it was the very first measurement of a star.
http://www.usna.edu/LibExhibits/Michelson/Michel_guide.html

James Van Allen- He was born in 1914 and died in 2006.

- He discovered the radiation belts circling Earth.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=4452

Bode- 1747-1826

- He created Uranographia and it is a collection of star maps that held many more than previous collections.

- He also came up with as formula to express that relative distances of the solar system planets from the sun.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Bode-Joh.html

Copernicus- 1473-1543

- Played a leading role in presenting the idea that the earth revolved around the sun.- He laid the foundations for Galileo and Kepler upon which they built on effectively in the next century.
Astronomy Book

Tycho Brahe- 1546-1601

- At Hven he made a continuous record of the positions of the sun, moon, and planets for almost 20 years.

Astronomy Book

Galileo Galiei- 1564-1642

- Using the telescope he discovered the moons of Jupiter and also the phases of Venus.

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/galileo.html
- He improved upon the very fist telescope.

- He also found that the moon was not smooth, but pitted and had mountains.
- Using his telescope he also studied sun spots on the sun.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/galileo.html
-He made the observation that the planets were discs and not pinpoints of light.
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/galileo.html

Isaac Newton- 1642-1727

- He was the first person to explain tides scientifically.
- He developed The Three Laws of Motion http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/Newton.shtml

Edwin Hubble- 1889-1953

- He determined how far away the Milky Way was and also a few other galaxies.
http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm

Albert Einstein- 1879-1955

- He determined how the max speed of light effects measurements of time and space

Johannes Kepler- 1571-1630

- He was the first to correctly explain how the planets moved and he then became the "founder of celestial science"
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Johannes_Kepler.htm

Clyde Tombaugh- 1907-1997