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Astronomy

The oldest science, science of the sky, space, and the universe.

Ancient Greek Astronomers

Believed in geocentric, thought the solar system was the universe, planet orbit is a perfect circle.

Aristotle

Thought universe was stable and unchanging, geocentric,

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stars embedded on celestial sphere,

didn't understand the vastness of space.

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Thought the solar system was the universe.

Aristarchus of Samos

First to believe in heliocentric universe,

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ideas went unsupported as it contradicted the popular belief.

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Measured distance from Earth to Moon using shadows.

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Ptolemy

Geocentric,

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explained planet movement phenomenon as "epicycles",

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model accepted for almost 1200 years,

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made star catalog,

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wrote book called Almagest ("Great work" in Arabic).

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Reason why it was accepted is since it went with the common belief at the time.

Copernican Revolution

Revolution of thought, people started believing in a heliocentric universe.

Copernicus

Took guesswork out of astronomy and applied evidence,

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said Earth had seasons,

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church banned his books,

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100 years after he died, people started actually changing their perspectives.

Tycho Brahe

Astronomer for King Frederick II,

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built castle on island called Uraniborg,

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best naked eye astronomer,

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used parallax to prove that a supernova was not a local occurrence,

Giordano Bruno

Burned at the stake by the church for having a heliocentric view.

Hans Lippershey

Invented the telescope but did not point it at the sky.

Galileo

Popularized Copernicus' model,

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first to point telescope at the sky,

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put on house arrest by the church,

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wanted everyone to read his books, not just scholars, so they were written in Italian

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discovered the: biggest moons of Jupiter,

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moon has mountains and ridges,

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Venus has phases, Saturn's rings, observed sunspots.

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Feared that he would be burned at the stake, he witnessed Bruno being burned

Johannes Kepler

Friend of Galileo,

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assistant of Tycho Brahe,

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created 3 laws of planetary motion with Brahe's measurements after his death.

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1) Planet orbits are not perfect circles,

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2) Planets to the sun sweep over in equal area and time,

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3) Period for orbit squared is equal to average distance from the sun cubed.

Charles Messier

Created a star catalog of 110 objects with catalog name M.

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Prompted British astronomers to create the New General Catalog with over 7,800 objects.

Edmund Halley

Observed comets and predicted one comet's return.

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When he was correct, the comet was named in his honor.

Pierre-Simon Laplace

First to suggest about the existence of black holes.

Harlow Shapley

Calculated size of Milky Way, said nebulas are inside Milky Way and not outside.

William Herschel

Discovered Uranus,

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built large telescope and discovered infrared radiation with the help of his sister,

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first used term "binary star",

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composed 24 symphonies

Caroline Herschel

First female scientist to ever earn a wage,

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helped build telescopes and discover infrared radiation with the help of her brother,

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discovered 8 comets and 3 nebulae,

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first woman to be awarded a gold medal for science,

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short and stubby since she had typhus as a kid.

Edward Pickering

Astronomer at Harvard University,

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did not like how male astronomers were not detail-orientated,

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hired his maid and many other women to classify stars at Harvard.

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The female astronomers were nicknamed "Harvard's computers".

Williamina Fleming

Was a maid, until she was employed at Harvard to classify stars.

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Discovered Horsehead nebula and some white dwarfs.

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Most known for classifying stars based on hydrogen levels with letters A through Q.

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First of Harvard's 80 female computers

Annie Jump Cannon

Changed Williamina Fleming's classification system to only O, B, A, F, G, K, M.

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Was one of Harvard's computers

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Discovered variable (cepheid) stars, stars that don't have a constant luminosity.

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Was one of Harvard's computers

Albert Einstein

Known for developing the theory of relativity, where space and time are related to each other and said objects with mass by itself can bend spacetime fabric.

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Best known for E = mc squared. His name is now synonymous with "genius".

Antonia Maury

Created a master stellar catalog and studied binary star systems and the light that came from them.

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Was one of Harvard's computers

Edwin Hubble

Proved that there are other galaxies in the universe and that they are moving away from us using redshift.

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After he died, the Hubble Space Telescope was named in honor of him.

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The telescope allowed the world to finally see the other galaxies.

George Gamow

Credited with Big Bang Theory

Fritz Zwicky

Credited with theory of dark matter, also came up with "supernova" for when a star explodes.

Frank Drake

Pioneer of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

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and created the Drake Equation to calculate the chance of another intelligent life form other than Earth.

Carl Sagan

Astronomer who popularized astronomy with his engaging shows and books that educated and entertained millions.

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Wrote "Cosmos" and "Contact"

William K. Hartmann

Proposed that Earth had been hit by another planet to form the Moon and that Earth is on a tilt in its axis.

Jocelyn Bell

Found radio signals in space, leading to the discovery of pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit radio waves.

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Originally called the radio signals LGM, for "Little Green Men" since she thought they were aliens.

Stephen Hawking

Came up with theory of Hawking Radiation, where black holes will eventually evaporate from emitting radiation.

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First to put together general relativity and quantum mechanics into a theory of the universe.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Modern-day African-American astrophysicist who hosts the podcast StarTalk on National Geographic, and the TV show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

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He is known for educating and entertaining the public about the wonders of science.

Geocentric Believers

Ancient Greek Astronomers, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe.

Heliocentric Believers

Aristarchus of Samos, Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Galileo, Johannes Kepler, everyone after that

Harvard's Computers

80 women of Harvard responsible for collecting information about stars, **Williamina Fleming, Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Antonia Maury**

Tycho Brahe

lost nose to duel,

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believed in his own geocentric model,

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said while dying of liver disease, "Let me not have lived in vain"

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had a pet elk,