Daily Archives: February 9, 2016

Historical Astronomers in Context – Homework #6

2. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) was important to astronomy because he served as a pioneer in drifting away from the geocentric model of the universe. He dove tediously into the tables and mathematics of the previous, geocentric model of the universe and found enlightenment in geometry. He thereby successfully determined the distances between planets and the Sun, as […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context – Homework #6

Dark Matter

In honor of the pre-release of a song I wrote called “Dark Matter,” I wanted to do a post on the subject that inspired my song. The above picture is of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520. This galaxy cluster formed from the collision of many massive galaxy clusters. The image shows dark matter, hot …

Continue reading Dark Matter

Continue reading

Posted in Universe | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dark Matter

Dark Matter

In honor of the pre-release of a song I wrote called “Dark Matter,” I wanted to do a post on the subject that inspired my song. The above picture is of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520. This galaxy cluster formed from the collision of many massive galaxy clusters. The image shows dark matter, hot […] Continue reading

Posted in Universe | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dark Matter

Historical Astronomers in Context: Copernicus

  Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) Historical events in the time of Copernicus: In 1492, when Copernicus was 19 years old, Columbus “sailed the ocean blue” from Spain and discovered America – specifically, the Caribbean islands. In 1506, when Copernicus was 33, construction began on St. Peter’s Church in Rome (and […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context: Copernicus

Historical Astronomers in Context

The astronomer I’ve picked is Sir Isaac Newton (Born January 4, 1643 – Died March 31, 1727).  Newton made discoveries that both directly indirectly impacted astronomy.  First, directly, Newton published the universal law of gravitation in The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, in 1687.  This law stated that the force of attraction between two objects […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context

My chosen astronomer is Galileo Galilei, who lived from February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642 Events of the 1600’s during Galileo’s life Event 1: In 1632, the construction of the Taj Majal began, one of the most famous architectural feats in history. Event 2: In 1608, the famous Quebec city was established by Samuel de Champlain in Canada. […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Historical Astronomers in Context: Johannes Kepler

Who is Kepler Johannes Kepler’s most renowned contribution to astronomy was his development of the three laws of planetary motion. These three laws correctly defined the elliptic shape of all planetary orbits, established the equal area-equal time interval concept of solar radii, and equated the period of orbit with the size of the orbital elliptic […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context: Johannes Kepler

Galileo Galilei- Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei   pic source Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician Galileo Galilei ( 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an astronomer who played an major role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance.He was called the “father of observational astronomy” and the “father of modern physics”.His contribution to astronomy includes his discovery of the […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Galileo Galilei- Historical Astronomers in Context

“O, swear not by the moon…”

Johannes Kepler made important contributions to astronomy through his discovery that planetary orbits are ellipses. Kepler came to this conclusion after several years of painstaking effort trying to make sense of all the observations of his former master Brahe. Kepler also proposed three laws of planetary motion as a summary of his findings. Kepler was […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on “O, swear not by the moon…”

Copernicus in Context

Nicholas Copernicus: February 19, 1473 to May 24, 1543 Nicholas Copernicus was a pioneer in the astronomical community. Working off of a previous notion, Copernicus was able to scientifically prove the heliocentric model of the universe. Previously, the idea of the universe was Earth-centric, but his work paved the way for a new way of thinking … Continue reading “Copernicus in Context” Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Copernicus in Context