Monthly Archives: February 2018

Historical Astronomers in Context

Tycho Brahe (December 14th, 1546 – October 24th, 1601) Tycho Brahe was known as the last great “naked-eye” astronomer. He did all of his research without the aid of telescopes and was still able to be more precise than any of his predecessors. Much of his work revolved around studying the moon and other objects … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German mathematician and astronomer who established the laws of planetary motion. He worked as Tycho Brahe’s apprentice. Although the two had a strained relationship, Kepler’s ability to find mathematical relationships among data proved the perfect complement to Brahe’s unparalleled observation skills. Through his work with Brahe’s observations, Kepler founded the … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 and died on March 31, 1727. Isaac Newton is best known for his work on gravity. More specifically, he founded Newton’s Law of Gravitation. This formula states that the force of gravity between two objects is dependent on the massiveness of the two objects and the distance between … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo is the astronomer most responsible for toppling the geocentric theory of the universe with his scientific observations. Galileo used a telescope to prove that there were visible sunspots on the sun and craters on the moon, arguing that if these surfaces were imperfect then their orbits could be as well. He also discovered that … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo is the astronomer most responsible for toppling the geocentric theory of the universe with his scientific observations. Galileo used a telescope to prove that there were visible sunspots on the sun and craters on the moon, arguing that if these surfaces were imperfect then their orbits could be as well. He also discovered that … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei: Birth-February 15, 1564 , Death-January 8, 1642 Galileo provided a ton of insight into a lot of scientific concepts that we think of as fact today. In terms of motion, Galilei decided to question what Aristotle believed to be true, that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. Through his experiments with ramps … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 and he died in 1642. It’s crazy to think that history that appear to be in completely different contexts actually occurred at the same time. For example, during Galileo’s lifetime while he was revolutionizing asttronomy, Miguel de Cervantes was revolutionizing literature. His publication of Don Quijote de la Mancha … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571. He died on November 15, 1630. Kepler came up with the Laws of Planetary Motion. His first law illustrates how the orbit of each planet is an ellipse, not a perfect circle. His second law states that the speed at which a planet moves is greater the closer … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630 Johannes Kepler made important contributions to astronomy, primarily from his studies of celestial mechanics. From his calculations and Tycho’s observations, Kepler developed his three Laws of Planetary Motion. First, “Planets move in ellipses with the Sun at one focus.” Second, “The radius vector describes equal areas … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Tidal Locking

The only kind of lock in space with no key. Tidal locking is when one hemisphere of a revolving body constantly faces the object it rotates around, or as wikipedia says more jargon-y,  “when the long-term interaction between a pair of co-orbiting astronomical bodiesdrives the rotation rates into a harmonic ratio with the orbital period. In the figure … Continue reading Tidal Locking Continue reading

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