Category Archives: Class

Blog Post 2 – What was Stonehenge really for?

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

Most people have seen pictures or heard of Stonehenge, an ancient monument on the Salisbury Plain in England. Personally, while I had seen references to Stonehenge in the media, I never actually knew what it was for, or what people thought it was for. It has been difficult for historians to find a definitive answer, […] Continue reading →

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The Trial of Galileo

Posted on February 9, 2023 by reachforthestarsbysam

Galileo Galilei is one of the most renowned figures in astronomy history, as he was one of the biggest and most meticulous supporters of the heliocentric model of the universe. However, Galileo not only had to fight against the fact that for all of history the idea of the geocentric solar system had been accepted […] Continue reading →

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High and Low Tides with a Bit of British Humor

Posted on February 9, 2023 by 88bw

High and low tides can pose great challenges and dangers to nature lovers, especially those who enjoy being close to the water. I was originally searching how spring/neap and high/low tides might affect erosion rates; while scouring the Internet, I found this article from the UK (Lancaster Guardian) that details how these tide patterns actually […] Continue reading →

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Retrogrades

Posted on February 8, 2023 by araceal

Have you ever thought about why planets in our night sky sometimes appear to be moving backwards? Well, this phenomenon is known as retrograde motion. It is not as strange as it sounds. Retrograde occurs when a planet is moving in the sky and appears to be moving backwards from our perspective on Earth –  […] Continue reading →

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Ancient Egypt Switches from the 360 to 365-Day Year

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Europa

The other day, my friend told me about an Ancient Egyptian myth regarding the switch from the 360 to the 365-day calendar in Egypt. At the time, I just thought it was a cool story, but later realized that it was a perfect example of archaeoastronomy. Before 4200 BCE, the Ancient Egyptian calendar year was […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 4, 2023 by 88bw

Tycho Brahe (14 December 1546 – 24 October 1601) Tycho’s contributions to astronomy began when he made improvements to the inaccurate prediction models of Ptolemy and Copernicus. Despite not having the benefit of a telescope, he was able to raise the bar of accurate celestial observations and even mapped the location of over 700 stars. […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Rocket Man

ISAAC NEWTON [1]Isaac Newton, the brilliant polymath and philosopher, was one of the most important figures in the history of astronomy. Born in 1642 in England, Newton is widely considered as the father of modern science and his contributions to the field of astronomy are simply unparalleled. In his seminal work, “Mathematical Principles of Natural […] Continue reading →

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On an Island (Not so) Far, Far Away

Posted on February 2, 2023 by groblesnieles727

Photo: picture alliance / © Fine Art Images/Heritage Imag | © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images Tycho Brahe (December 14, 1546–October 24, 1601) helped to recalibrate old, grossly inaccurate measurements of the stars and the predictions of their movements. He dedicated himself to finding more accurate measurements, and while conducting research at his observatory Uraniborg in […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Myles7235

Chosen Astronomer Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564, in Pisa, Italy. He died on January 8, 1642, in Arcetri, Italy. You can find more great information about him here. Historical events The first Japanese invasion of Korea happened in 1592. As a response, Ming China sent an army to Korea to ward off […] Continue reading →

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Old Space Dudes

Posted on February 2, 2023 by oilrigatoni

You may be wondering… why is there a football? Good question. You will see. Anyways, we’re talking about old dudes who studied the sky. Doesn’t sound very interesting, right? But some of them were pretty cool. I mean, not like Hannibal riding elephants cool, but about 2 log scales below that. Anyways, we got some […] Continue reading →

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