Category Archives: Historical

Our Lady of Guadalupe

To me, one of the most interesting historical phenomena related to the cosmos occurred in modern day Mexico in the year 1531. This is just after the Spaniards had conquered much of the region through bloodshed and war. However, one moment of peace emerged from the area. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a well-known image […] Continue reading

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Blog Post 2 – What was Stonehenge really for?

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

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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archaeoastronomy

Astronomy hasn’t always been practiced the way that it is today! For many centuries, different civilizations have conceptualized the universe in a wide range of ways covering the entire spectrums of science and mythology– from this, at the intersection of astronomy and anthropology, the field of archaeoastronomy was born! The field began with the discovery […] Continue reading

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Ancient Egypt Switches from the 360 to 365-Day Year

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

Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, and died on November 15, 1630. He was crucial for advances in Astronomy as he discovered that the Earth and planets travel the sun in elliptical orbits. Furthermore, he also created three laws (called Kepler’s Law’s) that were integral to planetary motion. These laws stated that the […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Astronomer The astronomer I chose to focus on was Sir Isaac Newton, one of the smartest people to ever live. Historical Events The 2 historical events during the lifetime of Newton I chose to cover were the London Plague and the founding of the Pennsylvania colony. While the 2nd didn’t have nearly as much of […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

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

a. Nicolas Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571 and died on November 15, 1630. Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546 and died on October 24, 1601. Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 and died on January […] Continue reading

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Great Scientists of The Renaissance

Nicholas Copernicus(2/19/1473 – 5/24/1543) He put forward the heliocentric theory for the first time, believing that the sun is the center of the universe, which seriously impacted the views of the church at that time. Laid the foundation for the development of astronomy. Renaissance: The Renaissance occurred from the 14th century to the 16th century. This […] Continue reading

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