Category Archives: Historical

Johannes Kepler in Context

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – 1630) was important to astronomy because he developed three laws of Planetary Motion. They were a result of analyzing observations made by Tycho Brahe concerning the orbit of Mars. The laws are: Planets move in ellipses with the Sun at one focus, the radius vector describes equal areas in […] Continue reading

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World Events During Kepler’s Lifetime

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630 Historical Events Europeans Discover Australia: In 1606 Captain Willem Janszoon and his crew became the first recorded Europeans to sight and make landfall on Australia. This was a significant discovery for European explorers considering Australia is its very own continent. However no colonies were established in […] Continue reading

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World Events During Kepler’s Lifetime

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630 Historical Events Europeans Discover Australia: In 1606 Captain Willem Janszoon and his crew became the first recorded Europeans to sight and make landfall on Australia. This was a significant discovery for European explorers considering Australia is its very own continent. However no colonies were established in […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicolaus Copernicus Birth: February 19, 1473 Death: May 24, 1543 1492 – Columbus sails the ocean blue and lands in the Americas, only to take over and wipe out almost the entire Native population. While it was an exciting “discovery” for Spain, it meant devastating consequences for others.  1513 – Machiavelli writes The Prince, a […] Continue reading

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Copernicus and the Luthers

Nicolaus Copernicus had the fortune to be born on February 19, 1473 and the misfortune to die on May 24, 1543. This man laid the groundwork for future astronomers who actually did things that we study as more than just history. Before Copernicus, the geocentric model of the universe was the prevailing theory about the universe. […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler Birth December 27, 1571 Death November 15, 1630 The Emperor Rudolph in Prague was in political trouble with his brother Matthias in 1611. Rudolph was forced to give up his position as King of Bohemia. Kepler’s advice was sought out by both brothers. He had been part of Rudolph’s court and Matthias’ rise […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context – Newton

Q#2 Isaac Newton (Born January 4, 1643 Died March 31, 1727)  was a mathematician, physicist, and contributed incredibly to humanity’s scientific knowledge. He created calculus, and formulated the laws of motion, the law of cooling, and universal gravitation. Newton constructed the first reflecting telescope. He observed how a prism splits white light into the visible spectrum […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571- November 15, 1630) discovered the three laws of planetary motion, which Isaac Newton used to create his own set of laws. Kepler also used his discoveries to adjust Copernicus’s vision of the universe, making it so that the Sun had a more active role in causing the planet’s orbits Other Things… Continue reading

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Creative Title For HW6

In 1609 Galileo, improved on the current design of the telescope and used it to make many astronomical discoveries including sunspots, the phases of Venus, and the four largest moons of Jupiter. He was also a supporter of the Copernican theory that the earth revolved around the sun. This eventually led to him to being […] Continue reading

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A Star Is Born

For this assignment I chose to focus on Tycho Brahe: Tycho Brahe (14DEC1546-24OCT1601) is arguably most important to astronomy (and physics) because of his observation of a supernova (SN 1572– which he called a “new star”). Before this observation people still clung to the Aristotelian view of the universe (and physics), Aristotle’s influence in other fields such […] Continue reading

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