Tag Archives: Historical

Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler “The diversity of the phenomena of Nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment”-Kepler HISTORICAL ASTRONOMER One of the most fascinating and revolutionary astronomers in history was Johannes Kepler. He was born in Weil […] Continue reading

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

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

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on archaeoastronomy

Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicholas Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who was born on February 19,1473 and died on May 24, 1543. Copernicus was important to astronomy because he formulated and popularized the idea that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the “universe.” He also accurately described how Earth’s rotation was the cause of sunrise […] Continue reading

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

historical astronomers in context

Johannes Kepler (born December 27, 1571– died November 15, 1630) contributed to the field of astronomy by the formulation of his 3 Laws of Planetary Motion, which were later derived and formalized by Isaac Newton. The laws are 1) that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun at one focal point, 2) that a […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on historical astronomers in context

blog post 06

In 2019, researchers captured the first image of a black hole. They were able to do this by having all the major radio telescopes on Earth act together to simulate a radio telescope that was the size of Earth. Before this, we could only see indirect evidence of the existence of black holes. This particular […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical, Observables | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on blog post 06

blog post 05

In 2006, Pluto was taken off the list of planets, leaving our Solar System with just 8 planets. This demotion occurred 76 years after Pluto was initially added to the list of planets. This decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined what objects could be classified as a planet. An object needs to be […] Continue reading

Posted in Historical, Observables, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on blog post 05

blog post 02

NASA’s James Webb Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021. It is a collaborative effort between NASA (United States), The European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. This telescope has four main areas where its data will be used: considering the first light in the universe, early assembly of galaxies in the universe, birth […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, General, Historical, Observables, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on blog post 02

Historical Vanderbilt Astronomer

If you have spent much time in E. Bronson Ingram residential college on Vanderbilt’s campus, you may have noticed that part of the dorm is named after one Edward Emerson Barnard. As it turns out, Barnard was an astronomer who attended the university from 1883-1887. His research focused on observation and photography of stars and […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Vanderbilt Astronomer

Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) is very well-known for his heliocentric theory which postulated that the sun is the center of the solar system. It had been widely believed that the earth was the center of the universe and it wasn’t until Copernicus that this belief began to shift. Initially the […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

In this post we will be discussing Galileo Galilei in context of his historical era. But first, a little detail about Galilei himself. Galileo Galilei is notable for his astronomical work with the telescope. Using the apparatus that could magnify objects to 20 times their size, he was able to observe the surface of the […] Continue reading

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