Tag Archives: HW2

Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler: As a young apprentice of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler had years of naked-eye observations to make discoveries with. Between the discrepancies surrounding Tycho’s observations and the Copernican belief that planetary orbits are perfect circles, Kepler surmised that planetary orbits are ellipses. He took his discoveries and named three laws of planetary motion that […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler (Birth date – December 27th, 1571, Death date – November 15th, 1630) Kepler was important to astronomy because he rejected the tens of thousands year old belief that the Earth was the center of the universe and planets orbited in perfect circles. He instead created Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion, which suggest […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) Tycho Brahe was the best naked eye observer of all time. He lived before the invention of the telescope, and therefore had to rely on his vision for all of his observations. He presented a geo-heliocentric model of the solar system in which the sun and moon revolved around Earth but everything […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Of the given astronomers, I chose Tycho Brahe (December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601): Tycho Brahe created precise instruments for observing and measuring the sky before the creation of the telescope. He kept a meticulous record of stars and planets- in particular Mars along with a new model of the solar system which would […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler, who lived from 1571 to 1630, revealed three laws of planetary motion which explain the motion of the planets in the solar system. The first law concerning orbits states that all planets move around the Sun in an elliptic orbit. The second law, the “area law,” implies that a planets angular […] 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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei: Galileo Galilei revolutionized the field of Astronomy by providing conclusive evidence to disprove astronomical misconceptions that had stagnated humanities understanding of the solar system, and the universe, for more than a thousand years. Prior to Galileo, scientists asserted that Earth could not be moving because under that scenario a falling object would land […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

I chose to learn more about Galileo (February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642). Two major historical events that happened during Galileo’s lifetime were: On May 14, 1607, when Galileo was around 43, the colony of Jamestown was founded in what is now Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. In […] Continue reading

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

Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicholas Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. During the time that he was alive, a couple of historically interesting things happened. Of course, Copernicus himself was the first modern astronomer to propose a…

Continue reading

Continue reading

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

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