History of Astronomy

If we look at the stars, we think that the unknown and the future, but more than any other science, astronomy has deep roots in the past. From Stonehenge to Galileo to the Hubble telescope, the following article describes the history of astronomy

Stonehenge

The Egyptians, Maya, and all the Chinese have been keen observers of the sky. Perhaps the best known of the story is that Stonehenge was built for the movement of the sun from the New Stone AgePeople of Great Britain. Stonehenge was important for religious reasons, but people also believed the stars could help guide their lives and predict events. This was in a very practical: to accurately predict the seasons helped farmers plan their crop season. The stars were also a guide to the sky to navigate by sailors on the road.

Around the World

Astronomy is one of the first branches of mathematics knowledge to leave. In 256 BC, the GreekMathematician Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth by using angles of shadows cast by the sun. Around 140 CE Ptolemy, another Greek philosophers, advanced a "geocentric" universe with the sun around the earth orbit.

The telescope

Although the Arab astronomers and astrologers progress in the following centuries, modern astronomy began with the invention of the telescope by the Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey in 1608. The following year, Galileo Galilei used aTelescope and discovered craters on the moon and the four large moons of Jupiter. first telescopes were limited because their glass lenses tend to distort the images. Isaac Newton solved this problem in 1668 with the invention of the telescope, with mirrors instead of lenses. A series of discoveries followed, including the two newly discovered planet Uranus (1781) and Neptune (11 845).

Golden Age of Astronomy

The twentieth century was the golden age ofAstronomy. In 1801, the discovery of the first asteroid, Ceres, was the sky began a flood of new objects in the way the work astronomers and sophistication are growing in diversity. In 1937, Grote Reber built the first radio telescope. Technological advances have possible large telescopes such as the Palomar, which has made a 200-inch mirror.

The Hubble Telescope

Today astronomers have tools to learn more. The best known of these is the HubbleHubble, launched into orbit by Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990. Surprisingly, the Hubble Telescope is still based on the original Newton's reflection! But, and other space instruments are so powerful that they discovered over 200 planets orbiting around other stars.

Amateur Astronomy

Astronomy is unusual because amateurs objects are an important part of the search for new knowledge, the discovery of supernovae, comets, and others. For example, thefamous comet Shoemaker-Levy that struck Jupiter in 1994, was co-discovered by amateur David H. Levy and it is only one of 22 comets that he found!

The future of astronomy is as bright as the stars, astronomers study and for the rest of us. And "one of the few areas you can participate in which non-professionals active in the research of human knowledge.

Source: http://reference-astronomy.chailit.com/history-of-astronomy.html

editorial common billy graham tampa bay rays copd