FAMOUS ASTRONOMERS IN HISTORY

Hipparchus (190 120 BC)

Believed in an Earth-centred solar system.
Accurately measured the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
Completed the first known star catalogue.
Developed a system for comparing star brightness.
Later astronomers used his work to predict eclipses.
His classification system for the stars is still used in a modified form today.
Claudius Ptolemy (85 165 AD)
He strengthened the belief in an Earth-centred system.
This is called the geocentric model of the Universe.
For more than a thousand years no one seriously questioned his theory.
European scholars learned about his work from Greek and Arab astronomers.

Nicolas Copernicus(1473 1543)

Did not believe the theories of Ptolemy and Hipparchus.
Developed the first Sun-centred model
His model had the five planets orbiting around the sun in crystalline spheres.
Was very secretive about his theory as it contradicted the teachings of the
Church.
His book was very influential but was only printed just before he died.
Tycho Brahe (1546 1601)
Most accurate measurements of the position of the stars and planets so far.
All his observations done without telescopes - had not been invented.
Accepted many of Copernicuss ideas but thought that the planets revolved
around the Sun, which revolved around the Earth.
Lost most of his nose in a duel and had a false one made of gold.
Employed a young German astronomer named Johannes Kepler.

Johannes Kepler (1571 1630)

Became assistant to the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe.
Believed in the theories of Copernicus.
Used Tycho Brahes data to develop my own theories about the movements of
the planets.
Realised that circular orbits for the planets just didnt fit the data, but ellipses did.
Was in contact with Galileo, who told him how to build a new telescope.
Discovered a new star which turned out centuries later to be a supernova.
Galileo Galilei (1564 1642)
Was a very important scientist.
One of the first people to use a telescope.
Observed that Venus had phases like the Moon, so it must orbit the Sun and not
the Earth.
Revived the theories of Copernicus, and got into trouble with the Church.

Was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.
Died blind from staring at the Sun through a telescope.
PUT GLUE HERE!

Sir Isaac Newton (1642 1727)

Developed his famous Laws about gravity and light when home from university
because of the plague.
Did not tell anyone about his ideas for years.
Made famous by inventing the reflecting telescope.
His book about his Laws was called 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'.
It was paid for by Edmund Halley, who also persuaded him to write it.
Edmund Halley (1656 1742)
Halleys Comet is named after him.
He used Newtons laws to calculate the orbit of a comet.
He realised it was the same comet observed by other astronomers in 1607, 1531
and 1456.

He predicted that it would reappear in 1758 - and it did. It is now called

Halleys comet.
Sir William Herschel (1738 1822)
Discovered the first of the modern planets Uranus which made him famous.
Discovered satellites round Saturn and Uranus, and about 5,000 stars.
Made over 400 telescopes, the largest 40 feet (12m) long.
Studied the movement of the stars and realised that the Solar System is moving
through space.
Discovered that the Milky Way is actually a disc-shaped galaxy.
Caroline Herschel (1750 1848)
Her brother taught her astronomy and mathematics, and gave her a telescope.
Found three new nebulae, and then a new comet.
Found eight comets in all.
Updated the star catalogue with 560 new stars.
Was the first woman to be made an honorary member of the Royal Society.

Albert Einstein (1879 1955)

Was a clerk in an office studying pert-time when he published four of the most
important scientific works of the 20th century.

Became a world celebrity, which was very unusual at the time.

Left Germany for the USA in protest at Adolf Hitler.
Opened scientists eyes to the universe and the things that happen there like
black holes, and the fact that gravity bends light.
Edwin Hubble (1889 1953)
Discovered that nebulae were galaxies out in the universe.

Showed that these galaxies were moving away from us.

This proved that the universe was not static, and caused Albert Einstein to say: "I have made my
greatest blunder".
The space telescope named after him has sent back some incredible pictures from deepest
space.