Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
1577–80 – Taqi al-Din invents a mechanical astronomical clock that measures time in seconds, one of the most important innovations in 16th-century practical astronomy, as previous clocks were not accurate enough to be used for astronomical purposes. [13] 1577–80 – Taqi al-Din invents framed sextant [13]
Mayan astronomers discover an 18.7-year cycle in the rising and setting of the Moon.From this they created the first almanacs – tables of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets for the use in astrology.
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
Astronomy was used by early cultures for a variety of reasons. These include timekeeping, navigation, spiritual and religious practices, and agricultural planning. Ancient astronomers used their observations to chart the skies in an effort to learn about the workings of the universe.
Italian polymath Galileo Galilei was an early user and made prolific discoveries, including the phases of Venus, which definitively disproved the arrangement of spheres in the Ptolemaic system. Galileo also discovered that the Moon was cratered, that the Sun was marked with sunspots , and that Jupiter had four satellites in orbit around it. [ 13 ]
2005 – Spitzer Space Telescope data confirm what had been considered likely since the early 1990s from radio telescope data, i.e., that the Milky Way Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy. [14] [15] 2012 – Astronomers report the discovery of the most distant dwarf galaxy yet found, approximately 10 billion light-years away. [16]
1962 — A.S. Bennett of the Cambridge Radio Astronomy Group publishes the Revised 3C Catalogue of 328 radio sources; 1965 — Gerry Neugebauer and Robert Leighton begin a 2.2 micrometre sky survey with a 1.6-meter telescope on Mount Wilson; 1982 — IRAS space observatory completes an all-sky mid-infrared survey
The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy.They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or technologies within astronomy, or are directors of major observatories or heads of space-based telescope projects.