Laboratory Title: The Superheroes of Astronomy

Your Name: Allison Searfus

Lab Goals: Astronomers are scientists to understand the universe beyond the Earth and the

Earth within the Universe for thousands of years. Astronomers study astronomy.

Astronomy is the study of celestial bodies within the universe. Astronomers look at how these

bodies move, how they came into being and what they are made of. Astronomers use tools,

specifically telescopes to look at celestial bodies. Over time, many important discoveries have

been made through astronomy. Some of the most important foundations for understanding the

universe and the world around us come from Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes

Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Edwin Hubble.

Lab Objectives:

Students will:

Work both in groups and independently to create a superhero of astronomy

story/comic.

Work in groups to decipher which images belong to which superhero story through

researching astronomers Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac

Newton, and Edwin Hubble.

Individually, students will glue the images in the appropriate blank spaces as well as

fill in the blanks in the story.

Create a cover and for their comic which accurately represent the

accomplishments/discoveries of their astronomer.

Answer the questions on the back of the comic book about the importance of their

astronomer’s discoveries, what questions the student might have about the universe

and how might they find the answers.

Benchmark(s) Addressed:

Grade 33.4 Engineering Design: Engineering design is a process that uses science to solve

problems or address needs or aspirations. 3.4D.2 Describe how recent inventions have significantly changed the way people live.

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3.4D.3 Give examples of inventions that enable scientists to observe things that are too small or too far away.

Grade 44.3 Scientific Inquiry: Scientific inquiry is a process of investigation through questioning,

collecting, describing, and examining evidence to explain natural phenomena and artifacts. 4.3S.3 Explain that scientific claims about the natural world use evidence that can be

confirmed and support a logical argument. 4.4 Engineering Design: Engineering design is a process of using science principles to

solve problems generated by needs and aspirations. 4.4D.1 Identify a problem that can be addressed through engineering design using

science principles. Grade 5

5.1 Structure and Function: Living and non-living things are composed of related parts that function together to form systems. 5.1L.1 Explain that organisms are composed of parts that function together to form a

living system. 5.1E.1 Describe the Sun-Earth-Moon system. 5.3S.3 Explain the reasons why similar investigations may have different results.

Materials and Costs:

List the equipment and non-consumable material and estimated cost of each

Item..........................................................................................................................$

Scissors (12 pack; 3 @ 23.88)……………………………………………….. $71.64Sam’s Club http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=144010&navAction=

Astronomer/Astronomy books…………………...available at local/school library

Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost:..........................................................$71.64

List the consumable supplies and estimated cost for presenting to a class of 30 students

Item..........................................................................................................................$

Colored pencils (240 count)…………………………………………………. $34.54Sam’s Clubhttp://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=144161&searchTerm=classpack%20colored%20pencils

Glue sticks (2 x 18 pack) ……………………………………...………………$14.96Sam’s Clubhttp://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=143377

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Copies……………………………………………………………provided by school

Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost:..........................................................$49.50

Time:

Preparation time: Under an hour to buy supplies, make copies and staple together packets.

Instruction time: 2 x 1 hour lessons

Clean-up time: About 10 minutes

Background:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/Astronomers.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomerhttp://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos052.htmhttp://www.satellite-orbits.info/articles/famous-astronomers/index.phphttp://astronomyonline.org/Science/Equipment.asp?Cate=Home&SubCate=MP01&SubCate2=MP0202http://nfo.edu/astro/tools.htmhttp://library.thinkquest.org/C0110484/content.php?id=51http://www.windows2universe.org/people/ren_epoch/copernicus.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocentrismhttp://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/johannes-kepler-biography.htmlhttp://sirius.phy.hr/~dpaar/fizicari/xkepler.htmlhttp://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson110_assignment2_4.htmhttp://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson110_assignment2_4.htmhttp://www.light-science.com/newtonapple.html

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newtongrav.html

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup/lesson/bios/hubble/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttp://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312825/AstroNet/ANCB01.htm

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe.

Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Prehistoric cultures left behind astronomical artifacts such as the Egyptian monuments and Stonehenge, and early civilizations such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians performed methodical observations of the night sky.

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However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even astrology, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics.

During the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of celestial objects, which is then analyzed using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.

Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena.

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars, and galaxies.

Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws. Today, that distinction has mostly disappeared. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a PhD in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities.[1] They spend the majority of their time working on research, although they quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments, or aiding in the operation of an observatory. The number of professional astronomers in the United States is actually quite small.

While the number of professional astronomers worldwide is not much larger than the population of a small town, there is a huge community of amateur astronomers. Most cities have amateur astronomy clubs that meet on a regular basis and often host star parties in their communities.

Astronomers conduct research to understand the nature of the universe and everything in it. These scientists observe, measure, interpret, and develop theories to explain celestial and physical phenomena using mathematics. From the vastness of space to the infinitesimal scale of subatomic particles, they study the fundamental properties of the natural world and apply the knowledge gained to design new technologies. Astronomers use the principles of physics and mathematics to learn about the fundamental nature of the universe and its components, including the sun, moon, planets, stars, and galaxies. As such, astronomy is sometimes considered a subfield of physics. They also apply their knowledge to solve problems in navigation, space flight, and satellite communications and to develop the instrumentation and techniques used to observe and collect astronomical data.

Celestial bodies:

These are the massive objects which define our universe. From our home, Earth, to the stars in the sky, these massive bodies are the product of billions of years of development. Now you can learn about these masses to familiarize yourself with more local objects of the universe.

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Tools of the Astronomer

The earliest people studied the stars with just their naked eyes. Our eyes detect light, and the light forms images on our retinas, the center part of our eyes. Today we can study the universe with everything from binoculars to super strong telescopes.

When Galileo turned the first telescope toward the skies, he was able to see wonderous things - craters on the Moon, dark spots on the surface of the Sun, tiny moons moving aroung Jupiter. No one else had ever seen these things. With modern telescopes we are able to see many more things.

A telescope is like a small bucket. Light from planets, stars and galaxies "rains down" on Earth, and a telescope collects this light and lets us look at the object the light came from.Some telescopes, called refracting telescopes, collect and focus light through a glass lens. Another type, the refleting telescopes, reflect light on a glass mirror. The bigger the telescope the more light it collects, giving us a better view of what we want to look at. TheKeck Telescope in Hawaii is the world's largest optical telescope. It doesn't have just one big mirror, it has 36 little mirrors that fit together like bathroom tile. With the help of a computer, these little mirrors work together like one big 10 meter mirror.The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest orbiting optical telescope in history. Arecibo radio telescope is the largest single-dish telescope in the world right now.

The refracting and reflecting telescopes collect and focus visible light, which is light that we can see. There are also other types of light that we cannot see. Astronomers have built many different types of telescopes to look at all the different types of light. On Earth we can look at visible light and radio waves. Some of the very largest telescopes are radio telescopes, like the VLA in New Mexico. Other types of light, like X-ray light and ultraviolet light, can only be looked at from space, so astronomers have built telescopes in space that orbit the Earth. The most famous is the Hubbell Space Telescope.

With the aid of these tools, we have learned so much more about our Universe than we could have just studying the night sky with our eyes.

Astronomy Tools - Equipment

Astronomers use various types of equipment based on the portion of the E-M Band to be observed. Telescopes and radio dishes are used from the surface of the Earth to study visible light, near infrared light, and radio waves.

Attached to these telescopes are various tools like special made CCD cameras, a wide variety of filters, photometers and spectrometers. These various instruments are designed to record what we normally cannot see with our eyes.

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From space, astronomers use special telescopes to study X-ray and gamma ray emissions. In addition, space based telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope can peer deep into the Universe without atmospheric interference.

Other specialized instruments are also finding their way into main stream astronomy, like neutrino detectors deep underground and gravity wave detectors.

Telescopes and radio dishes are also pairing up to create interferometers to increase the resolution capabilities. Radio dishes are often found as members of a group like the VLA in Socorro, New Mexico.

The following sections will look into the more common pieces of equipment used today to gather valuable data.

Telescopes

The most important tool used in astronomy is the telescope. Here, we will go over the three main types of telescopes, how telescopes work, and how they have been used to advance the science of astronomy.

The main purpose of a telescope is to collect the light reflected or emitted by celestial objects and to transfer a bright image to an eyepiece, where it is magnified. (In simple terms, it makes things that are far away look closer.)

There are three main types of telescopes: the refractor, the reflector and the compound or catadioptric. A refractor uses glass lenses; a reflector uses mirrors; a compound or catadioptric telescope uses a combination of lenses and mirrors.

In a refractor, an objective lens collects the light and brings it to a point or focus. Then, the eyepiece lens takes that point and magnifies the image so that it covers a large area of your retina. The reason that distant objects are fuzzy and unclear is due to the fact that such distant objects as perceived by the human eye cover a very small area of the retina. The retina is full of color and light receptors. The image of the distant object seen without the aid of a telescope doesn't cover enough of the light and color receptors of the retina for you to be able to distinguish detailed features.

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Refractors

Refractors were invented in 1608 by Hans Lippershey of Holland. The telescope was first used by the military. Galileo was the first person to employ the use of telescopes in astronomy. In 1610, Galileo first observed four large moons orbiting Jupiter with the aid of Jupiter. This observation helped to the refute the then prevalent geocentric (earth-centered) theory of planetary motion. The telescope designs of Lippershey and Galileo both utilized a combination of convex and concave lenses. In 1611, Kepler designed a telescope that uses only two convex lenses (the resulting image is upside down). Kepler's improved design is still used to build the telescopes used today.

Diagram of a refractor

The tube of the telescope holds the two lenses of the telescope in place and at the correct distance from each other. The objective lens (the lens at the front) collects light and focuses it on a point down the tube. The image is taken from that point and magnified by the eyepiece. Because the light is bent or refracted by the objective lens, this telescope is called a refractor.

Achromatic and apochromatic refractors are two type of telescopes which use, respectively, coated and specially designed lenses to reduce a condition known as chromatic aberration.

Refractors have fairly good resolution, but it is very difficult to make the lenses that go into them very large. The size of the lens has a finite limit because we currently do not have a material strong enough the make the lens with. Think of it this way: a convex lens has to be supported by its edges and its edges alone. Because of the nature of the shape of the lens, the edges are the thinnest and most fragile part of it.

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Reflectors

The first reflectors were developed by Isaac Newton in 1680; it is unsurprising that one type of reflector is called the Newtonian reflector. In order to get rid of chromatic aberration, Newton used mirrors in his telescope instead of lenses. The collected light is reflected from the mirror to the point of focus. A small mirror is placed in the focal path to deflect the image to the eyepiece (on the side of the tube).

Diagram of a reflector

John Hadley designed a telescope using parabolic mirrors in 1722, and other improvements have been made in the field of mirror-making.

Rich-field telescopes are a type of Newtonian reflector which has relatively low magnification combined with short focal points to capture a wider field of view than traditional telescopes. Another type of Newtonian reflector called the Dobsonian is relatively cheap and ideal for viewing deep sky objects.

Three common problems resulting from the use of mirrors are spherical aberration (light reflected from the edge of the mirror is focused at a different point than light reflected from the center of the mirror), astigmatism (the mirror is not symmetrically ground), and coma (stars near the edge of image look elongated while those located in the center are very bright points).

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Compound/catadioptric telescopes

Compound and catadioptric telescopes are simply a combination of reflectors and refractors. They utilize both lenses and mirrors to help collect and focus light. A German astronomer named Bernhard Schmidt made the first compound telescope in 1930.

Popular compound telescope designs are the Schmidt-Cassegrain, the Maksutov and the Maksutov-Cassegrain.

Radio, infrared, UV, and X-ray telescopes

Radio telescopes are large contraptions (consisting of dish reflectors, amplifiers, antennae, and recorders) used to detect miniscule amounts of radio waves and coming our way from the universe. Radio telescopes are limited because they pick up lots of interference and have low resolutions. X-Ray, UV, and infrared telescopes are other types of special telescopes that let us see objects in space from different points of view and through different wavelenghts of radiation. They (primarily X-ray and radio telescopes) have been used to detect Quasars, Pulsars, distant active galaxies, and are used in the SETI program.

The Hubble Telescope

The Hubble Telescope was released into orbit on April 24, 1990. It is the largest orbiting telescope ever built and can detect objects 50 times further away than earth-based telescopes can detect. Hubble has a giant mirror that can be angled in different directions and the images it receives are sent through cameras and spectrographs. It has been

Famous Astronomers

For centuries, many famous astronomers have made great contributions to the science of astronomy. Without the efforts of Ptolemy, Galileo and Isaac Newton, we certainly would not know nearly as much about the planets and stars as we do today.  Today, we often take for granted the amount of data astronomers have gathered about our planet, the solar system and other galaxies. However, people weren't always so lucky or so knowledgeable. Before the telescope was invented, people could only study the stars with their naked eyes. Thus, early astronomers focused on following the paths of stars, planets and more in order to determine seasons.

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 As time progressed, society and especially people interested in astronomy became more and more interested in uncovering the mysteries of the heavens. A number of countries, including India, Greece, China and Egypt, created observatories in which astronomers could map the locations of planets and stars. From these early observations, astronomers developed the geocentric model of the universe, in which the Earth is believed to be at the center of the universe. During the Scientific Revolution, the period in which Copernicus, Galileo, Isaac Newton and more studied, astronomy made great strides. These famous astronomers made great contributions to astronomy and also developed new technology for studying the planets and stars.

ADAMS, JOHN C.John Couch Adams (1819-1892) was an English astronomer and mathematician who, at 24 years

old, predicted the existence of the planet Neptune (Le Verrier also predicted its existence, independently).

AIRY, GEORGESir George Bidell Airy (1801-1892) was the director of Greenwich Observatory/Astronomer Royal of England from 1835 to 1881. Airy installed a transit (a precise surveying device) at Greenwich, England, which was used to define the zero degree meridian of the Earth (zero-

degrees longitude). A crater on Mars about 5 degrees south of the equator and on what is defined as Mars' prime meridian (zero-degrees longitude) is call Airy. A small crater within this

crater (which is called Airy-0) is where the meridian line (zero-degrees longitude) crosses. A crater on the moon is also named for him (latitude 18.1 degrees, longitude 354.3 degrees, diameter 36 km). Airy is supposed to have stated incorrectly that Charles Babbage's new "analytical engine" (the predecessor of the computer) was "worthless," effectively ending

Babbage's government funding.

ARISTOTLEAristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher who theorized about astronomy. Using only philosophical speculation (he did no scientific observations), Aristotle

believed that the universe is spherical, finite, and centered around the Earth. Aristotle, like many others of his time, believed that the circle was the "perfect"

shape, so the universe must be spherical, and all the orbits in it must also be circular. He also believed that celestial bodies were composed of ether (in

addition to the four other basic elements believed to exist at that time, earth, air, fire, water). Aristotle's ideas were adopted by the Church and were not tested for over a thousand years, until

Galileo, who was tried for heresy when his experimentation showed Aristotle to be wrong.

D'ARREST, H.L.Heinrich Louis d'Arrest (1822-1875) was a Danish astronomer and the co-discoverer of Neptune

(in 1846), with Galle.

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BARNARD, E. E.Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923) was an American astronomer who discovered Barnard's star (the star system second-closest to us) in 1916, 16

comets, and Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter, in 1892.

BAYER, JOHANNESJohannes Bayer (1564-1617) was a Bavarian (German) astronomer who first named stars by

assigning them to constellations and giving them Greek letters (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc.), in magnitude classes (by decreasing brightness). Bayer published Uranometria (a detailed star

chart/catalog) in 1603.

BEG, ULUGHUlugh Beg (1359-1449) was a Persian astronomer who cataloged 1012 stars and made detailed

observations of the moon and planets. He also determined the inclination of the plane of the ecliptic.

BELL, JOCELYNSusan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943- ) is an astronomer who discovered the existence of pulsars in 1967, while she was a graduate student at Cambridge University. A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star that emits energy in pulses. Bell's graduate advisor (Anthony Hewish) was given a share of the 1974 Nobel Prize, but Bell was ignored. No one had any idea what these unusual objects were at the time, so the name little green men (LGM) was used. Soon, Thomas Gold

suggested that pulsars were rapidly-spinning neutron stars, the remnants of a supernova.

BESSEL, FRIEDRICHFriedrich Wilhelm Bessel (July 22, 1784-March 17, 1846) was a German astronomer and

mathematician who cataloged about 50,000 stars, mathematically predicted the existence of a planet beyond Uranus (1840), was the first person to see the "motion" of a star due to parallax

(observing 61 Cygni), was the first person to calculate the distance to a star (observing 61 Cygni - 10.3 light-years from Earth), realized that there were dark stars, devised the famous Bessel

function (a mathematical function), and made many other contributions to science.

BOND, WILLIAM C.William Cranch Bond (1789-1859) was an American astronomer who, with William Lassell, discovered Saturn's moon Hyperion in 1848. He was the first director of the Harvard College

Observatory.

BRAHE, TYCHOTycho (Tyge) Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish astronomer who made

extensive and seminal calculations of the orbits of the planets. His work (done without a telescope) was the basis upon which Kepler made his revolutionary orbital formulas. He worked with Kepler for a few years before his death, and Kepler edited his principal work, Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata,

("Exercises Toward a Restored Astronomy"). He also observed the "new star" (really a nova) in Cassiopeia in 1572. He observed a comet in 1577 and was

realized that it was not in the atmosphere, but was in space. He corrected most astronomical quantities. Although he incorrectly believed that the Earth was at the center of the

universe and that the sun and the stars revolved around the Earth, he did accept part of the

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Copernican theory, that the other planets orbit the sun. He had a nose made of gold; he lost most of his real nose in a duel about mathematics!

BRUNO, GIORDANOGiordano (Filippo) Bruno (1548-1600) was an Italian philosopher, poet, and priest who spread

the ideas of Copernicus as well as his own ideas that there were an infinity of worlds in the universe and that the stars were other suns. He was burned at the stake for heresy.

CALLIPUSCallipus of Cyzicus (370 - 300 BC) was an ancient Greek who accurately measured the length

of the seasons. Callipus improved the Greek calendar, reconciling the lunar month with the solar year, by introducing a unit of time called the Callippic cycle (it was an improvement on the

Metonic cycle of 6939.6 days or 19 solar years or 235 lunar months; the Callippic cycle was 4 Metonic cycles). He also added to the (incorrect) theory of the motions of the plants, as spheres

within spheres, adding 7 more spheres to Eudoxus' system.

CANNON, ANNIE J.Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941) was an American astronomer who cataloged 225,300 stars in

the HD (Henry Draper) catalog; every star is classified by its stellar spectra. Cannon and Edward C. Pickering (director of the Harvard Observatory) published the original HD catalog (9

volumes) from 1918 to 1924. The catalog was later expanded by Cannon and Margaret W. Mayall in 1949.

CASSINI, G. D.Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712) was an astronomer born in Italy

who later became a naturalized French citizen. He discovered four of Saturn's moons (Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus) and a dark division in Saturn's

rings (called the Cassini Division).

CAVENDISH, HENRYHenry Cavendish (1731-1810) was an English chemist and physicist. Cavendish discovered that hydrogen gas was a substance different from ordinary air (whose components he analyzed), he

described the composition of water (hydrogen and oxygen) and made other important discoveries. Cavendish was the first person to determine Isaac Newton's gravitational constant

and accurately measured the Earth's mass and density.

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CELSIUS, ANDERSAnders Celsius (1701-1744) was a Swedish professor of astronomy who devised the Celsius thermometer. He also ventured to the far north of Sweden with an expedition

in order to measure the length of a degree along a meridian, close to the pole, later comparing it with similar measurements made in the Southern Hemisphere. This

confirmed that that the shape of the earth is an ellipsoid which is flattened at the poles. He also cataloged 300 stars. With his assistant Olof Hiorter, Celsius discovered the magnetic basis for

auroras.

CHAMBERLAIN, THOMAS C.Thomas Chrowder Chamberlain (Sept. 25, 1843 - Nov. 15, 1928) was an American geologist

and teacher who proposed the planetesimal hypothesis of the formation of the Solar System. In this theory, a star is supposed to have passed near the Sun, pulling matter away from the Sun.

Later, this matter is to have condensed into larger masses, forming the planets.

CHANDRASEKHAR, S.Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Born Lahore, India on Oct. 19, 1910 -Died Chicago, USA in

1995) was an Indian-American astrophysicist who studied stellar physics, evolution, and black holes. He realized that the fate of dying stars depended upon their mass, and above a certain point (1.4 times the mass of the Sun, now known as the "Chandrasekhar limit"), a star will

undergo extreme collapse and not simply becomes a white dwarf. He won the Nobel prize in physics in 1983. The orbiting X-ray Observatory Chandra was named to honor S.

Chandrasekhar.

CHARLIER, CARL V. L.Carl Vilhelm Ludvig Charlier (1862-1932) was a Swedish astronomer

who studied celestial mechanics, the calibration of photographic photometry, and the theory of lenses. Charlier also worked in statistics, including the theory of errors; he studied the distribution and motions

of stars. Charlier showed that hotter stars and galactic clusters formed flattened systems. In Charlie's hierarchical model of the Universe, he argued that the Universe has infinite mass, and

that the density of matter approaches zero as one goes farther into space (resolving Olber's paradox). A 100 km wide crater on Mars (at 68.6 south, 168.4 west, shown above) was named

for Charlier in 1973.

COPERNICUS, NICOLAUSNicholas Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who lived between 1473-

1543. He was born in Torun, Poland to a middle class family. He attended school at Cracow and eventually moved on to Italy where he received a

degree in mathematical science.

Before Copernicus, people believed in the popular Ptolemaic model of the solar system, which said that the Earth was the center of the universe or the geocentric

theory.

But the geocentric model was bad at helping astronomers know the positions of the planets, so in 1543, Copernicus started a scientific revolution when he published the heliocentric theory (helios means Sun in Greek).

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In Copernicus’ heliocentric model all the planets, including Earth, revolved around the Sun. This was a very upsetting idea at the time and Copernicus was seen as a troublemaker because of this idea. He also introduced a system which could calculate the positions of the planets correctly at any time.

The heliocentric model was added to by other astronomers Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei.

N=R*fs*fp*ne*fl*fi*fc*L

DRAKE, FRANKFrank Drake (1930-) is an American radio astronomer who, in 1961, formulated an equation for very-rough estimates of the possible number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy (the Drake

equation).

DRAPER, HENRYDraper, Henry (1837-1882) was an American astronomer. He was also an early astronomical photographer. In September, 1880, Draper took the first photograph of a distant astronomical

object (the Orion Nebula). He also studied stellar spectra and was the first person to photograph stellar spectral lines. The Henry Draper system of star identification (HD) system of stellar

classification was named for Draper. His father, John William Draper (1811-1882), who was a chemist, took the first photographs (using a five-inch reflector telescope) of the moon in 1839-

1840.

EDDINGTON, ARTHURArthur Eddington (1882-1945) was an English astronomer who first described the internal

structure of a star.

EINSTEIN, ALBERTAlbert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German/American physicist. He

revolutionized our conception of the universe with his Theories of Special and General Relativity.

Special relativity supplanted Newtonian mechanics, yielding different results for very fast-moving objects. The Theory of Special Relativity is based on the idea that speed has an upper bound; nothing can pass the speed of light. The theory also states that time and distance measurements are not absolute but are instead relative to the observer's frame of reference. Space and time

are viewed as aspects of a single phenomenon, called space-time. Energy and momentum are similarly linked. As a result, mass can be converted into huge amounts of energy, and vice

versa, according to the formula E=mc2.

General Relativity expands the theory to include acceleration and gravity, both of which are explained via the curvature of space-time.

Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for explaining the photoelectric effect. His theories explained the perturbations in the orbits of Mercury.

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ENCKE, JOHANNJohann Encke discovered the Encke Division in 1837. This division

splits the A Ring, the outermost of the major rings of Saturn. This gap is 200 miles (325 km) wide and is 83,000 miles (133,570 km) from the

center of Saturn.

ERATOSTHENESEratosthenes (276-194 BC) was a Greek scholar who was the first person to determine the

circumference of the Earth. He compared the midsummer's noon shadow in deep wells in Syene (now Aswan on the Nile in Egypt) and Alexandria. He properly assumed that the Sun's rays are

virtually parallel (since the Sun is so far away ). Knowing the distance between the two locations, he calculated the circumference of the Earth to be 250,000 stadia. Exactly how long a

stasia is is unknown, so his accuracy is uncertain. He also accurately measured the tilt of the Earth's axis and the distance to the sun and moon, and devised a method for determining the

prime numbers up to a given number (the Sieve of Eratosthenes). Eratosthenes made numerous contributions to the sciences and arts in many fields, including geography, mathematics,

astronomy, chronography (calendars), music, and literature. Eratosthenes was a brilliant all-around scholar; although not the top expert on any topic, he was well-versed in all subjects, and

therefore nicknamed "Beta" (which is the second letter of the Greek alphabet).

EUDOXUS OF CNIDUSEudoxus of Cnidus (408-355 B.C.) was a Greek scholar (perhaps a student of Plato) who

theorized that the Earth was at the center of the universe and that the other celestial objects (stars and planets) were set into geometric spheres around the Earth. His major contribution was

inventing the modern notion of real numbers.

FIZEAU, HIPPOLYTEArmand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau Fizeau (1819-1896) was a French physicist who was the first person to measure the speed of light on the Earth's surface. He measured the speed of light in

1849 using a device that consisted of a light, a toothed wheel and a distant mirror. He calculated light's speed by adjusting the speed of the wheel (the distance between wheel and mirror was 5 mi/8 km) so that the time it took the wheel to move the width of one tooth was equal to the time

it took the light to travel from the wheel to the mirror and back again. He also measured the speed of light in other media, and found that light travels faster in air than in water. Fizeau also realized that the motion of a star affects its spectrum. He also did early work in daguerreotype

photography.

FOUCAULT, JEANJean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868) was a French physicist who was the first to

demonstrate how a pendulum could track the rotation of the Earth (the Foucault pendulum) in 1851. He also invented the gyroscope (1852), showed that light travels more slowly in water

than in air (1850), and improved the mirrors of reflecting telescopes (1858).

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FRAUNHOFER, JOSEPHJoseph Fraunhofer (1787-1826) was a German physicist who first studied the

Sun's spectra (these dark lines are now called Fraunhofer lines). His work with the spectra and also with diffraction gratings was seminal in the science of

spectroscopy.

GALILEI, GALILEO( Feb. 15, 1564-Jan. 8, 1642)

Shortly after the death of Copernicus the next great Astronomer was born.  His name was Galileo.  Galileo was the first Astronomer to use what we call science to find out what the Universe is made of.  Copernicus was right, but he was only guessing.  Galileo was not going to guess. 

In the fall of 1609 Galileo heard about a new invention called a telescope.  He decided to build a telescope and use it to look at the Universe.  Up until now people had only been able to guess what the Universe was, but Galileo was actually going to look at it and find out the truth.

He looked at the Milky Way and discovered that it was made up of millions of stars, each at a different distance from the Earth. 

When he looked at the Moon he discovered mountains, valleys, and craters.  Everyone at that time thought the Moon was also a perfectly round ball.  Galileo discovered that it was not.

He noticed that the planets Mercury and Venus pass through phases just like the Moon.  The only way they could do that is if they circled the Sun, and not the Earth, like Copernicus said.

And most importantly of all Galileo discovered four moons around Jupiter.  This meant that everything in the Universe did not circle the Earth.  He could clearly see four moons which circled Jupiter.

The most important thing about Galileo is that he was not guessing.  He could clearly prove to anyone that what he had discovered was true.

GALLE, GOTTFRIEDJohann Gottfried Galle (1812-1910) was a German astronomer who discovered the crepe ring of

Saturn (in 1838) and was a co-discoverer (with d'Arrest) of Neptune (in 1846).

GAMOW, GEORGEGeorge Gamow (March 4, 1904-Aug. 19, 1968) was a nuclear physicist, cosmologist, and writer who formulated the Big Bang Theory (with Ralph Alpher in 1948), worked on quantum theory,

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stellar evolution, and did work on genetic theory (proposing the existence of DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid in 1954). Gamow's popular books included: Mr. Tomkins in Wonderland (1936), the "Mr. Tomkins" series (1939-67), One, Two, Three ... Infinity (1947), The Creation of the Universe (1952; revised edition 1961), A Planet Called Earth (1963), and A Star Called

the Sun (1964).

GODDARD, ROBERTRobert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882-August 10, 1945) was an American physicist and

inventor who is known as the father of modern rocketry. In 1907, Goddard proved that a rocket's thrust can propel it in a vacuum. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents: for liquid-fueled

rockets and for two- to three-stage rockets that use solid fuel. In 1919, Goddard wrote a scientific article, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," describing a high-altitude rocket; it was published in a Smithsonian report. Goddard's many inventions were the basis upon which

modern rocketry is based.

After many years of failed attempts and public ridicule, Goddard's first successful rocket was launched on March 16, 1926 from a relative's farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. It was a liquid-

fueled 10-ft. rocket that he called Nell. The flight lasted 2 1/2 seconds; the rocket flew a distance of 184 feet and achieved an altitude of 41 feet.

Goddard soon moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where he developed more sophisticated multi-stage rockets, rockets with fins (vanes) to steer them (1932), a gyro control device to control the rocket (1932), and supersonic rockets (1935). In 1937, Goddard launched the first rocket with a pivotable motor on gimbals using his gyro control device. Altogether, Robert Goddard had 214

patents.

For more information on Goddard, click here.

GREGORY, JAMESJames Gregory (1638-1675), a Scottish mathematician, invented the first reflecting telescope in 1663. He published a description of the reflecting telescope in "Optica

Promota," which was published in 1663. He never actually made the telescope, which was to have used a parabolic and an ellipsoidal mirror.

GUTENBERG, BENOBeno Gutenberg ( June 4, 1889 - 1960) was a German geophysicist. In 1913, he accurately determined the size of the core of the Earth. Gutenberg discovered that the Earth has a low-

velocity zone in the upper mantle; this zone is now called the Gutenberg discontinuity. Gutenberg published a series of papers with Charles Richter (they were titled "On Seismic

Waves" and published between 1931 and 1939) and Seismicity of the Earth (published in 1941).

HADLEY, JOHN H.John Hadley (1682-1744) was an English mathematician and inventor who built the first reflecting telescope and invented an improved quadrant (known as Hadley's quadrant).

HALE, GEORGE E.George Ellery Hale (June 9, 1868 - February 21, 1938) was an astronomer who founded the

Yerkes Observatory (1892), the Mt. Wilson Observatory (in 1904), and the Palomar

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Observatory. Hale invented the spectroheliograph (a device used to analyse the Sun's spectrum) when he was an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge,

Massachusetts, USA). Later, Hale discovered that sunspots were low-temperature areas on the sun and that they had high magnetic fields.

HALL, ASAPHAsaph Hall (1829-1907) was an American astronomer who discovered Mars' two moons,

Phobos and Deimos, on August 12, 1877, at the U. S. Naval Observatory's 26-inch refracting telescope.

HALLEY, EDMUNDEdmund Halley (1656-1742) was an English astronomer who predicted the return of a

spectacular comet in 1758 (after his death, this was confirmed by Johann G. Palitzsch). This comet had previously been seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682. This comet is now known as Halley's

Comet.

HARTMANN, JOHANNES F.Johannes Franz Hartmann (1865-1936) was a German astrophysicist who, in 1904, discovered clouds of interstellar calcium gas (he detected the absorption lines of ionized calcium atoms using spectrography while studying binary stars). He also developed a theory about novas,

studied the asteroid #433 (Eros) and developed a method of testing telescope lenses, which is still named for him.

HAWKING, STEPHENStephen Hawking (1942- ) is a British physicist and cosmologist. His work centers on the

physics of black holes and singularities in space-time. Hawking (1971) proposed that early after the Big Bang, mini-black holes existed, obeying quantum-mechanical laws due to their sub-

atomic size. Hawking (1974) hypothesized that black holes emit subatomic particles until they explode.

HELMHOLTZ, HERMANN VONHermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894) was a German

astrophysicist who studied solar energy production and star formation. See Helmholtz contraction.

HERSCHEL, WILLIAMSir William Herschel (1738-1822) was a British astronomer and organist who

built an improved reflecting telescope and used it to discover the planet Uranus (March 13, 1781) and moons of Uranus and of Saturn. Herschel cataloged over 2500 discoveries, mostly deepsky objects. Herschel's sister Caroline Lucretia

Herschel (1750-1848) helped him in his discoveries and discovered many clusters and nebulae (and 8 comets) herself.

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HERTZSPRUNG, EJNAREjnar Hertzsprung (1873-1967) was a Danish

astronomer who, independently of H. N. Russell, realized the relationship between a star's temperature

(color) and its brightness, and designed a diagram illustrating this relationship in 1911, later called the

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.

HEVELIUS, JOHANNESJohannes Hevelius (1611-1687) was a German astronomer who published the first moon map. He also published a celestial atlas introducing many constellations (including Canes Venatici,

Lacerta, Lynx, Sextans, etc.).

HIPPARCHUSHipparchus (190-120 B.C.) was an ancient Greek astronomer who compiled first-

known catalogue of stars and first map of the skies. He listed 850-1,000 stars, organized by constellation. He noted each star's position and brightness (he rated

the brightness on a scale from 1 to 6, the brightest being 1). Hipparchus also devised the system of epicycles, an Earth-centered system in all celestial objects

moved in perfect circles around the Earth. He also founded trigonometry.

Edwin Hubble received his first telescope — a gift built by his grandfather — when he was only 8 years old. Hubble developed an early passion for astronomy but put off pursuing his dream because his father, an insurance agent, wanted him to study law.

Yet he continued to pursue astronomy studies, and in 1915 earned time on one of the Yerkes Observatory telescopes, launching his new career

Using the Hooker 100-inch reflector on Mount Wilson, Hubble found that the Andromeda nebula, a cloudy patch in the sky, was so far away it could not be within our own galaxy. This illustrated that the universe is vast, and the Milky Way is just a small object within it. Later, by examining the light of distant galaxies, he showed that the universe is expanding, and that everything in it is moving away from everything else. This is called Hubble’s Laws

Hubble’s discoveries would change the way we viewed the universe and Today, the famous Hubble Space Telescope, which has gathered important data and images since it went into orbit in 1990, is named in his honor.

HUGGINS, WILLIAM and MARGARETSir William Huggins (February 7, 1824-May 12, 1910) was an amateur English astronomer who was the first person to use spectroscopy to determine the compositions of astronomical objects

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(in 1861). He determined that the Sun and the stars are composed mostly of the element hydrogen. He also examined the spectra of nebulae and comets. Huggins' wife (they were

married in 1875), Margaret Lindsay Murray Huggins (1848-1915), was a self-taught astronomer who did extensive work in spectroscopy and photography. Margaret studied the Orion Nebula extensively. William and Margaret were the first people to realize that some nebulae, like the Orion Nebula, consisted of amorphous gases (and were not a congregation of stars, like the nebula Andromeda). A lunar crater, a Martian crater, and an asteroid (#2635 Huggins) have

been named for William Huggins.

HUYGENS, CHRISTIANChristian Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch physicist and astronomer who developed new methods for grinding and polishing glass telescope lenses (about 1654). With his new, powerful telescopes, he identified

Saturn's rings and discovered Titan, the largest moon of Saturn in 1655. Huygens also invented the pendulum clock in 1656 (eliminating springs), wrote the first work on the calculus of probability (De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae, 1655), and proposed the wave theory of light (Traité de la lumiere,

1678).

HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIAHypatia of Alexandria (AD 370(?)-415) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, teacher, and head of the Platonist school at Alexandria about AD 400. Hypatia wrote commentaries on the astronomical canon of Ptolemy and did work on conic sections . Her works are lost, but are referred to in the Suda lexicon. She was the daughter of the mathematician and philosopher

Theon of Alexandria (he was also the last head of the Museum at Alexandria). A pagan, she was murdered in 415 by Christian monks in a religious/political struggle. The lunar Crater Hypatia

and Rimae Hypatia were named for her.

JANSKY, KARLKarl G. Jansky (1905-1949) was an American radio engineer who pioneered and developed

radio astronomy. In 1932, he detected the first radio waves from a cosmic source - in the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy. Jansky's work was continued by Grote Reber.

KELVINLord Kelvin, William Thompson (1824 - 1907) designed the Kelvin temperature scale in which 0 K is defined as absolute zero and the size of one unit is the same

as the size of one degree Celsius. Water freezes at 273.16 K; water boils at 373.16 K.

KEPLER, JOHANNESJohannes Kepler made major contributions in the areas of astronomy and optics. In fact, some consider him to be the founder of modern optics and he was the First to explain the principles of how a telescope works;

Kepler's theories and discoveries have helped give us a better understanding of our world.

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Johannes Kepler was born on December 27th, in the year 1571. He was born in Weil Der Stadt, in the southwestern part of Germany. Which at the time was part of the Roman Empire.

In February of 1600, Kepler met Tycho Brahe. He stayed with Tycho for the next two months and the two astronomers began to exchange ideas.After Tycho died Kepler was able to use his data and many contributions to the field of astronomy were greatly helped by Tycho Brahe's research. Giving up the ancient belief that the planets must move in perfect circles, Kepler concentrated on the planet Mars. He proved that the orbit of Mars is not a perfect circle but an ellipse.In his discovery that planets go around the sun in elliptical orbits Kepler came up with what we now call "Kepler's Three Laws" of planetary motion that mathematically describe the elliptical orbits of celestial objects. Kepler lived until 1630.

.

KIRCHOFF, GUSTAVGustav Kirchoff (1824-1887) was a German physicist who realized that each element gave off a characteristic color of light when heated to incandescence. When separated by a prism, the light for each element had a specific pattern of wavelengths. Kirchoff, together with Bunsen, used his techniques to discover two new elements, cesium (1860) and rubidium (1861). Kirchoff found that when light shines through a gas, the gas absorbs some of the light, the same

wavelengths of light that it would emit when heated. He applied his techniques to the Sun, explaining Fraunhofer lines.

KIRKWOOD, DANIELDaniel Kirkwood (1814-1895) was an American astronomer who discovered the radial gaps in the asteroid belt in 1866 (now known as the Kirkwood gaps). Kirkwood also hypothesized that

Saturn's moon Enceladus creates the Cassini division with its gravitational attraction (but astronomers today think that Mimas causes it).

KUIPER, GERARDGerard P. Kuiper was a Dutch-American astronomer who who predicted the existence of the

Kuiper belt in 1951. The Kuiper belt is a region beyond Neptune in which at least 70,000 small objects orbit. This belt is located from 30 to 50 (?) A.U.'s and was discovered in 1992. It is a

region where the planet-building process was stopped in before any large objects were formed; there are only primitive remnants from the early accretion disk of the solar system, 4.5 billion years ago. The Kuiper belt may be the source of the short-period comets (like Halley's comet).

LASSELL, WILLIAMWilliam Lassell was an amateur English astronomer (a brewer by trade) who discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune (in 1846) and Ariel, the brightest moon of Uranus in 1851. With

W.C. Bond, he discovered Saturn's moon Hyperion in 1848.

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LEAVITT, HENRIETTAHenrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921) was an American astronomer

who first described the relationship between the period and the brightness (luminosity) of Cepheid variable stars. She also discovered

1,777 variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds.

LEMAITRE, GEORGESGeorges LeMaitre (1894-1966) was a Belgian mathematician who developed the Big Bang

Theory of the formation of the universe.

LE VERRIER, URBAINUrbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (1811-1877) was a French astronomer who predicted the

existence and position of the planet Neptune using orbital calculations.

LINDBLAD, BERTILBertil Lindblad (1895 - 1965) was a Swedish astronomer who theorized that the areas around the center of a galaxy revolves. Oort proved that this does indeed happen. He studied the structure and dynamics of star clusters, estimated the Milky Way's galactic mass, the period of our Sun's

orbit, confirmed Harlow Shapley's direction and approximate distance to the center of the Galaxy, and developed spectroscopic means of distinguishing between giant and main sequence

stars.

LIPPERSHEY, HANSHans Lippershey (1570?-1619) was a German-born

Dutch lens maker who demonstrated the first refracting telescope in 1608, made from two lenses; he applied for a patent for this optical refracting telescope (using 2 lenses)

in 1608, intending it for use as a military device.

LOWELL, PERCIVALPercival Lowell (1855-1916) was an American astronomer who founded the Lowell

Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona in 1894. Lowell studied Mars extensively, especially its surface markings, which he thought were canals. He also thought that the bright areas were

deserts and the dark ones were areas containing vegetation (this was not true). Lowell published three books on Mars: Mars (1895), Mars and Its Canals (1906), and Mars As the Abode of Life

(1908). Lowell also calculated that an unknown planet, dubbed Planet X, must orbit beyond Neptune. Percival Lowell calculated the rough location of Planet "X's" orbit, but died in 1916, before it was found. This planet was eventually found by the American astronomer Clyde W.

Tombaugh in 1930 and named Pluto). Tombaugh did his observations at the Lowell Observatory.

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MARIUS, SIMONSimon (Mayr) Marius (1570-1624), was a German astronomer and physician who studied with Kepler and attended Galileo's lectures. He claimed to have discovered

the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610, the same year that Galileo discovered them (independently).

MESSIER, CHARLESCharles Messier (1730-1817), was a French astronomer who searched the skies for comets. He compiled a list of 103 fuzzy objects (nébuleuse sans étoile, or starless nebulosities) in space in

order not to mistake star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae for comets (for which he was searching). The Messier list has been added to and now consisted of 35 galaxies, 30 open clusters, 29

globular clusters, 4 planetary nebulae, 7 diffuse nebulae, and two unconfirmed objects (which were mistaken for nebulae by Messier).

MITCHELL, MARIAMaria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 -June 28, 1889 ) was the first woman Professor of Astronomy

of the United States. In 1865, Maria Mitchell became a professor of astronomy at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York (she had previously been a librarian) . She discovered a

comet (in 1847), studied the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and photographed many stars. Despite her accomplishments, when she visited the Vatican Observatory in Italy, she was only allowed to enter the observatory during the day. Maria Mitchell was the first woman accepted into the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1848), the Association for the Advancement of Science (1850), and the American Philosophical Society (1869). Mitchell was one of the

founders of the American Association for the Advancement of Women (1873).

MOHOROVICIC, ANDRIJAAndrija Mohorovicic (1857 - 1936) was a Yugoslavian geophysicist. After examining seismic

waves from the 1909 Kulpa Valley earthquake, Mohorovicic theorized that a boundary between the Earth's crust and the upper mantle existed (about 50 km beneath the surface) in which the

speed of earthquake waves became very rapid. This region is now called the Mohorovicic discontinuity. A crater on the far side of the moon was also named for Mohorovicic.

MOORE, PATRICKPatrick Moore (1923- ) is an English astronomer who has written over 60 books on astronomy and made regular BBC television appearances popularizing astronomy. He has done work on

lunar mapping.

MULLER, JOHANNJohann Müller, also known as Johann Regiomontanus (1436-1476) was a German astronomer and mathematician. He studied trigonometry, translating Ptolemy's Almagest, from the original Greek. Ironically, his translation helped overthrow the Ptolemaic view of the universe (in which

the Earth was thought to be at the center of the universe). He also did work on plane and spherical trigonometry. Muller also obsesrved the motion of the moon, planets, and comets. A 108 km diameter lunar crater, called Regiomontanus (Latitude: -28.3 degrees, Longitude: 1.0

degrees), was named for Muller.

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NEWTON, ISAACIsaac Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642 His father died only a few weeks before he was born and his mother was very poor. No one really expected that a genius would be born into a family lacking riches or money, but Newton proved them wrong.

  He invented Calculus a difficult type of math, he discovered prisms which help scientists better understand light, he invented a new type of telescope and he discovered the laws of motion which explain how things move in space.

He is most important for being the first person to explain how gravity works. After seeing an apple drop from a tree he thought that if

the force of gravity reaches to the top of the highest tree, might it not reach even further; in particular, might it not reach all the way to the orbit of the Moon! Using math I showed that the gravity of earth pulling down on the rotating moon explains its circular orbit.

Newton then reasoned that if gravity explained the curved path of the moon, then couldn't it also explain the curved path of all the planets and celestial bodies in the solar system? Newton said that just as the earth holds the moon, the sun would hold the earth and all the other planets. This is called the Universal Law of Gravitation. The sun's force of gravity will hold all the planets in their orbits.

When Newton died on March 20, 1727, at the age of 85, he was buried in Westminster Abbey. This was an honor reserved for only the greatest men of England.

OLBERS, HEINRICHHeinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (1758-1840) was a German astronomer and physician who

published Olbers' paradox (Why is the sky dark at night? or Why doesn't starlight make the night sky bright?) (1823), determined that Uranus is a planet, not a comet (1781), discovered Olbers's comet (1815), the asteroids #2 Pallas (1802) and #4 Vesta (1807), and formulated a

method for calculating comet orbits.

OORT, JAN H.Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992) was a Dutch astronomer who calculated the distance to the

middle of the Milky Way galaxy, mapped our galaxy, proved that the areas around the center of a galaxy revolves, and proposed the existence of the Oort Cloud in the 1950's. The Oort Cloud is

a cloud of rocks and dust that may surround our solar system. This cloud may be where long-period comets originate. It has been hypothesized that the Oort Cloud is responsible for the

periodic mass extinctions on Earth.

PIAZZI, GIUSEPPEGiuseppe Piazzi (1746-1826) was an Italian astronomer who discovered and named the first

(and largest) asteroid, Ceres, on January 1, 1801. Asteroids are large, rocky objects that orbit the Sun in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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PTOLEMYClaudius Ptolemaeus or Ptolemy (about 87-150) was a Greek astronomer and

mathematician who wrote about his belief that all celestial bodies revolved around the Earth. His writings influenced people's ideas about the universe for over a

thousand years, until the Copernican System (with a heliocentric solar system) was accepted.

PYTHAGORASPythagoras of Samos (569-475 BC) was a Greek philosopher, mathematician,

and astronomer who founded a philosophical and religious school, the Pythagorean school in Croton, Italy. Pythagoras believed that the Earth was a

sphere at the center of the Universe. He correctly realized that the morning star and the evening star were the same object, the planet Venus. Pythagoras (or the

Pythagoreans) made a number of fundamental mathematical discoveries: that for a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse (known

as the Pythagorean theorem); that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles; and that irrational numbers exist. A 142 km wide lunar crater was named for Pythagoras

(Latitude 63.5°, Longitude 63.0°).

REBER, GROTEGrote Reber (Dec. 11. 1911-Dec. 20. 2002) was a radio engineer and pioneering amateur astronomer who was the first person to follow up Karl Jansky's discovery of radio waves

coming from space. Reber built a 9-meter parabolic reflector dish radio antenna in his yard in Illinois - it was the first radio telescope used for astronomy. He detected the first signals (at a frequency of 160 megahertz, about 2m wavelangth) in 1939, using his third receiver. Reber's

work led to many developments in radio astronomy; he made the first radio maps of the sky and showed that the brightest areas corresponded to the center of the Milky Way. Reber started the

field of very long-wavelength/low-frequency (1-2 MHz, 150-300 m wavelength) radio astronomy, moving to Tasmania (an island off the southeastern coast of Australia) where these

radio waves can be received (because the long-wavelength radio waves can get through the Earth's ionosphere over that part of the globe due to a hole in the ozone layer).

ROMER, OLEOle Romer (1644-1710) was a Danish astronomer who, in 1675-1676, was the first person to demonstrate that the speed of light is finite. Romer did this by observing eclipses of Jupiter's moon Io as Jupiter's distance from Earth varied through the year. He noticed

that the observed period of Io's orbit differed by about 20 minutes; he concluded that this difference was due to the extra distance that

the light had to travel to Earth. His calculations put the speed of light at about 225,000 kilometers per second (it is really a bit faster,

at 299,792 kilometers per second).

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RUSSELL, HENRY N.Henry Norris Russell (1873-1967) was an American astronomer who, independently of E. Hertzsprung,

realized the relationship between a star's temperature (color) and its brightness, and designed a diagram

illustrating this relationship in 1913, later called the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.

REGIOMONTANUSJohann Müller, also known as Johann Regiomontanus (1436-1476) was a German astronomer and mathematician. He studied trigonometry, translating Ptolemy's Almagest, from the original Greek. Ironically, his translation helped overthrow the Ptolemaic view of the universe (in which

the Earth was thought to be at the center of the universe). He also did work on plane and spherical trigonometry. Muller also obsesrved the motion of the moon, planets, and comets. A 108 km diameter lunar crater, called Regiomontanus (Latitude: -28.3 degrees, Longitude: 1.0

degrees), was named for Muller.

SAGAN, CARLCarl Sagan (1934-1996) was an American astronomer who discovered that the surface of Venus was extraordinarily hot and noxious (contrary to previous models of a mild Venusian surface). Sagan also showed that the universe has many organic (carbon-based) chemicals and that life is

likely to exist throughout the cosmos. He was a great popularizer of astronomy, was also involved in many NASA flights and SETI, and he pioneered the field of exobiology.

SANDAGE, ALLAN R.Allan Rex Sandage (1926-) is an astronomer who, in the 1950's, measured the rate of the

expansion of the Universe, Hubble's constant (H), which he calculated to be 50 km/sec/mpc. From this, Sandage estimated of the age of the Universe (T) to be 19.2 billion years [T = 2/3 x (1/H) ]. These calculations have changed through the years and now, H=~ 75 (T=12.9 billion

years) is more generally accepted. Sandage also discovered quasars in 1964.

SCHIAPARELLI, GIOVANNIGiovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) was an Italian astronomer (and director of the

Milan Observatory) who first mapped Mars (in 1877) and brought attention to the network of "canali" (Italian for canals or channels) on Mars. These "canals"

were later found to be dry and not to be canal at all. A Martian impact crater (Crater Schiaparelli, 461 km = 277 mi in diameter) and a hemisphere of Mars

have been named after Schiaparelli. His late niece Elsa was an influential fashion designer.

SCHWABE, HEINRICHHeinrich Schwabe was an an amateur German astronomer discovered that sunspots

appeared in an 11-year cycle. Schwabe was a pharmacist who observed the sun daily and published his observations, "Solar Observations During 1843," in 1843.

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SHAPLEY, HARLOWHarlow Shapley (1885-1972) was an American astronomer who was the first person to

accurately estimate the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and our position in it.

STROMGREN, BENGTBengt Georg Daniel Strömgren (January 21, 1908 - July 4, 1987) was a Danish astronomer who studied the structure of stars, including stellar atmospheres, their composition (what elements they contain), and ionization in stars. He theorized that ionized hydrogen gas clouds surround

hot stars (the "Strömgren sphere"). Stromgren also determined the relationship between the gas density of a star, its luminosity, and the size of the "Strömgren sphere" of ionized gas that surrounds it. He also did work on photoelectric photometry (measuring the intensity of the

photoelectric effect from an astronomical object).

THOMPSON, J. J.Joseph John Thompson was a British scientist who discovered the existence

of the electron in 1897. Electrons are tiny, negatively-charged atomic particles. In an atom, they orbit around the nucleus.

TIMOCHARISTimocharis was a Greek scientist who observed stars around 290 BC and was an apparent

influence on Hipparchus.

TOMBAUGH, CLYDEClyde Tombaugh (1906-1997) was an American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930. He

also correctly predicted (in 1950) that the surface of Mars was covered with craters.

VAN ALLEN, JAMES A.James A. Van Allen was an American physicist who discovered doughnut-shaped belts of

radiation that circle the Earth (the van Allen Belt).

WRIGHT, THOMASThomas Wright (1711-1786) was a British cosmologist. Wright was one of the first people

(along with Johann Lambert (1728-77) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) ) who in 1750 speculated about the structure and origin of our solar system and galaxy. Using religious and philosophical arguments, Wright hypothesized that the Milky Way was a thin flat system of stars with our solar system near the center and that there were other similar but distant star

systems (which he called nebulae).

Procedure:

1. At the conclusion of an astronomy unit introduce to the students the scientists who have

made the knowledge we have about the universe possible through a lecture which

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addresses: Astronomers are scientists to understand the universe beyond the Earth and

the Earth within the Universe for thousands of years. Astronomers study astronomy.

Astronomy is the study of celestial bodies within the universe. Astronomers look at how

these bodies move, how they came into being and what they are made of. Astronomers

use tools, specifically telescopes to look at celestial bodies. Over time, many important

discoveries have been made through astronomy. Some of the most important foundations

for understanding the universe and the world around us come from Nicolaus Copernicus,

Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Edwin Hubble.

2. Tell the students that they will be making a short comic book about the life of one famous

“superhero” of astronomy, who, through their discoveries, helped improve our

knowledge of the universe.

3. Instruct the class to separate into or assign groups of 5 (assuming a class of 30) and hand

out to each group:

a. 5 information packets

b. 1 packet of jumbled up images

c. 1 of each superhero of astronomy comic book packet (5 total)

d. Scissors

e. Glue

f. Colored pencils

4. After informing the students that all the information they will need is in the information

packet; instruct each group to work together to determine which images on the jumbled

pages goes with which superhero story. They may also begin to help each other fill in the

blanks in the stories. Optional: have books on astronomers or astronomy in the

classroom for the students to learn more or verify facts from the information packet.

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5. Tell the students that when they complete the comic book page they are to create a cover

which accurately represent the accomplishments/discoveries of their astronomer and

answer the questions on the back of the comic book.

6. Collect and grade the finished books. Optional: Display the covers in the classroom.

Assessment:

Participation in the group work portion of the activity will be given points.

Accurate and neat completed comic book pages (all images in the correct location and all

fill in the blanks correct) will be given points.

Thoughtful and complete answers on the back of the comic will be given points.

Comic book covers which accurately represent the accomplishments/discoveries of their

astronomer will be given points.

Extensions:

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