Development in the Field of Astronomy

1. Astronomy is a field of science and it involves the study of the nature and motion of objects in the Universe, which includes the Sun, planets, stars and galaxies.
2. Many early civilisationnoticed that the stars and planets regulary changed their arrangement or movement. These observation contributed to superstitions and were incorectly used to predict future events.
3. The Arabs, Chinese Egyptians and Greeks were the early astronomers who studied the stars, planets and phenomena such as eclipse.They recorded their observatoins care fully and systematically.For example, the Greeks grouped the star into constellations.
4. ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC), the Greek astronomer, was the first peson to suggest that the Earth is spherical. PTOLEMY, another Greek astronomer, suggest in 200 AD, that the Earth is the centre of the Solar System.
5. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (1473-1543) is regarded as the 'Father of Modern Astronomy'. In 1543, he claimed that the Sun is the centre of the Solar System and the Earth orbits the Sun.
6. HANS LIPPERSHEY (1570-1619), the Dutch optician, invented the telescope in 1608. The invention contributed greatly to development in the field of astronomy because it helped astronomers observe distant object.
7. JOHANNES KEPLER (1571-1630) suggested that the planets moved around the Sun in ellipses and not circles. He suggested that physical force that moved the planets around the Sun become smaller the futher away the planets were from the Sun.
8. Galileo Galilei (1464-1642) an Italian astronomer was the first person to make significant observation using the telescope. He discovered the mountains and craters of the Moon, the spot on the Sun, the phases of Venus, the satellites of Jupiter and the Stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
9. Isaac Newton (1643-1727) who described the three laws of motion suggested that gravity had an effect on planetary orbits. He explained that the force of gravity ensured the planets travelled in elipptical orbits.
10. EDMUND HALLEY (1656-1742) noted that the comets observed in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 followed similar orbits and each appeared 76 years after the preceding one. Such comets were named Halley's Comet.
11. In 1932, an American engineer Karl Jansky, invented the radio telescope. A radio telescope detects radio waves that are emitted from distant planets or objects. In addition, it tracks and collects data from satellites.
12. In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space .This is a powerful telescope which orbits the Earth.This telescope provides clearer images compared to ground based telescopes because the images are not blured by the Earth's atmosphere , or by background light scattered in the atmosphere. Many important discovaries in astronomy have been made with the images captured by this telescop.