‘Space’ Archives
Erasmus Reinhold
Erasmus Reinhold (1511–1553) The astronomer who established what is today called the Wittenberg interpretation of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), an approach that adopted Copernicus’s mathematical models but not his Sun-centered cosmology. Reinhold was educated and worked at Wittenberg, the leading Protestant university of Reformation [...]
Parallax
Parallax The angular difference in the apparent position of a celestial object when viewed from two different locations. Using the known values for the baseline (the linear distance between the two observation points) and angular directions of the object from each point, one can determine both the apex angle of the resulting triangle—the [...]
Novae
Novae In the Aristotelian universe of the sixteenth century, stars were not supposed to appear and disappear. The stars had never been known to change, and their motions were explained by the supposition that the stars and the heavens as a whole are made of an eternal and unchangeable substance whose natural motion is circular. Nevertheless, a [...]
Eltanin
Eltanin Eltanin, also known as Etamin and Gamma Draconis, brightest star in the constellation Draco, the Dragon. Eltanin’s name is derived from the Arabic phrase Al Ras al Tinnin, which means “The Dragon’s Head,” a reference to Eltanin’s position at the top of Draco’s distinctive four-star trapezoidal head. Eltanin is about 40° [...]
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (1642–1727) English physicist and mathematician. Most of his theories – on gravitation, light and calculus, for example – he developed in basic form while in his early twenties. In 1668 he built the first reflecting telescope in order to avoid the chromatic aberration inherent in lenses. In 1684, urged by Edmond Halley, he [...]
Stephen William Hawking
Stephen William Hawking English theoretical physicist who has applied general relativity and quantum theory to cosmology, greatly advancing the understanding of BLACK HOLES and SPACETIME. While still a graduate student at Cambridge University, where he has spent his entire career, Hawking was diagnosed in 1963 with a degenerative neuromuscular [...]
Gravitational Force
Gravitational Force Mutual attraction between two masses; it is the fourth of the physical forces. In his Principia, NEWTON announced that the force of gravity between any two masses, m1 and m2, is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance, r, between them where G is the GRAVITATIONAL [...]
Robert Hutchings Goddard
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945) American astronautics pioneer, who flew the first liquid-propellant rocket, on 1926 March 16. In 1920 he set forth most of the basic principles of modern rocket propulsion. He later set up a rocket research and development test facility in the New Mexico desert, where he developed stabilizing and guidance [...]
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova Soviet cosmonaut, first woman in space Valentina Tereshkova was born near Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union); her parents were farmers. She found work in a textile factory at the age of 18. As an amateur parachutist with a local club, she [...]
Eta Carinae
Eta Carinae One of the most luminous stars in our Galaxy. When the southern stars were catalogued, Eta Carinae was a third-magnitude star, but from 1833 it began to vary irregularly, becoming at its brightest second only to SIRIUS. What makes this performance remarkable is the great distance of the star, which was then unknown but is now [...]
