WildMaven’s World

Copernicus went to the University of Krakow, where he studied many subjects, including astronomy. Astronomy, however, in those days, was used mainly for navigation at sea, setting holy days, and calculating a person’s horoscope. He completed four years of study, but never earned a degree. His uncle, in charge of young Nicholaus after his father’s death, decided that the child would have a career with the Church, and thus sent Copernicus to the University of Bologna, where he studied Canon law. In his spare time, he also studied Greek, math, and astronomy. He began renting a room from his astronomy professor and even assisted him in his observations of the heavens.
In 1500, Copernicus journeyed to Rome and stayed to lecture the local scholars. Still without a degree, he convinced his uncle, and the Church, to allow him to finish his law degree as well as obtaining education in medicine. Astronomy was considered a big part of medicine, since a person’s health was believed to be influenced by the stars, so Copernicus was allowed to continue his astonomy education as well. He eventually obtained his doctorate in law, but never received one in medicine.

His astronomy study was put on hold for over five years as he floundered here and there as a canon and physician. After the death of his maternal uncle, Copernicus became a canon in the Ermland Chapter at Frauenburg. This gave him a lot of free time to study his growing love of the sky. He wrote a small, hand-written book, which he gave to his friends. This book, the “Little Commentary” spelled out his theories, radical ideas at the time:

1. There is no one centre in the universe.
2. The Earth’s centre is not the centre of the universe.
3. The centre of the universe is near the sun.
4. The distance from the Earth to the sun is imperceptible compared with the distance to the stars.
5. The rotation of the Earth accounts for the apparent daily rotation of the stars.
6. The apparent annual cycle of movements of the sun is caused by the Earth revolving round it.
7. The apparent retrograde motion of the planets is caused by the motion of the Earth from which one observes.

His formal theories were not published for many years as war and unrest forced Copernicus into service for his country. His manuscript was published only shortly before his death. Controversy raged amongst the scholars, and it was not until the 17th century that his ideas were fully accepted. He received the final copy of his book while on dying in his bed. He died shortly thereafter of a cereberal hemorrhage May 24, 1543.

Sir Isaac Newton
Born in 1642, Isaac Newton was the founder of many brilliant discoveries and formulas. Among them:

* Sunlight can be split into a spectrum.
* Discovery of why planets orbit the sun.
* The three laws of motion.
* The formula for gravity.
* The motion of the tides.

His discoveries helped future scientists figure out the movement of every object in the Universe and detect unknown stars and planets.

Isaac Newton struggled with math at first and almost gave up. Eventually, he fell in love with it, and developed his own theories as he learned. He studied math, astronomy, optics, light and color. The latter was the basis for his first nervous breakdown in 1678 when he got into an arguement about it with the English Jesuits in Liege. As a result, he became almost a hermit for a number of years. When he came out of seclusion, he was again in a scientific frenzy of work, producing more than a man twice his age. This all came to an abrupt stop with his second nervous breakdown in 1693. Theories abound as to the causes of his breakdowns. Everything from personal problems to poisoning from experiments have been mentioned. Today, scientists believe it was undiagnosed depression. Newton took a position at the Royal Mint in 1696, becoming Master in a year. In 1703 he was elected president of the Royal Society and was re-elected each year until his death. During his days as President he became involved in a heated controversy between himself and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz as to which one had invented calculus. Because he was President of the Society, Newton arranged for an “impartial” committee to put an end to the debate.

“Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth.”
-Isaac Newton

Here in the U.S., we tend to be very “Americancentric”, which isn’t fair to the countries who have made great strides before us. Below, I will only show achievements that are the first of their kind, not, for example, the “first U.S. landing”.

October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1 (U.S.S.R.) launches. Status: success.
November 3, 1957 - Sputnik 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first dog in space, Laika. The poor pooch died only hours into the trip from stress and overheating. Status: success.
January 31, 1958 - Explorer 1 (U.S.). Achievement: Discovered Earth’s radiation belt.
March 5, 1958 - Explorer 2 (U.S.) Achievement: None. Failed to achieve orbit.
March 17, 1958 - Vanguard 1 satellite (U.S.) Achievement: transmitted for 3 years.
May 15, 1958 - Sputnik 3 (U.S.S.R.)
October 11, 1958 - Pioneer 1 (U.S.) Achievement: launched the IGY space probe.
January 2, 1959 - Luna 1 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first solar satellite
March 3, 1959 - Pioneer 4 (U.S.)
September 12, 1959 - Luna 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first man-made object on the moon
October 4, 1959 - Luna 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: obtained photos of the far side of the moon
April 1, 1960 - Tiros 1 (U.S.) Achievement: First weather satellite.
August 18, 1960 - Discoverer XIV (U.S.) spy satellite
April 12, 1961 - Vostok 1 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Yuri A. Gargarin becomes the first man in space.
May 5, 1961 - Mercury Freedom 7 (U.S.)
August 6, 1961 - Vostok 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first day-long space flight.
February 20, 1962 - Mercury Friendship 7 (U.S.)
May 24, 1962 - Mercury Aurora 7 (U.S.)
July 10, 1962 - Telstar 1 (U.S.) Achievement: satellite transmits first transatlantic telecast.
December 14, 1962 - U.S. Mariner 2 (U.S.) Achievement: first to fly past Venus.
June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space (orbits 48 times).
July 31, 1964 - U.S. Ranger 7 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-range Moon photos.
March 8, 1965 - Soviet Voskhod 2 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Alexei A. Leonov becomes the first to walk in space.
March 23, 1965 - Gemini 3 (U.S.)
March 24, 1965 - Ranger 9 (U.S.) Achievement: spectacular Moon photos.
June 3, 1965 - Gemini 4 (U.S.)
July 14, 1965 - Mariner 4 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-range images about Mars.
November 16, 1965 - Venus 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first craft to impact Venus
December 4, 1965 - Gemini 7 (U.S.) Achievement: Makes 206 Earth orbits
December 15, 1965 - Gemini 6 and 7: Achievement: Gemini 6 rendezvous with Gemini 7.
February 3, 1966 - Luna 9, (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to “soft-land” on the Moon.
March 1, 1966 - Venera 3 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to reach another planet (Venus).
March, 1966 - Luna 10 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
August 14, 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 (U.S.) Achievement: enters first picture of the Earth from the Moon.
April 23, 1967 - Soyuz 1 (U.S.S.R.) Failure: Vladimir M. Komarov becomes the first human fatality.
October 18, 1967 - Venera 4 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: sends data about the composition of Venus.
September 15, 1968 - Zond 5 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return.
October 11, 1968 - Apollo 7 (U.S.) Achievement: one Earth orbit.
December 21, 1968 - Apollo 8 (U.S.) Achievement: first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
January, 1969 - Soyuz 4 and 5 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: spaceship docking, transfer Cosmonauts between ships.
July 20, 1969 - Apollo 11 (U.S.) Achievement: Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. become the first to make a soft landing and walk on the Moon.
July 31, 1969 - Mariner 6 (U.S.) Achievement: high-resolution images of
August 5, 1969 - Mariner 7 (U.S.) Achievement: more high-res images of Mars
April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 (U.S.) Failure: an explosion in the oxygen tanks forces the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., to return.
September 12, 1970 - Luna 16 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first lunar soil samples
November 17, 1970 - Luna 17 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first automatic robot to travel on the Moon
December 15, 1970 - Venera 7 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first probe to soft-land on Venus.
January 31, 1971 - Apollo 14 (U.S.) Achievement: first use of a two-wheeled cart to collect samples. Shepard becomes the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon.
April 19, 1971 - Salyut 1 space station (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first space station.
May 30, 1971 - Mariner 9 (U.S.) Achievement: first spacecraft to survey Mars from orbit.
June 6, 1971 - Soyuz 11 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Cosmonauts G.T. Dobrovolsky, V.N. Volkov, and V.I. Patsayev enter Salyut 1 and which becomes the first manned station. Failure: All die, however, when they try to return to Earth.
July 30, 1971 - Apollo 15 (U.S.) Achievement: first moon rover.
November 13, 1971 - Mariner 9 (U.S.) Achievement: first spacecraft to orbit Mars.
March 2, 1972 - Pioneer 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-up images of Jupiter.
July 15, 1972 - Pioneer 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first to travel through the asteroid belt.
April 5, 1973 - Pioneer 11 (U.S.) Achievement: discovers new rings on Saturn.
May 14, 1973 - Skylab (U.S.)
May 25, 1973 - Skylab 2 (U.S.) Achievement: repairs damage to Skylab.
November 3, 1973 - Mariner 10 (U.S.) Achievement: first dual-planet mission. Photographs Venus and Mercury.
June 24, 1974 - Salyut 3 (U.S.S.R.) space station (military)
December 26, 1974 - Salyut 4 (U.S.S.R.) space station (civilian
July, 1975 - Apollo 18 (U.S.) and Soyuz 19 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first international spacecraft rendezvous.
October, 1975 - Venera 9 and 10 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first pictures of Venus.
June 22, 1976 - Salyut 5 (U.S.S.R.) space station (military)
July 20, 1976 - Viking 1 (U.S.)
September 3, 1976 - Viking 2 (U.S.) Achievement: discovery of water frost on Mars.
August 1977 - Voyagers 1 and 2 (U.S.) Mission: Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
September 29, 1977 - Salyut 6 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: First international crew
September 1, 1979 - Pioneer 11 (U.S.) Achievement: first close-up photographs of Saturn.
April 12, 1981 - Space Shuttle Columbia (U.S.)
March 1, 1982 - Venera 13 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first soil samples of Venus.
April 19, 1982 - Salyut 7 (U.S.S.R.) space station.
April 4, 1983 - Space shuttle Challenger (U.S.)
October 10, 1983 - Venera 15 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: first high-res images of the Venus polar area.
November 28, 1983 - Space shuttle Columbia (U.S.) Achievement: puts Spacelab-1 into orbit.
February 3, 1984 - Space shuttle Challenger STS-14B (U.S.) Bruce McCandless becomes the first to take an untethered space walk in space.
July 17, 1984 - Soyuz-T 12 (U.S.S.R.) Achievement: Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to walk in space.
August 30, 1984 - Space shuttle Discovery (U.S.) Achievement: maiden voyage
October 5, 1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41G (U.S.) Achievement: first crew with two women aboard
December, 1984 - Vega 1 and 2 (U.S.S.R./International) Achievement: dropped probes to test the atmosphere on Venus.
January 8, 1985 - The Sakigake probe (Japan) Achievement: first interplanetary probe.
April 29, 1985 - Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51B (U.S.) Achievement: carries Spacelab-3 into orbit.
July 2, 1985 - Giotto spacecraft (European Space Agency - ESA) Mission: comet exploration.
October 3, 1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis (U.S.) Achievement: maiden voyage.
October 1985 - Spacelab D1 Achievement: the first joint German/ESA mission
January 28, 1986 - Space shuttle Challenger STS-51L (U.S.) Failure: explodes shortly after liftoff, killing all onboard.

After the Challenger disaster, many started to question the necessity of the space program. Years later, the space program still struggles to regain the glory of the past.

Important Dates in the History of Astronomy
(most early years are approximate)

4000 B.C. - The oldest astronomical observation ever recorded (Egypt and Central America)
3000 B.C. - The first written materials on astronomy (Egypt, China, Mesopotamia and Central America)
2697 B.C. - The oldest preserved relation on the Sun eclipse (China)
2000 B.C. - The first solar-lunar calendars in Egypt and Mesopotamia
2000 B.C. - Stonehenge Sanctuary (England)
2000 B.C. - Constellations first drawn up by the ancient astronomers
6th Century B.C. - Pythagoras and Thales of Miletus speculate that the Earth is a sphere.
4th century B.C. - Geocentric model of the universe originated
585 B.C. - May 28th, Thales predicts the solar eclipse
490 B.C. - September 9th, Date of the full moon that prohibited Sparta from helping Athens battle the Persians in the battle of Marathon
330 B.C. - Aristotle’s “On Heavens”
280 B.C. - Aristrachus of Samos suggests that the Earth revolves about the Sun (heliocentric concept of the Universe). He also provides the first estimations on Earth-Sun distance
240 B.C. - Eratosthenes calculates the size of the Earth, Sun, and Moon
130 B.C. - Hipparchus developes the first star catalog and charts
45 B.C. - The introduction of Julian calendar to the Roman Empire upon the advice of the Greek astronomer Sosigenes
140 - Ptolemy suggests the geocentric theory of the Universe
813 - Al Mamon founds the Bagdad school of astronomy.
903 - Al-Sufi draws up his star catalogue
1054 - Chinese astronomers observe supernova in Taurus. The remnants of this supernova will become known as M1, the Crab Nebula
1543 - Copernicus publishes “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” which provides mathematical evidence for the heliocentric theory of the Universe
1572 - Tycho Brahe discoveres a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia
1576 - Tycho Brahe founds the observatory at Uraniborg
1582 - October 15, Pope Gregory XIII introduces the Gregorian calendar.
1595 - David Fabricius discovers the long-period variable star in the constellation Cetus, named Mira Ceti.
1600 - February 17, Giordano Bruno is charged with blasphemy, immoral conduct, and heresy for challenging the origin and structure of the universe and is burned at the stake in Campo dei Fiori
1603 - Johann Bayer publishes his star catalogue, “Uranometria”. He introduces the “Bayer designation system” of assigning Greek letters to stars.
1604 - Kepler discovers supernova in Ophiuchus.
1608 - Lippershey invents the first telescope.
1609 - Galileo first uses the telescope for astronomical purposes and discovers four Jovian moons, the Moon craters, and the Milky Way.
1609 - The first two of Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motions are announced.
1611 - Galileo, Scheiner, and Fabricius observe sunspots.
1612 - Peiresc discovers the Orion Nebula (M42).
1619 - Kepler publishes the “Third Law of Planetary Motion” in his “Harmonice Mundi” (Harmony of the World).
1631 - Kepler predicts the Transit of Mercury which is observed by Gassendi.
1632 - Galileo publishes his “Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems”
1633 - Galileo is forced to recant his theories during the Inquisition or face death.
1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus
1647 - Hevelius publishes the map of the Moon.
1656 - Huyghens discovers the nature of Saturns rings and Titan
1656 - Foundation of the Copenhagen Observatory.
1659 - Huyghen observes markings on the planet Mars.
1666 - Cassini observes the polar caps on Mars.
1668 - Newton builds the first reflecting telescope.
1669 - Montanari discovers the variable nature of Algol.
1671 - Foundation of Paris Observatory.
1675 - Foundation of Greenwich Observatory.
1675 - Romer measures the velocity of light.
1675 - Cassini discovers the main division in Saturn’s rings.
1683 - Cassini observes the zodiacal light.
1687 - Sir Issac Newton publishes his revolutionary “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” establishing the theory of universal gravition
1705 - Halley predicts the return of Halley’s Comet in 1758.
1725 - Flamsteed publishes his star catalogue. He introduces star numbering in each constellation.
1728 - Halley discovers star motion.
1728 - James Bradley proposes the theory of the aberration of the fixed stars, including the aberration of light.
1729 - Chester More Hall proposes the principle of the achromatic refractor.
1744 - The six-tailed Cheseaux comet is observed.
1750 - Thomas Wright speculates about the origin of the solar system. As do we all.
1755 - Immanuel Kant proposes the hypothesis of the origin of celestial bodies
1758 - Palitzsch observes Halley’s comet return previously predicted (see 1705).
1761 - Lomonosov discovers the atmosphere of Venus.
1767 - The foundation of the Nautical Almanac.
1781 - Charles Messier, searching for the comets, discovers a bunch of deep sky objects (galaxies, nebula, and star clusters) which he compiles in his catalogue.
1781 - Herschel discovers Uranus.
1784 - Goodricke discovers the variable nature of Delta Cephei.
1789 - Herschel erected a telescope at Slough with a 48-in (1.22-m) mirror and a focal length of 40 ft (12.2 m). Using it, he resolved stars in different nebulas.
1796 - Laplace proposes the “Nebular Hypothesis” of the origin of the solar system based on the theory of stellar evolution.
1801 - Piazzi discovers the first planetoid, Ceres.
1802 - Herschel announces the discovery of binary star systems.
1802 - Wollaston observes dark lines in the solar spectrum.
1803 - Fall of meteorites at L’Aigle. In the early afternoon, thousands of meteorites rained down upon the small town. Luckily, no one was hurt. At the time, the very existence of meteors was hotly debated. This put to rest those thoughts.
1803 - The explanation of the nature of meteorites is established.
1811 - Olber proposes the theory of comet tails.
1814 - Fraunhofer provides description of the solar spectrum.
1818 - Pons discovers the predicted return of Encke’s Comet.
1826 - Discovery of Biela’s Comet
1833 - The Leonids great meteor shower.
1834 - Bessel infers that the irregularity of proper motion of Sirius is due to the presence of its invisible companion.
1837 - Beer and Madler publish the first accurate map of the moon.
1838 - Bessel determines the distance of star, 61 Cygni. This was the first determination of star distance.
1839 - Draper takes the first photograph of the Moon.
1842 - Discovery of Doppler’s Principle
1843 - Schwabe describes the sunspot cycle.
1845 - Observation of the breakup of Biela’s Comet.
1846 - Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune. It is based on its position calculated by the French astronomer Joseph Leverrier.
1851 - Foucault provides evidence for the rotation movement of the Earth by suspending a pendulum on a long wire from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris.
1858 - Appearance of Donati’s Comet.
1859 - Kirchoff provides the interpretation of the dark lines in the star spectra.
1859 - Argelander publishes “Bonner Durchmusterung” (BD)- the catalog of over 300,000 stars.
1862 - Clark discovers Sirius B based on calculations by Bessel.
1860 - The beginning of spectral analysis of stars. (Huggins identifies elements in the spectra of Betelgeuse and Aldebaran).
1865 - Jules Verne publishes the story “From the Earth to the Moon”.
1867 - Description of Wolf-Rayet stars.
1868 - Jansen and Lockyer observe solar prominences.
1872 - The Bieliid meteor shower.
1877 - Hall discovers Martian satellites, Phobos and Deimos.
1877 - Schiaparelli observes the Martian canals.
1878 - The Great Red Spot on Jupiter becomes prominent.
1890 - Lockyer announces his theory of stellar evolution.
1890 - Vogel discovers spectroscopic binaries.
1894 - Percival Lowell founds the Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona.
1896 - The erection of a 33-inch refractor at Meudon.
1897 - The foundation of Yerkes Observatory.
1900 - Chaberlin and Moulton propose theory of the Solar System origin.
1901 - Appearance of Nova Persei.
1905 - Mount Wilson Observatory established exclusively for the study of the sun.
1905 - Einstein proposes the basis of the “Theory of Relativity”.
1908 - Hertzsprung describes giant and dwarf stars.
1908 - Leavitt discovers the relationship period - absolute magnitude for Cepheids.
1908 - 60 inch reflector erected at Mount Wilson.
1908 - 1908 A mysterious explosion rocked Central Siberia. Forest was destroyed for 70 miles. A shock wave and blinding light followed and then black sooty rain. People 40 miles away were “flash burned” and their silverware melted. There was no crater. What caused this? No one knows. Some speculate that it was an early atomic test, while others say it was a meteor.
1911 - Hertzsprung and Russell discover the relationship between the star spectral type and star absolute magnitude.
1914 - Goddard begins experiments with rockets.
1915 - Adams discovers White Dwarfs.
1916 - Eddington proposes the first premises of the theory of intrinsic star structure.
1916 - Einstein proposes his general “Theory of Relativity”.
1917 - Completion of the 100-inch Hooker reflector at Mount Wilson.
1918 - Shapley provides the first model of the Galaxy structure.
1918 - Cannon publishes the fundamental catalogue star spectra.
1919 - Barnard publishes the catalogue of dark nebulas.
1920 - Slipher announces discovery of Red Shifts in the spectra of galaxies.
1920 - The first direct measurement of star diameter using interpherometer.
1923 - Hubble proves that the galaxies lie beyond the Milky Way.
1926 - Goddard fires the first liquid fuel rocket.
1927 - Oort proves that the center of the galaxy lies in the direction of the Sagittarius.
1929 - Edwin Powell Hubble discovers that galaxies move away from each other.
1930 - Tombaugh discovers Pluto based on Lowell’s predictions.
1931 - Jansky discovers cosmic radio waves.
1937 - Reber constructs the first radio telescope.
1937 - Gamow proposes the first theory of stellar evolution.
1942 - Strand speculates that 61 Cygni is attended by a planet.
1944 - Van de Hulst suggests that interstellar hydrogen must emit radio waves at 21.1 cm.
1946 - Bay obtains the first radar images of the Moon.
1947 - Ambarcumian discovers star associations.
1949 - The completion of the Hale 200-inch reflector at Mount Palomar.
1951 - Ewen and Purcell discover the 21.1 cm hydrogen radio waves, originally predicted by van de Hulst.
1951 - Determination of the spiral structure of our galaxy.
1955 - Completion of the 250-foot radio telescope at Jodrell Bank.
1957 - October 4, The first artificial satellite launched by the Russians.
1958 - The first American satellite launched.
1959 - The Russian Luniks satellites: Lunik I passes the Moon; Lunik II lands on the Moon.
1959 - Radio location of the Sun.
1961 - April 12, Russian astronaut, Yuri Gargarin, becomes the first man in space.
1962 - First American orbital flight by John Glenn.
1962 - Planetary probes: Mars I (Russia) and Mariner II (USA)
1962 - Discovery of the first galactic source of X-ray radiation.
1963 - Van de Kamp reports a planet associated with Bernard’s Star.
1963 - Discovery of the first quasar (3C 273).
1964 - Close range pictures of the Moon from USA’s Ranger VII.
1965 - Penzias and Wilson discover cosmic fossil radiation, providing direct evidence of the Big Bang Theory.
1966 - First soft landing on the Moon (Luna 9 - Russia and Surveyor I - USA).
1966 - Russian probe lands on Venus.
1967 - Discovery of pulsar.
1968 - First manned flight around the Moon. Apollo 8. Astronauts: Borman, Lovell, and Anders.
1969 - February 8, a huge explosion rocked the town of Allende, Mexico. A meteor had exploded with great force in the atmosphere and rained down thousands of chunks to the Chihuahuan desert. More than 3 tons of fragments were collected.
1969 - September 28, more meteorites, this time in Murchison, Australia. The fragments from those collected provided the first evidence that amino acids exist elsewhere in the solar system!
1969 - July 20, First man on the Moon. Apollo 11. Astronauts: Armstrong and Aldrin.
1970 - Satellite Uhuru scans the sky in the X-ray range.
1970 - First successful soft landing on Venus (Venera 7, Russia).
1971 - Final testing of 236-inch Soviet reflector.
1971 - First probes in orbit around Mars and first soft landing on Mars (Mars 3, Russia).
1971 - First manned mechanical vehicle on the Moon (Apollo 15, USA).
1972 - Satellite Copernicus conducts spectroscopic ultraviolet observations of stars and interstellar matter with high resolution.
1972 - The first observations in gamma radiation range.
1972 - Launch of the probe Pioneer 10, it’s intended destination: Jupiter
1973 - Very first images of Jupiter. Pioneer 10 (USA).
1974 - First image of Mercury’s surface. Mariner 10 (USA).
1975 - Completion of the 6-meter telescope in Zielenczukskaja (USSR).
1976 - Soft landing of Viking space probes on Mars (USA).
1977 - Discovery of Uranus rings.
1978 - Discovery of Pluto’s moon.
1978 - New data on celestrial objects collected by satellite Einstein (X-ray).
1980 - First images of Saturn and its rings. Voyager 1 (USA).
1983 - Satellite IRAS scans the sky in infrared radiation.
1983 - Samples of a meteorite taken from the antarctic showed gases identical to those found on Mars. This is just too cool! The gas had been captured in small crystals and were compared to the gases collected in the 1970’s by the Viking spacecraft. Can you imagine the excitement of the scientists when they realized that this chunk of space debris had come from Mars??
1986 - January 24, Voyager 2 approaches the planet Urananus.
1986 - January 28, Space shuttle Challenger disaster
1986 - March, Space probes Vega 1, Vega 2, and Giotto pass near Halley’s Comet.
1987 - February 23, Supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud visible to naked eye, as a result of explosion of blue supergiant Sanduleak 69 deg. 202.
1989 - May 4, Magellan mission to radar map the surface Venus.
1989 - August 24, Voyager 2 approaches the planet Neptune.
1989 - September 12, Pluto at perihelion.
1989 - November 18, NASA launches Cosmic Background Explorer satelite.
1990 - April 24, The space shuttle Discovery puts the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit .
1990 - December 5, The first picture taken with Keck Telescope in Hawaii is published in Los Angeles Times.
1990 - December 7, Galileo approaches the planet Earth on the way from Venus to Jupiter. It becomes the first interplanetary spacecraft that has ever visited the Earth.
1991 - February 7, Debris of Russian Salyut 7 crashes through the atmosphere over Argentina.
1991 - April 5, The launch of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO)
1991 - July, A total eclipse of the Sun, visible from Hawaii and Mexico. Suddenly, astronomy is a marketable tourist commodity.
1991 - October, The spacecraft Galileo passes the asteroid Gaspra.
1992 - April, The Hubble Space Telescope photographs the hottests star ever recorded (temp. 360,000 degrees Fehrenheit). They were found in the Large Magellanic Cloud
1992 - April 24, The data received from satelite COBE proves the existence of temperature fluctuations in the background radiation which is a strong evidence supporting the Big Bang theory. This evidence is referred to as “The Holy Grail” of Astronomy.
1992 - September 16, The discovery of the first object orbiting the Sun beyond the planet Pluto.
1992 - September 25, NASA launches the Mars Observer spacecraft.
1992 - October 31, The Vatican announces that the Catholic Church erred in condemning Galileo’s beliefs. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!
1993 - January 31, The Gamma Ray Observatory detects the brightest burst of gamma rays ever recorded - the Super Bowl Burst.
1993 - March 28, Outburst of supernova in the M81 galaxy in Ursa Major.
1993 - August 21, NASA loses contact with Mars Observer three days before its planned entry into Mars’ atmosphere.
1993 - December, Astronauts of the space shuttle Endeavour correct the defects in the Hubble Space Telescope, improving the images.
1994 - July 20, Comet Shoemaker-Levy crashes into Jupiter. This is considered by many, the most spectacular event in the history of astronomy. Of course, they didn’t live in 1803 or forgot about 1969 (see above).
1995 - December 7, Galileo reaches the planet Jupiter.