- 1898 - A century of astronomy, hundreds of small steps for man, several giant leaps for mankind. Albert Einstein started it at beginning of the century. The space program follows for 100 years:
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---------------------1898 - A Century of Astronomy.
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- A century of astronomy. It begins with Albert Einstein and physics in 1905 when Einstein introduced the idea of light being “ photons”, little bundles of energy. He used this idea to describe the “ photoelectric effect”. Later that year he outlined the ideas behind “ Special Relativity”.
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- In 1906 Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto. It was not until 1909 that Karl Boblin first proposed that the Sun was NOT the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
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- 1910, April 20, Halley’s comet had its closest approach at 14 million miles. It will return July 28, 2061. I’ll miss it. In 1916 Karl Schwarzschild uses General Relativity to derive the size of the “Event Horizon” of a non-rotating Blackhole.
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- November, 1915, Einstein adds gravity to his equations for General Relativity, as the curvature of space-time. 1923 - Edwin Hubble discovers a variable star and calculates the distance to discover the Andromeda Galaxy.
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- In 1927 Georges Lemaitre proposes the expanding Universe from a single- point. In 1948 the idea became known as the Big Bang. In 1925 a doctoral thesis proposes that stars are made of hydrogen and helium. In 1926 Goddard launches the 1st liquid fuel rocket. In 1929 Hubble uses “ Redshifts” to explain an expanding Universe. The more distant the galaxy the faster it is receding due to the expanding space. Today the Hubble Constant of Expansion is calculated to be 70 kilometers per second per mega parsec., or 47,000 miles per hour per million lightyears distance.
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- In 1931 the electron microscope is invented. In 1933 Karl Jansky uses his home-made radio telescope to conclude that radio signals were originating at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
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- In 1932 the neutron is discovered. And, deuterium is discovered to contain one proton and one neutron And, Carl Anderson discovers the “ positron”, an electron anti-matter. Carbon Dioxide is discovered in Venus’ atmosphere. Methane is discovered in Jupiter’s atmosphere. In 1933 Fritz Zwicky proposes Dark Matter is holding galaxies together. In 1934 he proposes a supernova would leave behind a Neutron Star.
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- In 1935 the first radar experiments. In 1936 33,342 stars were catalogued with their characteristics. In 1938 Hans Bethe demonstrates how stars generate energy through nuclear fusion. 1939 - Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard start their company. In 1941 from 14 supernovae observations Type I and Type II are defined. Later Type Ia becomes the “standard candle” for distance measurements. In 1942 Enrico Fermi achieves the first sustained nuclear reaction.
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- In 1944 discovery of atmosphere on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. 1946 - bounces radio signals off the Moon. The ENIAC electronic computer operational. The first radio interferometer is built.
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- 1947 - Bell X-1 plane breaks the sound barrier. Bell labs invents the transistor. 1948 - the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) is discovered. 1949 - Cape Canaveral, Florida is built for rocket testing. Big Bang nucleosynthesis proposed as how elements were created.
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- 1950 - The Oort Cloud thought to contain a trillion comets between 20,000 AU and 100,000 AU away. Comets are proposed to be “ dirty snowballs”. In 1986 they are proposed to also have rocky cores. In 1951 the Kuiper Belt of comets are found between 30 AU and 55 AU.
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- 1952 - Cepheid Variable stars proposed as another “ standard candle “ to measure astronomical distances. Hydrogen bomb is detonated. The sub-atomic neutrino is detected. 1953 - measuring radioactive decay of meteorite deduces the age of the Earth to be 4.55 billion years. 1954 - Metric System established. 1955 - the anti-proton discovered. Atomic clock invented using Cesium - 133 atoms. Electron synchrotron radiation discovered. 1956 - anti-neutrino discovered.
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- 1957 - nucleosynthesis in the stars proposed on how the 97 elements heavier than hydrogen and helium and lithium were created. 1957 - Fortran used in computers for scientific computing. Sputnik 2 launches a dog into space. 1958 - NASA is created. Explorer satellite defines the Van Allen Radiation Belts circling Earth.
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- 1959 - U.S. launches the first weather satellite. And, puts rhesus monkey into sub-orbit returning safely to Earth. 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes 1st human in sub-orbit. Alan Shepard next in a 15 minute sub-orbit.
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- 1962 - Mariner2 in Venus fly-by. Muons detected measured to have time-dilation according to equations in Special Relativity. 1963 - Quasar redshift finds galaxy moving away at 16% the speed of light.
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- 1964 - Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. Sub-atomic quarks were discovered as components of protons and neutrons. Ranger 7 takes 4,300 close-up pictures of the Moon. Density waves explain Milky Way’s spiral arms. Higgs Boson proposed to explain how particles obtain mass. Gemini 3 astronauts circle the Earth. Mariner 4 does Mars fly-by.
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- 1966 - Soviet Union lands Luna 9 probe on the Moon. Their Venera 3 crashes into Venus. Leonid comets shower at 150,000 meteors per hour. Soviet’s Luna 10 orbit’s the Moon. NASA Surveyor 1 lands on the Moon. 1967 - Gamma Ray Bursts first discovered.
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- 1967 - Electroweak Force proposed to combine electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces. Soviet Union Venera 4 descends through Venus’ atmosphere. 1968 Apollo 8 orbit’s the Moon. 1969 to 1972 twelve American astronauts walk on the Moon. The Murchison meteorite that falls on Australia contains organic compounds and amino acids originating in space.
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- 1971 - Soviet Mars 3 makes a soft-landing. Mariner 9 orbits Mars. 1972 - Pioneer 10 launched for Jupiter. 1973 Skylab orbits Earth. Type Ia supernovae defined as “Standard Candles”. 1973 - Pioneer 10 fly-by of Jupiter.
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- 1974 “Quasar” discovered to be 900 million lightyears from Earth. The first “Pulsar” is discovered. Sagittarius A* measured to be a Blackhole of 4.3 million Solar Mass at center of Galaxy. Pioneer 11 does Jupiter fly-by.
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Soviet Venera 9 lands on Venus. 1976 - Viking I and II land on - 1975 - Mars. 1977 - rings discovered orbiting Uranus. 1978 - Pluto’s moon Charon discovered. Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn. 1979 - gravitational lensing of Quasars confirms Einstein’s calculation in theory of General of Relativity.
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- 1980 - Asteroid suggested to be cause of extinction of dinosaurs. Voyager I reaches Saturn. Alan Guth ‘s Inflation Theory solves “ Horizon Problem” and “ Flatness Problem” in cosmology of the Universe.
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- 1983 - Sally Ride 1st American women in space. 1986 - Voyager 2 passes Uranus. 1988 the Einstein Ring observed due to gravitational lensing. Deuterium discovered on Mars. Extra-solar planet evidence found around star, Alrai. But, data is poor quality. MIR Russian Space Station in orbit. Supernova 1987a exploded 168,000 years ago. Its light just reaches Earth. Voyager 2 reaches Neptune.
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- 1989 - COBE satellite measures Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. Voyager 2 passes Neptune. 1990 - Hubble Telescope in orbit. 1993 - Endeavour astronauts correct Hubble telescope’s vision problem. 1990 - Magellan spacecraft orbits Venus. CERN introduces the first Web page. 1991 - Yucatan impact crater identified as asteroid impact. First exoplanets discovered outside our Solar System.
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- 1992 - seeds of galaxies discovered in Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. First Kuiper Belt object beyond Pluto discovered. 1994 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy smashes into Jupiter. Dwarf galaxy discovered just 50,000 lightyears away. First Brown Dwarf object discovered bigger than a planet but too small to be a star.
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- 1995 - Closest exoplanet discovered orbiting 51 Pegasi. Galileo spacecraft orbits Jupiter. Science creates element number 112, called Copernicium. 10 meter telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. GPS becomes operational using 32 satellites. Today’s accuracy to within 14 nanoseconds.
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- 1997 - Mars Pathfinder lands. Contact not lost until 2006. Blackhole discovered in galaxy M84. 1998 - water- ice discovered at the poles on the Moon. Neutrinos have mass. Liquid water lies under the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Quantum teleportation demonstrated.
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- 1998 - First components of International Space Station in orbit. Since 2000 the home for over 200 astronauts. 1999 - Chandra X-ray Observatory deployed. Type Ia supernovae in distant galaxies peg the Universe expansion rate acceleration. Dark Energy accounts for 69% of composition of the Universe. Dark Matter 29%.
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- 2000 - 11 new moons discovered around Saturn. 10 new moons discovered around Jupiter. 2001 - 11 more moons discovered around Jupiter. NESAR spacecraft lands on asteroid. WMAP analysis of CMB pegs Universe at 13.77 billion years old expanding at 69.3 kilometers per second per mega parsec, that is 47,000 miles per hour per million lightyears.
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- 2003 - Hubble Ultra Deep Field image of 10,000 distant galaxies back to 400 million years after Big Bang. Dwarf Planet Sedna discovered. Voyager I sends data back from edge of Sun’s heliosheath. Twin Rovers explore Mars, discover recent water flows and frost.
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- 2004 - Cassini- Huygens spacecraft orbits Saturn. 2005 - Deep Impact spacecraft smashes into comet. Finds density of comet to be like talcum powder. Dwarf Planet Haumea discovered in the Kuiper Belt. Mars Reconnaissance orbits Mars. Huygens probe lands on Saturn’s moon Titan. Sends data for 90 minutes. Dwarf Planets Eris and Makemake discovered. Nix and Hydra moons discovered orbiting Pluto.
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- 2006 - Pluto demoted to a Dwarf Planet. 2007 - Phoenix Mars lander. 1999 mission returns “ Stardust” from comet to Utah desert with samples. Amino acid and glycine found in samples. 2009 - Kepler Space Telescope hunts for exoplanets. Over 2,200 planets discovered with an additional 4,500 candidates still under investigation.
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- 2011 - Messenger spacecraft orbits Mercury. Dawn spacecraft orbits asteroid Vesta.
2013 - Planck satellite provides data on CMB. 2014 - Rosetta spacecraft arrives at comet. New Horizon passes Pluto. Dawn orbits Dwarf Planet Ceres. 2016 - gravitational waves detected. Planet 9 may have been discovered? Higgs Boson discovery probably pre-mature. Need more data. Stay tuned, and announcement will be made shortly.
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- (1) From Astronomy magazine September, 2016 issue.
- (2) Other reviews available on this subject:
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- #1742 - #1743 - #1744 - # 1745 Astronomy facts. Hundreds of interesting facts about astronomy.
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- #936 - “What the heck is goin on round here?” Examples of some of the strangest astronomy.
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- #902 - Astronomical directions. How measurements are made in astronomy.
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- #1458 - Astronomy helps society. Other inventions that came from astronomy work.
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- #641 - To be a good writer you need to be more like an astronomer and less like a physicist.
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