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The Discovery of the Four Galilean Moons

The Discovery of the Four Galilean Moons

Harald Sack
On January 7, 1610, physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei turned his new telescope to the nocturnal sky to watch the planet Jupiter and discovered the eponymous four moons of Jupiter, Ganimede, Callisto, Io, and Europa although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.[1,2] The Telescope Based only on uncertain descriptions of the first practical telescope which the Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey [3] tried to patent in the Netherlands…
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astronomy
James Challis and his failure to discover the planet Neptune

James Challis and his failure to discover the planet Neptune

Harald Sack
On December 12, 1803, English clergyman, physicist and astronomer James Challis was born. Challis investigated a wide range of physical phenomena though made few lasting contributions outside astronomy. He is best remembered for his missed opportunity to discover the planet Neptune in 1846. Early Years James Challis was born in Braintree, Essex, UK, where his father, John Challis, was a stonemason. After attending Braintree School, the Revd Daniel Copsey’s school, Braintree, and…
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space
Venera 3 and the Soviet Venera Space Probe Program

Venera 3 and the Soviet Venera Space Probe Program

Harald Sack
On November 16, 1965, Soviet spacecraft Venera 3 was launched. The Venera program space probe was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It possibly crashed on Venus on 1 March 1966, possibly making Venera 3 the first space probe to hit the surface of another planet. The Venera Series Space Probes  The Venera series space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and…
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astronomy
Jean Bailly and the Orbit of Halley’s Comet

Jean Bailly and the Orbit of Halley’s Comet

Tabea Tietz
On September 15, 1736, French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the French Revolution Jean Sylvain Bailly was born. Bailly computed an orbit for Halley’s Comet (1759) and studied the four satellites of Jupiter then known. He was the first Mayor of Paris and presided over the Tennis Court Oath. “The motion of the stars calculated by the Hindus some 4500 years before vary not even a single…
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astronomy
James Edward Keeler and the Rings of Saturn

James Edward Keeler and the Rings of Saturn

Harald Sack
On September 10, 1857, American astronomer James Edward Keeler was born. Keeler is best known for being the astronomer who confirmed James Clerk Maxwell‘s theory that the rings of Saturn were not solid (requiring uniform rotation), but composed of meteoric particles.[3] James Edward Keeler – Early Years James Edward Keeler was born in La Salle, Illinois, to William F. Keeler, who served as a paymaster in the U.S. Navy at the time…
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space
Mariner 4 and the First Pictures from Mars

Mariner 4 and the First Pictures from Mars

Tabea Tietz
On July 15, 1965, NASA spaceprobe Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space; their depiction of a cratered, seemingly dead world largely changed the view of the scientific community of life on Mars. Failed Trials The two Soviet probes Marsnik 1 and 2 were launched in October 1960…
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astronomy
Donald Howard Menzel and the UFOs

Donald Howard Menzel and the UFOs

Tabea Tietz
On April 11, 1901, theoretical astronomer and astrophysicist Donald Howard Menzel was born. Menzel discovered the physical properties of the solar chromosphere, the chemistry of stars, the atmosphere of Mars, and the nature of gaseous nebulae. Moreover, he was best known for his arguments against the existence of extraterrestrial UFOs. Early Years Donald Howard Menzel already collected rocks as a child and built a chemistry laboratory in the cellar of his family’s…
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astronomy
Jerry R. Ehman, the Wow! Signal and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Jerry R. Ehman, the Wow! Signal and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Tabea Tietz
On August 15, 1977, a strong narrowband radio signal was received by the Big Ear radio telescope of the Ohio State University, United States, then assigned to a SETI project. Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the signal a few days later, while reviewing the recorded data and was so impressed that he circled the reading on the computer printout and wrote the comment Wow! on its side. Radio Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman…
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astronomy

Johannes Fabricius and the Observation of Sunspots

Tabea Tietz
Probably on June 13, 1611, Frisian astronomer Johannes Fabricius published his Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione (Account of Spots Observed on the Sun and of Their Apparent Rotation with the Sun), which counts as the first published description of sunspots. Nevertheless, sunspots have been discovered earlier, as the first record of a sunspot drawing dates back into the 12th century to John of Worcester in 1128. Johannes…
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