Celestial Mechanics & Telescope Revolutions: Copernicus to James Webb
Encyclopedia/1. The Cosmos & The Natural World/3. Astronomy & Planetary Science/02. Exoplanets & Biosignatures • Curated by Admin Timeline.sg
The timeline of celestial mechanics and telescope revolutions spans from Nicolaus Copernicus's heliocentric model in 1543 to the James Webb Space Telescope in the 2020s, encompassing key discoveries and technological advances that reshaped our understanding of the universe.
Chronological Storyline (41 Milestones)
1543 CE
Copernicus Publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
Nicolaus Copernicus proposes a heliocentric model with the Sun at the centre, challenging the geocentric Ptolemaic system. #astronomy #revolution
Copernicus Publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium By derivative work of Johannes Petreius 1543 edition of File:Nicolai_Copernici_torinensis_De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium.djvu - File:Nicolai_Copernici_torinensis_De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium.djvu, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5611684
1572 CE
Tycho Brahe Observes Supernova SN 1572
Tycho Brahe observes a supernova in Cassiopeia, disproving the Aristotelian unchanging heavens. #astronomy
Tycho Brahe Observes Supernova SN 1572 By NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J.Warren & J.Hughes et al. - http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/tycho/; see also https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2941525398/, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6706920
1608 CE
Hans Lippershey Invents the Telescope
Dutch spectacle-maker Hans Lippershey applies for a patent for a refracting telescope, leading to rapid adoption across Europe. #telescope #invention
Hans Lippershey Invents the Telescope By Pierre Borel - De vero telescopii inventore (See http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bdv?/bdviewer/bid=000000300919), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3990839
1609 CE
Galileo Improves the Telescope and Makes Observations
Galileo Galilei builds a telescope with 20x magnification, observing the Moon's mountains, Jupiter's moons, and Venus phases. #astronomy #telescope
Galileo Improves the Telescope and Makes Observations By Justus Sustermans - http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/14174, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62614082
Galileo Publishes Sidereus Nuncius By Galileo Galilei - Houghton Library, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35420870
1619 CE
Kepler Publishes Harmonices Mundi with Third Law
Johannes Kepler's third law relates orbital period to distance, key to Newtonian gravity. #astronomy #physics
Kepler Publishes Harmonices Mundi with Third Law By Johannes Kepler - http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/books/CALL1/520_K38PI/vol0/part0/copy0/jpg/lg/0001-lg.jpg linked from http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/books/pages.cgi?call=520_K38PI&layout=vol0/part0/copy0&res=high&file=0001 linked from http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/books/pages.cgi?call=520_K38PI&layout=vol0/part0/copy0, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9486143
1633 CE
Galileo Forced to Recant Heliocentric Views
Inquisition forces Galileo to recant his support for heliocentrism, symbolizing church-state tensions. #history
Galileo Forced to Recant Heliocentric Views By Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury - https://respvblica.com/galileo-galilei-before-the-holy-office-in-the-vatican-by-robert-fleury/, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88003875
1655 CE
Huygens Discovers Titan and Saturn's Ring Structure
Huygens Discovers Titan and Saturn's Ring Structure By Caspar Netscher - http://ressources2.techno.free.fr/informatique/sites/inventions/inventions.html, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44047
1668 CE
Newton Builds First Reflecting Telescope
Isaac Newton constructs a reflecting telescope using a mirror to avoid chromatic aberration. #telescope #invention
Newton Builds First Reflecting Telescope By The Science Museum UK - [1], CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133516675
1687 CE
Newton Publishes Principia Mathematica
Isaac Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation explain planetary orbits. #physics #astronomy
Newton Publishes Principia Mathematica By The original uploader was Zhaladshar at English Wikisource. - Transferred from en.wikisource to Commons. (previous image from another copy) Internet Archive (current image from the Bern Dibner copy), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2681838
1705 CE
Halley Predicts Comet Return
Edmond Halley uses Newton's laws to predict the return of a comet in 1758, confirming gravitation. #astronomy
Halley Predicts Comet Return By Thomas Murray - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edmund_Halley.gif, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128394552
1758 CE
Halley's Comet Returns as Predicted
The comet returns, validating Newtonian mechanics and predicting comet orbits. #astronomy
Halley's Comet Returns as Predicted By NASA/W. Liller - NSSDC's Photo Gallery (NASA): http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-comets.html http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/comet/lspn_comet_halley1.jpg, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=544352
Mar 13, 1781 CE
William Herschel Discovers Uranus
German-born British astronomer William Herschel discovers Uranus, expanding the known solar system. #astronomy #discovery
William Herschel Discovers Uranus By Ardenau4 - Own workalso published on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197038812@N04/53449450202/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143666922
Jan 1, 1801 CE
First Asteroid Ceres Discovered
Giuseppe Piazzi discovers Ceres, the first and largest asteroid, between Mars and Jupiter. #astronomy )
First Asteroid Ceres Discovered By Justin Cowart - Ceres - RC3 - Haulani Crater, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49700320
1838 CE
Bessel Measures Stellar Parallax
Friedrich Bessel measures the parallax of 61 Cygni, providing first direct distance to a star. #astronomy
Bessel Measures Stellar Parallax By Christian Albrecht Jensen - Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11276529
Sep 23, 1846 CE
Discovery of Neptune
Johann Galle discovers Neptune based on Urbain Le Verrier's calculations, a triumph for celestial mechanics. #astronomy
Discovery of Neptune By NASA / Voyager 2 / PDS / OPUS / Ardenau4 - Own workalso published on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197038812@N04/53446862462/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143615671
1868 CE
Helium Discovered in Solar Spectrum
Pierre Janssen and Joseph Lockyer discover helium by analysing sunlight during an eclipse. #astronomy #chemistry
Helium Discovered in Solar Spectrum By Alchemist-hp (talk) (www.pse-mendelejew.de) - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9597822
1915 CE
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein presents general relativity, explaining gravity as spacetime curvature, with predictions about light deflection. #physics #relativity
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity By Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes Lensing (SXS) - https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20160211v3 (video link); see also http://www.black-holes.org/gw150914, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46994894
May 29, 1919 CE
Eddington's Eclipse Confirms Relativity
Arthur Eddington's expedition measures starlight bending during a total solar eclipse, supporting Einstein's theory. #astronomy #physics
Eddington's Eclipse Confirms Relativity By Frank Watson Dyson / Arthur Eddington / Charles Rundle Davidson - (in English) F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson (1920). "A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: 332. ISSN 1364-503X., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=182028
1924 CE
Hubble Discovers Andromeda is a Separate Galaxy
Edwin Hubble identifies Cepheid variables in Andromeda, proving it lies outside the Milky Way. #astronomy
Hubble Discovers Andromeda is a Separate Galaxy By Johan Hagemeyer - http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15150coll2/id/129, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53878391
1929 CE
Hubble's Law Published
Edwin Hubble shows galaxies recede at speeds proportional to distance, indicating an expanding universe. #astronomy #cosmology
Hubble's Law Published By w:en:User:ScienceApologist - This image was copied from wikipedia:en. The original description was: The raisin bread model of the universe explains how each galaxy can perceive every other galaxy in the universe as receding from it. From the WMAP website., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2615116
1931 CE
Karl Jansky Discovers Cosmic Radio Waves
Karl Guthe Jansky detects radio waves from the Milky Way, founding radio astronomy. #astronomy #radio
Karl Jansky Discovers Cosmic Radio Waves By NRAO/AUI/NSF - https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/karl-guthe-jansky/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=169680767
1937 CE
Grote Reber Builds First Parabolic Radio Telescope
Grote Reber constructs a 9-metre dish in his backyard, mapping radio sources. #astronomy #telescope
Grote Reber Builds First Parabolic Radio Telescope By NRAO/AUI/NSF - https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/grote-reber-in-1975/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=169680655
1948 CE
Hale Telescope at Palomar Begins Operation
The 200-inch (5.1 m) Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory becomes the world's largest for decades. #telescope #astronomy
Hale Telescope at Palomar Begins Operation By Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35949251
Oct 4, 1957 CE
Sputnik 1 Launched
The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, initiating the space age and satellite astronomy. #space #astronomy
Sputnik 1 Launched By Andrey Butko - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4894894
1963 CE
Maarten Schmidt Identifies Quasars
Maarten Schmidt recognizes that 3C 273 is a highly luminous distant object, coining 'quasar'. #astronomy
Maarten Schmidt Identifies Quasars By ESO/M. Kornmesser - http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1122a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15700804
1964 CE
Penzias and Wilson Discover Cosmic Microwave Background
Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson detect CMB radiation, providing evidence for the Big Bang. #cosmology #astronomy
Penzias and Wilson Discover Cosmic Microwave Background By ESA and the Planck Collaboration - Cosmic Microwave Background, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130789180
Nov 28, 1967 CE
Discovery of Pulsars
Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish discover the first pulsar, a rotating neutron star. #astronomy
Discovery of Pulsars By NASA/CXC/SAO (X-Ray); NASA/JPL-Caltech (Infrared) - http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/pia18848-wisefacepalm.jpg, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36363158
Jul 20, 1969 CE
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
First humans land on the Moon, enabling lunar sample return and instrument deployment. #space #history
Apollo 11 Moon Landing By Neil A. Armstrong - https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/gallery/Apollo/11/7#AS11-40-5903, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=170640780
Dec 12, 1970 CE
Uhuru X-ray Satellite Launched
NASA's Uhuru mission maps the X-ray sky, discovering many sources like Cygnus X-1. #astronomy #space )
Uhuru X-ray Satellite Launched By NASA - Great Images in NASA Description, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1193467
Apr 24, 1990 CE
Hubble Space Telescope Launched
The Hubble Space Telescope is deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery, revolutionizing astronomy with its sharp images. #telescope #space
Hubble Space Telescope Launched By NASA - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-125/html/s125e012050.html, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6833760
1992 CE
First Exoplanet Discovered
Aleksander Wolszczan discovers the first confirmed exoplanets orbiting a pulsar PSR B1257+12. #astronomy #exoplanets
Oct 6, 1995 CE
First Exoplanet Around Sun-Like Star: 51 Pegasi b
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announce 51 Pegasi b, a hot Jupiter, earning the 2019 Nobel Prize. #astronomy #exoplanets
First Exoplanet Around Sun-Like Star: 51 Pegasi b By ESO/M. Kornmesser/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org) - ESO website, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39719418
1998 CE
Discovery of Accelerating Universe
Two teams studying Type Ia supernovae find that the universe's expansion is accelerating, leading to dark energy concept. #cosmology #astronomy
Discovery of Accelerating Universe By NASA / WMAP Science Team - http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/121238/ilc_9yr_moll4096.png, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23285693
Chandra X-ray Observatory Launched By NASA/CXC/NGST - http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11185 (image link), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38252467
Mar 6, 2009 CE
Kepler Space Telescope Launched
NASA's Kepler mission is launched to discover Earth-like exoplanets via transit method. #exoplanets #space
Kepler Space Telescope Launched By NASA - https://science.nasa.gov/toolkits/spacecraft-icons (image link), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76268556
Dec 19, 2013 CE
Gaia Mission Launched
ESA's Gaia mission begins mapping one billion stars with unprecedented accuracy. #astronomy #space )
Gaia Mission Launched By European Space Agency - Gaia observes the Milky Way, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119243221
Sep 14, 2015 CE
First Direct Detection of Gravitational Waves
LIGO detects gravitational waves from a black hole merger, confirming a key prediction of general relativity. #physics #astronomy
First Direct Detection of Gravitational Waves By B. P. Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration) — full list at the end of the article - http://physics.aps.org/featured-article-pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 . See also the associated Jupyter notebook., CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46987868
Apr 10, 2019 CE
First Image of a Black Hole: M87*
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration releases the first direct image of a black hole, M87's supermassive black hole. #astronomy #imaging
First Image of a Black Hole: M87* By D. Marrone/UofA - Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133002860
Dec 25, 2021 CE
James Webb Space Telescope Launched
NASA/ESA/CSA's JWST, the largest space telescope, is launched to observe infrared universe. #telescope #space
James Webb Space Telescope Launched By NASA - https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114125719
Jul 11, 2022 CE
JWST First Images Released
NASA releases first images from JWST, showcasing deepest infrared views of the cosmos. #telescope #astronomy
