Astronomers
Reflecting Telescope
Reflecting Telescope: uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image.
Percival Lowell 1855 - 1916
Percival Lowell: built his observatory in Flagstaff because of its – High altitude Lack of cloudy weather Distance away from city lights
Percival Lowell: very interested in Mars and its geographic landforms
He was determined to prove that what appeared to be canals were not naturally formed
His theory died in the 1960’s with the Mars mariner missions Found surface markings to be optical illusions
Discovery of:
Lowell spent the last 10 years of his life observing the orbits of Uranus and Neptune
He predicted that Neptune and Uranus’ orbit were displaced due the gravitational pull of Planet X’s orbit
About 15 years after Lowell’s death Pluto was discovered by an astronomer at Lowell’s observatory
Edwin Hubble 1889 - 1953
Hubble was the first to discover that the universe stretches beyond the Milky Way Galaxy
He found some stars to be much to far to be a part of the Milky Way These stars were thought to be located in various Nebulas within the Milky Way
Nebula: is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases
His work in astrophysics went a long way in helping contribute to a support the Big Bang Theory: the idea that the universe is expanding
Hubble’s 2 HUGE contributions: There are other galaxies out there Made observations that supported the Big Bang Theory
What do Copernicus, Galileo, Lowell and Hubble have in common?