Authors: Kitty Ferguson
B00B7H7M2E EBOK (49 page)
belief in a spherical Earth 2–3, 7–8
circumference 2, 3, 7, 8, 13–16
diameter 16
distance from Sun xi, 17 18, 19, 21, 114–15, 119, 125–6, 128
rotation on its axis 25, 29, 55
Easton, C. 159
eclipses 27, 115
eclipsing binaries 166
Eddington, Arthur 173, 186, 187
Einstein, Albert 98, 99, 170, 182, 183–4, 188, 223, 253, 270, 289, 290, 295
elliptical orbits 69–72
Ellis, Richard 235
‘empty space’ 205, 270
equinoxes 26, 27
precession of the equinoxes 27
Eratosthenes of Cyrene xiii, 1–2, 5, 7, 8–10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15–17
Euclid 12
Eudoxus of Cnidus 22, 33
European Space Agency 205, 210
Evans, Revd Robert 221–2
extra-terrestrial life 60
Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project 260, 261
Ferris, Timothy 221, 235
Fisher, U. Richard 222
Fizeau, Armand 144, 145, 172
Flamsteed, John 114, 116, 120, 124, 125,126
flat universe 252, 253, 279, 281
flatness problem 200, 201, 281
Freedman, Wendy 260–1, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 268, 273
French Academy 105, 117
Frenk, Carlos 273, 274, 276
Friedmann, Alexander 182, 184, 186, 233
‘funny energy’/‘quintessence’/‘X-matter’ 280, 281
galaxies
absolute magnitude, measuring 222–3
binary systems 213, 220
clusters and superclusters 213, 239, 247, 276
elliptical galaxies 237, 246, 264
groups 243–4, 247
irregular clusters 245
Local Group xi, 218, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247
mapping 228–33
radio galaxies 237–8
spiral galaxies 179, 213, 218, 222, 228–30, 232, 237, 264
Galileo 63, 64–5, 66, 69, 74, 75–100, 103, 158, 189, 216, 295
Dialogo
92–3, 94, 95–6
Sidereus Nuncius
81, 83, 86
Galle, Johann Gottfried 137
Gamma Draconis 130
Gamow, George 196, 198, 199
Gascoigne, William 103–4
Gassendi, Pierre 102
Gauss, Karl Friedrich 133, 135
Geller, Margaret 209, 234–5
Geller-Huchra Wedge 234, 235
geodesy xiii
Georgelin, Yvon and Yvonne 230
Gingerich, Owen 29, 60–1
gnomon 104–5
Gold, Thomas 191
Gott, Richard 239
gravitational lensing 223, 226
gravity 26, 73–4, 98, 120, 121, 200, 201, 203, 226, 231, 240, 252, 253, 256
Great Attractor 250
Greenstein, Jesse 193, 195
Gregory, James 122, 125
Guinand, Pierre 133
Gunn, James 239
Guth, Alan 200–1
Hale, George Ellery 166–7, 182
Hale-Bopp comet 292–3
Hale telescope 178
Halley, Edmund 120, 123–6, 128, 243
Harriot, Thomas 103
Hartle, Jim 284, 285, 286
Harvard College Observatory 161, 163
Hawking, Stephen 206, 207–8, 284–5, 286–7, 290–1
Heisenberg uncertainty principle 205
Hell, Maximilian 127–8
Hellenistic era 4–6, 7–28
Henderson, Thomas 135, 210
Heraclides of Pontus 23
Herman, Robert 196, 198, 199
Herschel, Caroline 151, 152, 154, 156
Herschel, John 152, 156, 157, 158, 162
Herschel, William 129, 149, 150–5, 156, 159, 228, 243
Hertzsprung, Ejnar 165–6, 212
Hipparchus of Nicaea 27–8, 100
Hipparcos satellite 210, 211, 267, 268
Hopkins Observatory 161
horizon problem 200
Hoyle, Fred 50, 62, 98, 181, 191, 195, 196
Hubble, Edwin 174–5, 176–7, 179, 180, 181, 182, 186, 188, 212, 217, 244, 245, 263, 264
Hubble constant 253–4, 256, 260, 261, 262–3, 264, 265, 266, 267, 269, 271
Hubble Deep Field 236, 237, 252, 268
Hubble Space Telescope 211, 221, 236, 238, 260, 266, 268, 269, 278
Huchra, John 234, 235
Huggins, William 143, 144, 145, 156–7, 159
humanism 62
Humason, Milton 181–2
Humay, Mario 265
Huygens, Christiaan 102, 104
Hyades 147, 210
hydrogen 211, 218, 230, 238
hypothesis formation 7
imaginary numbers 285, 286
imaginary time 285, 286, 291
Industrial Revolution 133
infinite space 283, 284
inflation theory 200–3, 252, 258, 279, 280, 281, 284, 287–9
Infrared Astronomical Satellite 232
intensity of light 118
Islamic astronomers 42–3
island universe theory 171, 175
Jansky, Karl 192, 195, 214
Jastrow, Robert 190–1
Jenkins, Adrian 274
Jodrell Bank 193
Judaeo-Christian concept of the universe 43–4
Jupiter 40, 41, 54, 80, 81, 82, 112, 115, 158
Kant, Immanuel 150, 183
Kapteyn, J.C. 159
Keck telescope 238, 278
Kepler, Johannes 38–9, 63–4, 65–75, 83, 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, 115, 220, 295
Astronomia Nova
72, 73, 74, 78
Harmonices Mundi
74
Mysterium
66, 68, 78
Rudolphine Tables
75
Kepler’s Star 86
Khalatnikov, Isaac 206
Kirchhoff, Gustav 143
Kirschner, Robert 263, 265, 279
Koo, David 235
Kozyrev, Nikolai 189
Kraan-Korteweg, Renee 250
Krauss, Lawrence M. 267
Kron, Richard 235
Kuhn, Thomas 77
Lalande, Jerome 128
Le Gentil, Guillaume 126–7
least squares method 135
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan 161–2, 163–4, 165, 166
Leibniz, Gottfried 286
Lemaître, Georges Henri 182, 186, 208, 270–1
Leo 266
Leverrier, Urbain Jean Joseph 136, 137
Lifshitz, Evgenii 206
light
speed of 115–16, 188, 241, 253
see also
spectra
light years 123
Linde, Andrei 202, 283, 289
Lippershey, Jän 79
longitude and latitude 11–12, 116
Louis XIV of France 105, 115
Lowell, Percival 171–2, 216
Lower, Sir William 79
Luther, Martin 51, 60, 62
M33 244–5
M92 268
M96 266
M100 261, 264, 266
M101 266
McVittie, George 186
Magellanic Clouds 162–3, 164–5, 166, 211, 233, 244, 246
Mars 40, 41, 54, 69, 106, 112, 114, 209–10
Maskeleyne, Nevil 127
Mason, Charles 127
Mästlin, Michael 66
Matthews, Thomas 226
Mercury 41, 54, 55, 75, 102, 103, 125
meridian circle 133
Michell, John 153
Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) 205
Milky Way 83, 149, 150, 153, 159, 162, 168, 169, 171, 174, 178, 179, 214, 218, 228–9, 233, 241–3, 244, 245, 246, 249, 250, 257, 262
Miller, John 173
Miller, W.A. 143
molecular clouds 230
Molyneux, Samuel 130
Moon
angular size 19, 20, 21, 131
distance to the 17–19, 21, 40
lunar mountains 80
Moore, Patrick 189
Morgan, William 228–9
Mount Palomar telescope 218
moving cluster method 147, 210
Munn, Jeff 235
NASA 205, 211, 245
National Geographic Society–Palomar Observatory Survey 228
National Radio Astronomy Observatory 195
natural theology 132
navigation 117
nebulae 150, 154, 156, 157, 159, 169, 170, 171–4, 180
‘extragalactic nebulae’ 176, 177
spiral nebulae 173, 174–5
Neoplatonism 46, 62, 64, 100
Neptune 137
neutrinos 258–60
Newton, Isaac 73, 98, 119–23, 126, 142, 182–3, 187, 204, 295
NGC925 266
NGC4639 266
Nicholas of Cusa 44, 49, 87
no-boundary model of the universe 284, 285, 286–7
novae 157, 170
Novara, Maria de 46
Ohm, Ed 198–9
Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm 283
Olber’s paradox 283
Omega Centauri cluster 243
omega, equation for 251–82
Oort, Jan 229–30
open universe 252, 253, 279, 281
Oresme, Nicole 44
Orion 157
Osiander, Andreas 53, 54
Ostriker, Jeremiah 276
parallax shift 106–7, 111, 112, 113, 114, 129–30
parsec 123
Pauli, Wolfgang 258
Pearce, Frazer 274
Peebles, P.J.E. 197, 276
pencil-beam surveys 235–6, 247
Penrose, Roger 206–7, 284, 291
Penzias, Arno 195–6, 197, 198, 199
Perlmutter, Saul 276–7, 278–9
Perryman, Michael 268
Phillips, Mark M. 265–6
photography 157–9, 163
Picard, Jean 104
Pickering, Edward 161, 162, 170
Pigafetta, Antonio 162
Planck Satellite 205
planetary movement 32–3, 48, 98, 104, 121
deferents 36, 39
eccentrics 37–8, 39
elliptical orbits 69–72
epicycles 36, 37, 39, 47, 54
equants 38, 39, 42, 47
irregularities 37
orbital speed 72–3, 74
retrogression 36, 54, 56
Plato 2, 4, 8, 22, 33, 36
Pleiades 153
Pliny the Elder 28
Plutarch 24
Poincaré, Henri 31
Polaris 165
Primack, Joel 276
proper motion 125, 128, 129, 135
Proxima Centauri 136
Ptolemaic astronomy 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 55, 58, 86, 90, 93, 98, 99
Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) 26, 28, 32–3, 36, 37, 38–9, 40–1, 54, 62, 102–3, 192, 243, 295
Almagest
40, 42, 102, 124
Planetary Hypotheses
40
Ptolemys 4, 6, 8, 9, 17
Pythagoreans 2, 23
Pytheas 10–11
quantum theory 240, 270, 271, 285, 290
quasars 199, 212, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227–8, 238
quasar 3C273 214, 227
radiation 192, 193, 194, 196, 197–8, 219
cosmic microwave background radiation 198–200, 203, 204, 223, 241, 247, 249, 274
decoupling of radiation and matter 198
electromagnetic radiation 198
hot spots 223
radio astronomy 192–5, 197, 214
randomness 241
Reber, Grote 193
red shifts 144, 145, 146, 147, 172, 173–4, 182, 212, 213, 214, 226, 227, 230, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 268
refraction 105
Refsdal, Sjur 223, 226
Reines, Frederick 258
Reiss, Adam 279–80
relative motion 30, 31
relativity 184, 207, 208, 240, 285
representative sampling 251–2
Rhaeticus 52–3
Richards, Paul 199–200
Richer, Jean 111, 112, 114
Rittenhouse, David 127
Roberts, Isaac 158–9
Roemer, Ole 115–16
ROSAT X-ray Observatory 238
Rosse, William Parsons, Earl of 155–6, 157–8, 216
Royal Observatory, England 116, 125, 132
Royal Society 116, 117, 120, 1 32
RR Lyrae stars 211
Rudolphine Tables 75, 91
Ryle, Martin 194
Sagittarius 168, 192, 244
St Pierre, Sieur de 116
Sandage, Allan 179–80, 218, 226, 244–5, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266–7
Saturn 41, 54, 55, 106, 122
Scalay, Alex 235
Scheiner, Christoph 94
Schmidt, Brian 279
Schmidt, Maarten 226
Schönberg, Nicolaus 52, 53
science
Hellenistic terms for 5–6
and theology 189–91
scientism 31
Secchi, Father 143–4
Seleucus of Seleucia 24
Sextans galaxy 244
Shain, Gregory 189
Shapley, Harlow 159, 166–9, 170, 176, 179, 243
singly ionized atoms 167
singularities 207, 208, 285, 286
Sirius 124, 125, 128, 153, 154
Sitter, Willem de 182, 184
Slipher, Vesto Melvin 171, 172–4, 182, 212, 245
Sloan Digital Sky Survey 213, 239–40
Sloan Telescope 240
Smoot, George 204, 249, 274, 281
sodium 143, 145
solar parallax 27
space-based astronomy 209–10, 215, 216
Space Interferometry Mission 211, 245
spectra 138–40, 157, 171, 212, 276
absorption lines 140, 141, 142, 172
electromagnetic spectrum 139, 140, 144–5, 192
emission spectrum 140
solar spectrum 142–3
spectroscopic parallax 212
spheres of the planets 39–40, 42–3, 44, 47–8, 67
Sputnik 1 215
stades 16
Staff of Archimedes 12–13
Stalin, Joseph 188–9
standard candles 166, 168, 169, 210, 217, 219, 220, 221
stars
absolute magnitude 123, 167, 168, 177, 211, 212, 222
age of 267–8
apparent magnitude 123
chemical composition 138, 144
eclipsing binaries 166
globular clusters 168, 176, 177, 268
groupings 149, 160, 211
parallax shift 106–7, 111, 112, 113, 114, 129–30
proper motion 125, 128, 129, 135
pulsation 163–4, 167
speed and overall motion 145–8, 159
stellar distances xi, 41, 43, 55, 118, 119,122, 123, 135–6, 147, 148, 160, 165, 210
variable stars 163–4, 165, 166, 175, 179
statistical parallax 147, 177, 210
Steady State theory 191, 195, 199, 200, 255
Steinhardt, Paul 276
stellar parallax 25, 55, 59, 117, 118, 130, 131–2, 138, 142, 153, 160, 210
Stoics 4, 24
Sun
angular size 19, 20, 131
distance to the xi, 17, 18, 19, 21, 114–15, 119, 125–6, 128
spectrum 142–3
Sunyaev, Rashid 223
superbubbles 236, 247
Supernova Cosmology Project 276, 277, 280
supernovae 176, 218–22, 276, 277–9
explosions 219, 220, 221, 277–8
Type I 219, 220
Type Ia 219, 221, 261, 265, 266, 267, 277–8
Type II 219, 220–1, 261, 267
surface-brightness fluctuations 222–3, 261, 267
Syene 13–16
Szalay, Alexander 251
Talbot, William Henry Fox 157
Tammann, Gustav 218, 263, 264
Tanvir, Nial 266
Taylor, Roger 196
telescopes 36, 78–9, 83, 103–4, 105–6, 133
