The Story of Astronomy (36 page)

leap years,
41

Leavitt, Henrietta,
229
–31,
236
,
341

Leibniz, Gottfried,
156

Lemaître, Georges,
222
,
326

Levy, David,
325

light

Herschel's experiments,
187

Newton's experiments,
130
–1

speed of,
152
–3,
215
–16

waves or particles?,
153
–4,
206
–9,
249
–50

see also
optics

light years,
200

Lippershey, Hans,
100

Liverpool,
109
–11

longitude
see
latitude and longitude

Lorentz, Hendrick,
209

Lorini, Nicolo,
103

Louis XIV, king of France,
150
–1

Lowell, Percival,
308

Lowell Observatory,
231

lunar parallax,
46
,
341

Lyell, Charles,
202
–3

magnetism,
194
–7

see also
electromagnetism

maps,
159
–60

Mariner
missions,
307
,
311

Mars

ability to support life,
363
–4

ancients' understanding of movements,
11

and Copernican cosmology,
77
,
78

exploration,
307
–10

Galileo's observations,
102

and Horrocks' hypothesis,
123

orbit,
92
–3

use to determine Earth–Sun distance,
152

Maskelyne, Nevil,
173
,
182

Mather, Richard,
112

matrix mechanics,
250

Maxwell, James Clerk,
196
–7,
224
,
226
–7

Mayans,
14

Mayer, Tobias,
176

Mayer, Walter,
225

Mendeleyev, Dmitry,
199

Mercury

ancients' understanding of movements,
11

and Copernican cosmology,
77
,
78

death,
253

exploration,
311
–12

Gassendi's observations of transit,
123

orbit,
219

Mersenne, Marin,
148
–9

Messenger
mission,
312

Messier, Charles,
182

meteors,
11
,
69
–70

Michell, John,
156

Michelson, Albert,
207
–9,
215

microwaves,
197

Milky Way

Herschel's model,
186
–7

position in universe,
241

rotation,
347
–8

size,
236

structure,
235
–6,
346
–9

Sun's position,
186
–7,
235
–6,
346

Miller, Stanley,
364

Miranda,
317

Mohammed, Prophet,
53

Moon

ancients' understanding of movements,
2
,
5
–10,
13
,
26
–9,
44
,
46

craters,
363

dark side,
306

distance from Earth and size,
26
–9,
37
,
46

Earth's gravitational force on,
135
–6

first examination by telescope,
101

formation,
361
–3

landings,
306
–7

libration,
157

lunar parallax,
46
,
341

maps,
126
–7,
181

meteorites striking,
69
–70

orbit,
124
–5

phases,
9
–10

photographs,
204

rotation,
159

and Sumerians,
17

and tides,
10

use to determine longitude,
151
,
163
,
164
–5,
167
–9,
175
–7

worship,
14

see also
eclipses, lunar

moons: formation,
360
–1

Morley, Edward,
208
,
215

motion, Newton's laws,
133
–4,
143
–5

Mount Wilson Observatory,
234
–7

Much Hoole,
117
–18

mural quadrants,
86

navigation

arc of the meridian,
159

astrolabes,
51
–2,
54
–5,
60
,
70
–1,
162

compasses,
194

measuring longitude,
151
,
161
–77

nautical almanacs,
170
–7

origin of degrees and minutes,
18

origin of latitude and longitude,
36

nebulae,
181
,
182
,
204
,
244
–5,
346

planetary,
254

spiral,
231
–4,
237
–8

Neptune,
192
–3,
312
,
317
,
360
–1

neutron stars,
257
,
264
–5

neutrons,
337

New Horizons
probe,
318

Newton, Humphrey,
145
–6

Newton, Isaac

date of birth,
291

on Descartes,
150

and Flamsteed's research,
169

on Horrocks,
126

and light,
153
–4

as Master of the Mint,
191

and Moon's motion,
168

overview,
128
–46

rivalry with Leibniz,
156

and telescopes,
131
,
180

validity of laws,
226
–7

Nizam ul Mulk,
60
–1

Novara, Domenico Maria de,
72

nuclear fission,
251

nuclear force

strong,
332
,
333
,
335

weak,
332
,
333

nuclear fusion,
251

nuclear physics,
246
–58

numerical systems: zero,
55

observatories

Greenwich,
151
,
165
–9

Harvard,
229

Hubble Space Telescope,
237
,
241
,
317
,
319
–22,
345

Lowell,
231

Mount Wilson,
234
–7

Palomar,
235
,
237

Paris,
150
–2

in space,
322
–4

Uraniborg,
84
–6

Odoacer,
52

Oenopides,
23

Olber, Heinrich,
155

Olber's paradox,
155

Omar Khayyam,
60
–5

Oort, Jan,
319

Oort Cloud,
319

Opportunity
rover,
309

optics,
58
–9

active and adaptive,
321

Orion Nebula,
204

pair production,
335

Palomar Observatory,
235

Pandora,
316

parallax method,
340
–1

lunar parallax,
46
,
341

solar parallax,
123
–4

stellar parallax,
200
–1,
204
–5,
341

Parbsjerg, Manderup,
82

Paris Observatory,
150
–2

parsecs,
200

Pascal, Blaise,
149

Pascal's triangle,
62

Peacock, George,
188
–9

Penrose, Roger,
278
,
299
–300,
302
–3

Penzias, Arno,
328

periodic table,
199

Perlmutter, Saul,
354

Persian astronomy
see
Arabian and Persian astronomy

PG 2112+059 (quasar),
282

Phoenix
lander,
309

photoelectric effect,
213
–14

photography
see
astrophotography

photons,
208
,
248
–9,
338
–9

pi,
18
–19

Picard, Jean,
151
–2

Pickering, Edward,
205
,
229

Planck, Max,
330

Planck Era,
334

Planck scale,
330
–1

plane of the ecliptic,
48

planetesimals,
359

planets

ancients' understanding of movements,
10
–11,
44
–5,
46
,
47
–9

and Copernican cosmology,
76
–9

Descartes' theories on motions,
150

dwarf planets,
318

escape velocities,
155
–6,
270
–1

formation,
358
–61

gas giants,
314
,
360

gravity's effect on orbits,
138
–45,
158

Horrocks' hypothesis,
123

Kepler's laws of planetary motion,
93
–4

life on other,
96
–7,
261
–3,
274
–5,
358
,
363
–4

measuring distance from Earth,
341

orbits and positions,
79
,
81
–95

see also individual planets by name

Pluto,
318

Poseidonius,
33
–4

prime mover,
48

prisms,
130
–1

probability, binomial,
62

Prometheus,
316

protons,
337

protostars,
245
,
339

Ptolemy

influence,
67
,
72
,
75
,
83
,
91

and the Moon,
125

on orbit shape,
93

overview,
43
–9

pulsars,
261
–5

Pythagoras,
23

quadrants, mural,
86

quantum mechanics,
225
,
250
,
296
,
300
–2

quarks,
337

quasars,
276
,
279
–83,
298

quintessence,
356
–7

radio waves,
197

ratios,
62

Reber, Grote,
260

Reconnaissance
orbiter,
309

red giants,
252
–8,
266

redshift,
231
–2,
280
–1,
344
–5,
352

relativity

and black holes,
277

general theory of,
216
–21,
222
–4

and quantum mechanics,
296
,
300
–2

special theory of,
208
–9,
210
,
213
–16

Rhaeticus,
80

Rhodes, Colossus of,
35
–6

ring systems,
360
–1

Roman empire, fall of,
52

Rømer, Ole,
152
–3

Romulus Augustus, Western Roman emperor,
52

rotation curve,
348

Royal Astronomical Society,
188

Royal Society,
131
,
138
,
147
,
149
–50

RR Lyrae variables,
236

Rubin, Vera,
348

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor,
87
,
90
,
94
–5

Rudolphine Tables
,
90
–1,
94
–5,
116

Russell, Henry Norris,
341

Rutherford, Ernest,
247
–8

Sagredo, Giovanni Francesco,
105

Salviati, Fillipo,
104

Sandage, Allan,
279

satellites, manmade,
305
,
306

Saturn

ancients' understanding of movements,
11

and Copernican cosmology,
78

exploration,
312
,
316
–17

moons,
159
,
185
–6,
316
–17

orbit,
158

rings,
101
–2,
158
–9,
316
,
360

Schiaparelli, Giovanni,
308

Schmidt, Brian,
354

Schmidt, Maarten,
280

Schrödinger, Erwin,
250

Schwarzchild radius,
272
,
287

Scout
missions,
309
–10

Secchi, Angelo,
205
–6

SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence),
274
–5

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,
35
–6

Shapley, Harlow,
233
–4,
235
–6

Shoemaker-Levy 9 (comet),
313
,
325

singularity theory,
299
–300,
302

Sirius,
11
,
254

Slipher, Vesto,
231
–2,
239
,
344

SNC meteorite,
363
–4

SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft,
323