Brief History of Astronomy

Modern Astronomy

1687

Sir Issac Newton publishes his revolutionary Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica establishing the theory of universal gravition which is considered to be a turning point in the history of science.

1705

Halley predicts the return of Halley's Comet in 1758.

1725

Flamsteed - the first astronomer royal of England - publishes his star catalogue. He introduces star numbering in each constellation in order of increasing right ascension.

1728

Halley discovers the star motion.

James Bradley proposes the theory of the aberration of the fixed stars, including the aberration of light.

1729

Chester More Hall proposes the principle of the achromatic refractor.

1744

A six-tailed Cheseaux comet is observed.

1750

Thomas Wright speculates about the origin of the solar system.

1755

Immanuel Kant proposes the hypothesis of the origin of celestial bodies

1758

Palitzsch observes Halley's comet return previously predicted.

1761

Lomonosov discovers the atmosphere of Venus.

1767

The foundation of the Nautical Almanac.

1781

Charles Messier, searching for the comets, discovers tens of deep sky objects (galaxies, nebula, and star clusters) which he compiles in his catalogue.

Herschel discovers Uranus.

1784

Goodricke discovers the variable nature of Delta Cephei.

1789

Herschel erected a telescope at Slough with a 48-in (1.22-m) mirror and a focal length of 40 ft (12.2 m). Using this telescope he resolved stars in different nebulas.

1796

Laplace proposes the Nebular Hypothesis of the origin of the solar system based on the theory of stellar evolution.

1801

Piazzi - an Italian astronomer - discovers the first planetoid, Ceres.

1802

Herschel announces the discovery of binary star systems.

Wollaston observes dark lines in the solar spectrum.

1803

Fall of meteorites at L'Aigle.

The explanation of the nature of meteorites is established.

1811

Olber proposes the theory of comet tails.

1814

Fraunhofer provides a detailed description of the solar spectrum.

1818

Pons discovers the predicted return of Encke's Comet.

1826

Discovery of Biela's Comet

1833

The Leonids great meteor shower.

1834

Bessel infers that the irregularity of proper motion of Sirius is due to the presence of its invisible companion.

1837

Beer and Madler publish the first accurate map of the moon.

1838

Bessel determines the distance of star, 61 Cygni. This was the first determination of star distance.

1839-40

The first application of photography to astronomy (Draper takes the first photograph of the Moon.)

1842

Discovery of Doppler's Principle

1843

Schwabe describes the sunspot cycle.

1845

Observation of the break-up of Biela's Comet.

1846

Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune based on its position calculated by the French astronomer Joseph Leverrier.

1851

Foucault provides evidence for the rotation movement of the Earth by giving a spectacular demonstration by suspending a pendulum on a long wire from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris.

1858

Appearance of Donati's Comet.

1859

Kirchoff provides the interpretation of the dark lines in the star spectra.

1859-62

Argelander publishes Bonner Durchmusterung (BD)- the catalog of over 300,000 stars.

1862

Clark discovers Sirius B based on calculations by Bessel.

1860-63

The beginning of spectral analysis of stars. (Huggins identifies elements in the spectra of Betelgeuse and Aldebaran).

1865

Jules Verne publishes the story From the Earth to the Moon.

1867

Description of Wolf-Rayet stars.

1868

Jansen and Lockyer observe solar prominences.

1872

The Bieliid meteor shower.

1877

Hall discovers Martian satellites, Phobos and Deimos.

Schiaparelli observes the Martian canals.

1878

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter becomes prominent.

1890

Lockyer announces his theory of stellar evolution.

Vogel discovers spectroscopic binaries.

1894

Percival Lowell founds the Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona.

1896

The erection of a 33-inch refractor at Meudon.

1897

The foundation of Yerkes Observatory.