An astronomer is a person who is interested in space processes and phenomena. What does it mean to be an astronomer? Who first wondered about the mysteries of the sky? Find out about the first and great astronomers in our article.
An astronomer is ...
People have always been interested in what is hidden high behind the clouds and how everything is arranged there, in interstellar space. An astronomer is a person who is called not only to ask these questions, but also to answer them. This is a specialist in astronomy - the science of the universe, all the processes and relationships that occur in it. And for this it is necessary to have patience, observation, and most importantly - significant knowledge in various fields of science. Therefore, an astronomer is primarily a scientist.
Professional astronomers must have knowledge of physics, mathematics, and sometimes chemistry. They work in research centers and observatories, analyzing information about cosmic bodies, their movements and other phenomena, which they obtain from their own observations, satellite data, using various instruments. This profession includes narrower specializations, for example, a planetologist, astrophysicist, astrochemist, cosmologist.
First astronomers
Watching the night sky, people noticed that the pattern on it changes depending on the seasons. Then they realized that the earthly and heavenly processes are interconnected, and began to unravel their secret. The first known astronomers were the Sumerians and Babylonians. They learned to predict lunar eclipses and measure the trajectories of the planets by recording observations on clay tablets.
Egyptians back in the 4th century BC e. began to divide the sky into constellations and divine by the heavenly bodies. In ancient China, diligently noted all the amazing phenomena, such as comets, eclipses, meteors, new stars. The comet was first mentioned in 631 BC. In ancient India, there was little success, although in the 5th century, the Indian astronomer established that the planets rotate around its axis.
The Incas, Mayans, Celtic Druids, ancient Greeks were engaged in observations of stars and planets. The latter were strewed with both correct and ridiculous theories and assumptions. For example, the Pole of the Earth was far from the North Star, and the morning and evening Venus were considered different stars. Although some were quite accurate, for example, Aristarchus of Samos believed that the Sun was larger than the Earth, and believed in heliocentrism. Eratosthenes measured the earth's circumference and the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator.
Copernicus Revolution
Nikolai Copernicus is an astronomer scientist who is considered one of the founders of the scientific revolution. Before him, in the Middle Ages, astronomers basically tuned their observations to the Ptolemy’s geocentric system adopted by the church and society. Although individuals, like Nikolai Kuzansky or Georg Purbach, nevertheless put forward worthy hypotheses and calculations, scientific reasoning was quite abstract.
In the work On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres, published in 1543, Copernicus offers a heliocentric model. According to this, the Sun is a star around which the Earth and other planets move. This hypothesis was supported in ancient Greece, but all these were only assumptions.
Copernicus in his work provided clear arguments and logical conclusions. Many great astronomers continued to develop his idea, such as Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei, Kepler, Newton. Not all of his thoughts were true. So, Copernicus believed that the orbits of the planets are circular, the Universe is limited to the solar system, but his work turned over the old scientific concept of the world.
Galileo Galilei
An invaluable contribution to astronomical science was made by Galileo Galilei - Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician and philosopher. One of his most famous merits is the invention of the telescope. The scientist created the world's first optical device with lenses to observe the sky.
Thanks to the telescope, the physicist-astronomer determined that the surface of the moon is not smooth, as previously thought. I discovered that there are spots on the Sun, the clouds of the Milky Way are numerous dim stars, and several planets revolve around Jupiter.
Galileo was an ardent supporter of the theories of Copernicus. He was convinced that the Earth rotates not only around the Sun, but also on its axis, which causes the tides of the ocean. This became the cause of a long struggle with the church.
The telescope was found to be faulty, and the blasphemous ideas were wrong. Before the Inquisition, Galileo was forced to renounce his arguments. It is he who is credited with the famous phrase that he allegedly uttered later: “And yet it spins!”
Johannes Kepler
Scientist-astronomer Johannes Kepler believed that astronomy is a response to the mysteries of the secret connection between space and man. He used his knowledge to predict weather and yield. He also supported the ideas of Copernicus, thanks to which he was able to advance even further in scientific achievements.
Kepler was able to explain the apparent unevenness of planetary motion, based on the three laws he derived. He introduced the concept of orbits, the shape of which he defined as an ellipse. The scientist also derived an equation that allows you to calculate the position of celestial bodies.
All Kepler's scientific views were combined with mysticism. Like the Pythagoreans, he was of the opinion that there was a special harmony in the movement of cosmic bodies and tried to find its numerical value. Fascinated by a secret meaning, he somewhat compromised his scientific achievements, which in the end were very accurate.