Philosophy
Abstract...
The history of astrometry, the branch of astronomy dealing with the positions of celestial objects, is a lengthy and complex chronicle, having its origins in the earliest records of astronomical observations more than two thousand years ago, and extending to the high accuracy observations being made from space today. Improved star positions progressively opened up and advanced fundamental elds of scientic enquiry, including our understanding of the scale of the solar system, the details of the Earth's motion through space, and the comprehension and acceptance of Newtonianism. They also proved crucial to the practical task of maritime navigation. Over the past 400 years, during which positional accuracy has improved roughly logarithmically with time, the distances to the nearest stars were triangulated, making use of the extended measurement baseline given by the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This led to quantifying the extravagantly vast scale of the Universe, to a determination of the physical properties of stars, and to the resulting characterisation of the structure, dynamics and origin of our Galaxy. After a period in the middle years of the twentieth century in which accuracy improvements were greatly hampered by the perturbing effects of the Earth's atmosphere, ultra-high accuracies of star positions from space platforms have led to a renewed advance in this fundamental science over the past few years.
"The History of Astrometry" by Michael Perryman
- Death Warrant For The Hubble Telescope
"Hubble has 3 more years to make amazing discoveries, NASA says" by Karen Kaplan March 23rd, 2013 Los Angeles Times Scientists and space junkies got some good news from NASA on Friday: The space agency announced it would keep the Hubble Space Telescope...
- Tycho Brahe...an Early Astronomical Observer
Goes to illustrate that science is a function of team work. "A feisty man of science" by Perry Vlahos October 27th, 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald Tycho Brahe observed the sky before the age of telescopes. MANY think of Tycho Brahe as the most significant...
- College Of Staten Island And Bucks For Names
Okay, a worthy idea, but is it official? "College of Staten Island astronomy professor who discovered planatoids puts names up for sale" by Clem Richardson April 30th, 2010 NYDailyNews Astronomy Prof. Irving Robbins is offering the astronomical bargain...
- Deceased--ronald A. Parise
Ronald A. Parise May 24th, 1951 - May 9th, 2008 "Former astronaut, UV imaging telescope specialist dies" by Richard Stewart May 11th, 2008 Houston Chronicle Former space shuttle payload specialist Ronald Parise died at his home in Silver Springs,...
- An Over Zealous Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington?
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington The materials: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [1687]--Newton Relativity: The Special and General Theory--Einstein "Report on the relativity theory of gravitation"--Eddington The event: 1919 solar eclipse Where:...
Philosophy
Little known branch of astronomy..."Astrometry"
The Sextant of Johannes Hevelius.
Abstract...
The history of astrometry, the branch of astronomy dealing with the positions of celestial objects, is a lengthy and complex chronicle, having its origins in the earliest records of astronomical observations more than two thousand years ago, and extending to the high accuracy observations being made from space today. Improved star positions progressively opened up and advanced fundamental elds of scientic enquiry, including our understanding of the scale of the solar system, the details of the Earth's motion through space, and the comprehension and acceptance of Newtonianism. They also proved crucial to the practical task of maritime navigation. Over the past 400 years, during which positional accuracy has improved roughly logarithmically with time, the distances to the nearest stars were triangulated, making use of the extended measurement baseline given by the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This led to quantifying the extravagantly vast scale of the Universe, to a determination of the physical properties of stars, and to the resulting characterisation of the structure, dynamics and origin of our Galaxy. After a period in the middle years of the twentieth century in which accuracy improvements were greatly hampered by the perturbing effects of the Earth's atmosphere, ultra-high accuracies of star positions from space platforms have led to a renewed advance in this fundamental science over the past few years.
"The History of Astrometry" by Michael Perryman
- Death Warrant For The Hubble Telescope
"Hubble has 3 more years to make amazing discoveries, NASA says" by Karen Kaplan March 23rd, 2013 Los Angeles Times Scientists and space junkies got some good news from NASA on Friday: The space agency announced it would keep the Hubble Space Telescope...
- Tycho Brahe...an Early Astronomical Observer
Goes to illustrate that science is a function of team work. "A feisty man of science" by Perry Vlahos October 27th, 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald Tycho Brahe observed the sky before the age of telescopes. MANY think of Tycho Brahe as the most significant...
- College Of Staten Island And Bucks For Names
Okay, a worthy idea, but is it official? "College of Staten Island astronomy professor who discovered planatoids puts names up for sale" by Clem Richardson April 30th, 2010 NYDailyNews Astronomy Prof. Irving Robbins is offering the astronomical bargain...
- Deceased--ronald A. Parise
Ronald A. Parise May 24th, 1951 - May 9th, 2008 "Former astronaut, UV imaging telescope specialist dies" by Richard Stewart May 11th, 2008 Houston Chronicle Former space shuttle payload specialist Ronald Parise died at his home in Silver Springs,...
- An Over Zealous Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington?
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington The materials: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [1687]--Newton Relativity: The Special and General Theory--Einstein "Report on the relativity theory of gravitation"--Eddington The event: 1919 solar eclipse Where:...