Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer see EUVE
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer see FUSE
Faraday, Michael, 195–6, 226–7
Fermat, Pierre de, 149
Fisher, Richard, 342
Fitzgerald, Edward, 63
FitzGerald, George, 209
Flamsteed, John, 125, 152, 166–9, 170–1
force concept, 332–4
Fowler, William, 298
France: maps, 159–60
Frederick II, king of Denmark, 62, 84–5, 86, 87
Friedmann, Alexander, 221–2, 326
FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer), 322–3
Gagarin, Yuri, 305–6
galaxies
classification, 238–9
clustering, 351–2
measuring distance from Earth, 344–5, 351–2
movements, 239–43
rotation and structure, 346–53
see also individual galaxies by name
Galileo spacecraft, 312, 313–14
Galileo Galilei, 96, 97–108, 148, 149, 164, 291
Galle, Johann Gottfried, 193
gamma rays, 322
Gamow, George, 326–7
Ganymede, 314–15
gas giants, 314, 360
Gassendi, Pierre, 123, 148
Geller, Margaret, 352
Gellibrand, Herbert, 116, 119
geology, 202–3, 249
geometry, 57, 62
George III, king of Great Britain and Ireland, 184
George, Prince, of Denmark, 169
Gervaise of Canterbury, 69–70
Gold, Thomas, 243, 297
Graham, George, 172
Grand Unification Epoch see GUE
gravitational accretion, 359
gravitational lensing, 222–4, 350–1
gravity
and black holes, 269–70, 271–2, 277–8
Copernican attitude, 75
and dark energy, 355–7
escape velocities, 155–6, 270–1
Galileo’s experiments, 99–100
importance, 193–5
measuring specific, 98
Newton’s theory, 131–3, 134, 135–6, 138–45
and planetary orbits, 158
separation from other forces during Big Bang, 334
and space/time, 216–20
and unified field theory, 333–4
“Great Debate,” 233–4
Great Wall, 352
Greek astronomy, 22–40, 43–9
Green, Charles, 177
Greenwich Observatory, 151, 165–9
Gregory XIII, Pope, 41
Grossmann, Marcel, 224
GUE (Grand Unification Epoch), 335
Guth, Alan, 335
H-R diagram, 341–2
Habicht, Konrad, 212
Hadron and Lepton Era, 337–8
Hale, George Ellery, 234–5, 236
Halley, Edmond, 68–9, 138–43, 169–71
Harrison, John, 171–6
Harrison, William, 174
Harvard, John, 114
Harvard Observatory, 229
Harvard University, 114
Hawking, Jane, 293, 294
Hawking, Stephen, 278, 290–304
Heisenberg, Werner, 250
helium, 338
Herodotus, 20–1, 22
Herschel, Caroline, 180–1, 182, 184, 185, 189
Herschel, John, 126, 184, 186, 188–91
Herschel, Margaret, 190
Herschel, Mary, 185, 188
Herschel, William, 178–89
Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 341
Herzog, Albert, 211
Hesiod, 22
Hevelius, Elizabeth Margarethe, 127
Hevelius, Johannes, 126–7
Hipparchus, 36–40, 44, 46, 47
Hooke, Robert, 138–40, 153
Horace, 78
Horrocks, Jeremiah, 95, 110–26, 168
Hoyle, Fred, 243, 253, 265–7, 292, 296–8
Hubble, Edwin, 222, 234, 235, 236–42, 344
Hubble Space Telescope, 237, 241, 317, 319–22, 345
Hubble’s constant, 239–42, 344–5
Hubble’s law, 239–42, 344, 354–5
Huchra, John, 224, 352
Huchra Lens, 224
Humason, Milton, 239, 344
Huygens, Christiaan, 138, 316
Hven, 84–6
hydrogen, 338
hydrogen line, 342–3, 346–7
hydrogen spectrum, 199
hydrostatic balances, 98
Inflationary Epoch, 335–6
infrared, 187
interferometry, 321
Io, 314
Islamic astronomy see Arabian and Persian astronomy
Israel, Werner, 303
James I and VI, king of England and Scotland, 85
Jansky, Karl, 259–60
Jeans, Sir James, 243, 297
Jodrell Bank, 261
Julius Caesar, 41, 42
Jupiter
ancients’ understanding of movements, 11
and the asteroid belt, 360
and Copernican cosmology, 78
exploration, 312–16
moons, 101, 314–16
orbit, 158
rings, 360–1
use to calculate speed of light, 152–3
use to determine longitude, 151, 163–4
Keck Telescopes, 321
Kelvin, Lord, 202, 246–7
Kendall, Larcum, 176
Kennedy, John F., 306
Kepler, Johannes, 81, 87–95, 116, 258
Kepler’s Star, 91
Khwajah Nizami, 64
Kuiper, Gerard, 319
Kuiper Belt, 319
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis, 157, 158, 188
Laika (dog), 305
Lansberg, Philip, 116
Laplace, Pierre Simon, 157, 158, 188
Large Hadron Collider, 333
latitude and longitude, 36, 151–2, 159, 161–77
Le Verrier, Urbain-Jean-Joseph, 193, 219–20
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
Schiaparel
li, 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
solar parallax, 123–4
Solovine, Maurice, 212
solstices, precession of, 42
Sosigenes, 41
South, James, 189–90
space exploration, 305–25
spectrographs, 205
spectroscopy, 205–6, 231–3
spiral nebulae, 231–4, 237–8
Spirit rover, 309
Spitzer Space Telescope, 322–3
Sputnik I, 305
stars
ancients’ understanding of movements, 47, 48
binary, 181–2, 189–91, 273
birth, 245–6, 339, 346
death, 252–8
distribution in sky, 186–7, 189–91
and element formation, 253, 254, 256–7, 265–9, 297–8
escape velocities, 271
globular star clusters, 235–6
Helvelius’ maps, 127
magnitudes and positions, 36–7, 57, 86–7, 200–1, 204–5, 229–31, 341–4
neutron stars, 257, 264–5
photographs, 204
spectral features, 205–6, 231–3
stellar parallax, 200–1, 204–5, 341
supernovae, 83–4, 91, 257–8, 261–9, 325
telescopes lead to discovery of many more, 102–3
variable stars, 230–1, 236, 237–8, 342
why they shine, 245–7, 251–2
see also individual stars by name
steady-state theory, 243, 297, 327–9
stellar parallax, 200–1, 204–5, 341
Strabo, 33
Stukeley, William, 132
Sumerians, 16–18
Sun
age, 202, 246–7
ancients’ understanding of movements, 2, 5–10, 13, 23, 26, 44, 48
and Babylonians, 19
classification as star, 154
and Copernican cosmology, 71–80, 104–8
death, 252–4
distance from Earth and size, 29–30, 38–40, 46, 152, 177
distance from planets, 94
gravitational effect on planets’ orbits, 138–45
position in Milky Way, 186–7, 235–6, 346
solar parallax, 123–4
solar wind, 323
space observation of, 323
why it shines, 251–2
worship, 14
see also eclipses, solar; stars
supernovae, 83–4, 91, 257–8, 261–9, 325
Type 1a, 343–4, 354
super-sphere, 285–6
Tariq ibn Ziyad, 66
telescopes
Allen Telescope Array, 274–5
Chandra, 322
The Story of Astronomy Page 27