BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Astronomy On This Day . . .

On this day in 2003 - August 25th - NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Spitzer was the final mission in the Great Observatories Program. NASA had already launched telescopes to observe in visible light, gamma rays and X-rays.

On this day in 1789 - August 28th - William Herschel discovered Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Herschel was a German musician living in England. Many scientists now think that Enceladus is the best place to look for extraterrestrial microbial life.

On this day in 1758 - August 28th - Charles Messier independently found the Crab Nebula, prompting him to begin his famous catalogue.

When he later found out that John Bevis had made a prior discovery, Messier gave him credit.

On this day in 1976 - September 3rd - NASA's Viking 2 lander landed on Mars.

Viking 2 carried a biology experiment designed to detect life on Mars. There were both positive and negative results - it was inconclusive, but the positive results were probably generated by inorganic chemical reactions in the soil.

On this day in 1977 - September 5th - NASA's Voyager 1 was launched.

After completing its primary mission Voyager 1 continued through the Kuiper Belt and became the first human spacecraft to enter interstellar space.

On this day in 1789 - September 9th - William Cranch Bond was born.

Bond was an American astronomer and pioneer of astrophotography, and the first director of the Harvard College Observatory.

On this day in 1877 - September 11th - James Jeans was born.

Sir James Jeans was an English astrophysicist and mathematician who made important contributions to the theories of radiation and stellar evolution.

On this day in 1789 - September 17th - William Herschel discovered Mimas.

Mimas is the little moon of Saturn that strongly resembles the "Death Star" from the original Star Wars movie.

On this day in 1857 - September 17th - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was born.

Tsiolkovsky was a Russian rocket scientist and is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics.

On this day in 1977 - September 18th - Voyager 1 took the first Earth/Moon photo.

Soon after its great voyage began, the spacecraft was turned around to image the Earth and the Moon in the first ever photo to capture them in the same frame.