|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 2005 – January 5th – astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chadwick A. Trujillo and David L. Rabinowitz discovered Eris.Eris is a trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun once every 557 years at an average distance of 1.7 times that of Pluto. It's slightly smaller than Pluto, but more massive, and was thought to be a 10th planet. But Eris and Pluto were finally defined as dwarf planets by the International Astronomical Union..
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1998 – January 6th – NASA's Lunar Prospector was launched.
The mission was designed to investigate the Moon from low polar orbit. This would include mapping the surface composition, locating lunar resources, and measuring magnetic and gravity fields..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1998 – January 6th – NASA's Lunar Prospector was launched.
The mission was designed to investigate the Moon from low polar orbit. This would include mapping the surface composition, locating lunar resources, and measuring magnetic and gravity fields..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1610 – January 7th – Galileo wrote the first letter in which he described his observations of the Moon through a telescope.
In Galileo's time, the Moon was thought to be a perfectly smooth sphere. However Galileo saw that the surface was uneven with mountains, plains and valleys..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1610 – January 7th – Galileo first saw three of Jupiter's moons.The three objects he saw in his telescope are now known as Callisto, Io and Europa, three of the four Galilean moons..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1587 – January 8th – Johannes Fabricius was born in Resterhafe, East Friesland (now part of Germany).
Fabricius was a Frisian/German astronomer, eldest son of David Fabricius who was also an astronomer. In their solar observing, they discovered sunspots about the same time as, and independently of, Galileo..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1942 – January 8th – English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England. The 80th anniversary of his birth was celebrated by Google.For thirty years he was the Lucasian Professor at the University of Cambridge, a prestigious post once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking also wrote books on cosmology for the general public, the best known being A Brief History of Time. He was most closely associated with his work on black holes..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1839 – January 9th – Thomas Henderson published his determination of the distance to Alpha Centauri.Henderson had actually been the first person to calculate the distance to a fixed star by using stellar parallax. However he had delayed publishing his results, and the credit for being first went elsewhere..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1992 – January 9th – Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of two planets orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR 1257+12.
They had discovered the first exoplanets, i.e., planets outside our Solar System. Later, Wolszczan discovered a third planet in the system..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
|
|
OP
BellaOnline Editor Modern Day Human
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 12,055 Likes: 30 |
On this day in 1946 – January 10th – the US Army Signal Corps had the first successful echo detection of a radar signal bounced off the Moon.
It was part of the first experiment in radar astronomy, a technique used decades later to map the planet Venus..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We take forum safety very seriously here at BellaOnline. Please be sure to read through our Forum Guidelines. Let us know if you have any questions or comments!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This forum uses cookies to ensure smooth navigation from page to page of a thread. If you choose to register and provide your email, that email is solely used to get your password to you and updates on any topics you choose to watch. Nothing else. Ask with any questions!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
