A brief and incomplete history of astronomy

By Ayana Young and Georgia Mierswa

NASA posted an update in the last week of December that the international space station would be visible from the New York City area—and therefore the Oxford New York office—on the night of 28 December 2013. While there were certainly a vast number of NASA super fans rushed outside that particularly clear night (this writer included), it’s difficult for recent generations to recall a time when space observations and achievements like this contributed significantly to the cultural zeitgeist. When Sputnik orbited the earth in 1957, entire families rushed onto their lawns for a chance to see the tiny speck of light sail across the sky. The slideshow below, based on an Oxford Reference timeline, reflects a number of key, transformative moments in the study of astronomy, illustrating how far this last century has taken us.




1054
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Astronomers in China and Japan observe the explosion of the supernova which is still visible as the Crab Nebula

1543
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Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus publishes a book suggesting that the earth moves round the sun

1610
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Galileo, with his new powerful telescope, observes the moons of Jupiter and spots moving on the surface of the sun

1905
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Percival Lowell predicts the existence of an unknown planet, almost exactly where Pluto is discovered 25 years later

1926
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British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington compares mass and luminosity in The Internal Constitution of the Stars

1929
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US astronomer Edwin Hubble uses the red shift of light from galaxies to demonstrate that they are receding from each other and the universe is expanding

1957
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The success of the USSR in launching Sputnik prompts the establishment of NASA in the USA

1961
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Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel in space, orbiting the earth once in Vostok 1

1961
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President Kennedy commits the US to placing a man on the moon and bringing him back safely by 1970

1968
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The US astronauts in Apollo 8 are the first humans to see (and photograph) the sight of the earth rising above the moon's horizon

1971
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In the Apollo 15 mission US astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the vehicle Rover-1 on the surface of the moon

1998
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The first module is launched of the International Space Station, a cooperative venture by five space agencies (USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, Europe)

Oxford Reference is the home of Oxford’s quality reference publishing, bringing together over 2 million entries, many of which are illustrated, into a single cross-searchable resource. With a fresh and modern look and feel, and specifically designed to meet the needs and expectations of reference users, Oxford Reference provides quality, up-to-date reference content at the click of a button.

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Image credits:


(1) Crab Nebula, Joseph DePasquale, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, NASA. 


(2) Nicolaus Copernicus – The Heliocentric Solar System (illustration). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. 


(3) Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Domenico Cresti da Passignano. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. 


(4)  Percival Lowell observing Venus. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. 


(5) Arthur Stanley Eddington via Library of Congress. 


(6) The Hubble Space Telescope via NASA.


(7) Illustration of the seal of NASA, via NASA.


(8) Yuri Gagarin, Convair/General Dynamics Plant and Personnel. Public domain via San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives. 


(9) President John F. Kennedy at Cape Canaveral in November 1963. Public domain via NASA. 


(10) View from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Public domain via NASA.


(11) Apollo 15 Lunar Module pilot James B. Irwin loads up the “Rover.” Public domain via NASA.


(12) International Space Station. Public domain via NASA.

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