Here are interesting 33 Astronomy facts.
1-5 Astronomy Facts
1. Most of our modern understanding of astronomy is based on the work of scientists from the city of Babylon over 2000 years ago. After conquering the city, Alexander the Great ordered the translation of the Babylonian astronomical records, thus causing the knowledge to spread worldwide. – Source
2. Bakhtiyar Khilji, the Muslim general destroyed the ancient university and library of Nalanda in 1193 in hopes of uprooting Buddhism. The destruction of the library is considered responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in Astronomy, Maths, Alchemy, and Anatomy. – Source
3. By using astronomy, we have guessed the date that Odysseus took back the throne of Ithaca as described in Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’: April 16th, 1178 B.C. – Source
4. Harlow Shapley, the man who discovered where our sun is in relation to our galaxy, picked astronomy to study as his major because it was the first one he saw in the course catalog. – Source
5. Before Neil deGrasse Tyson went on The Daily Show, he paid attention to how many sentences Jon Stewart usually allowed before interrupting. He picked up on the kind of phrases Stewart liked to pick up on, which is why he described astronomy using sexually suggestive language. – Source
6-10 Astronomy Facts
6. Instead of the traditional gifts of a watch and pair of long pants, rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun’s mother gave him a telescope for his Lutheran confirmation, sparking his passion for astronomy. – Source
7. Far from holding back science, “The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial aid and support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions.” – Source
8. The Sagan Planet Walk – a 1.2km, 1:5bn scale representation of the solar system in Ithaca, NY was expanded in 1997 to include Alpha Centauri (the closest neighboring star). It is located at the Imiloa Astronomy Center at the University of Hawaii, making it the world’s largest exhibition. – Source
9. Martin Luther said to Copernicus “There is the talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the earth moves and goes around instead…. The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth.” – Source
10. There is a nearly 10km wide asteroid named after Mister Rogers called “26858 Misterrogers”. Rogers, who had a lifelong love of astronomy, even produced a planetarium show called “The Sky Above Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, which is still shown at planetariums across the United States. – Source
11-15 Astronomy Facts
11. A critical step in the creation of Wi-Fi was a byproduct of research into improving astronomy imaging. – Source
12. Ethiopia’s first observatory opened in 2014 and astronomers hope that its space ventures will kick-start a scientific culture in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where currently very little astronomy is taught. – Source
13. Researchers working at Bell Labs are credited with the development of radio astronomy, the transistor, the laser, the CCD (image sensor), information theory, the operating system Unix, and the programming languages C and C++ and they’ve won 8 Nobel Prizes. – Source
14. The Vatican has its own observatory for the sake of pursuing the science of astronomy. – Source
15. The calendar date of Easter is based on astronomy. It is generally the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. – Source
16-20 Astronomy Facts
16. Bill Nye, the Science Guy is the Executive Director of the Planetary Society, an astronomy organization founded by the great Carl Sagan. – Source
17. The famous astronomer, Tycho Brahe, known for helping revolutionize astronomy in the 1500s, lost a chunk of his nose in a sword duel with a fellow student over the legitimacy of a math formula, causing him to live the rest of his life with a metal insert over the missing chunk. – Source
18. One of al-Battānī’s (c. 858 – 929) best-known achievements in astronomy was the determination of the solar year as being 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24 seconds. – Source
19. There is an extensive Wikipedia article on what astronomy is like from a Martian POV. – Source
20. Humans were considered the first computers starting in the early 17th century. These individuals would compute long calculations pertaining to astronomy, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. – Source
