Edmond Halley solved the case of comets which kept appearing on the sky at an approximately 76-year interval. After having analyzed the situation, Halley came up with the idea that there was only one comet which kept orbiting the earth. Consequently, the comet did appear at the approximate time that he predicted that it would show again and it is now called the Halley Comet.
Due to the fact that people did not always posses the proper equipment to learn more about earth and the universe, there had been several mistakes when regarding the appropriate measurement of distances. One of the most notable cases in which man wrongfully calculated distances is the case of Columbus, with the Genovese explorer failing from reaching Asia, which he assumed had been much closer than it actually was.
With the coming of the 20th century, astronomy had been more popular than ever and people now had the means to better explore the subject. The century had been full of breakthroughs in the world of astronomy with Hubble, the American astronomer, presenting the theory of the expanding Universe and man leaving Earth and putting foot on the moon for the first time in history.
Most astronomers today believe that the planets had formed as a result of an explosion of enormous proportions called "the Big Bang." There is much controversy regarding the Big Bang theory, as there are people hesitant...
Especially the church is unwilling to accept the issue, as religion only accepts the theory of God having made the world.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is one of the most advanced organizations that study astronomy. In the year of 2003, a NASA satellite had discovered one of the oldest lights in the Universe, which was a remnant from the Big Bang. The discovery had helped in proving the Big Bang theory of being right. It had also brought some crucial answer with regard to the structure and age of the Universe. Apparently, the Universe is 13.7 billion years old, in contrary to the former belief that it had been between 8 and 20 billion years old. Also, the composition of the Universe could now be found with the data from the NASA satellite. It appears that only 4% from the composition of the Universe is composed out of atoms, while 73% is dark energy, and 23% is dark matter.
Works Cited
People in Astronomy." Windows to the Universe. 2000. 25 November, 2008. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/people.html
The Age and Composition of the Universe." Infoplease All the knowledge you need. 2007. 25 November, 2008. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908644.html
The Structure of the Universe." INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova. 25 November. 2008. http://www.pd.astro.it/E-MOSTRA/NEW/A9002STR.HTM
