Astronomers Reflecting Telescope Reflecting Telescope uses a single

Astronomers

Reflecting Telescope

Reflecting Telescope: uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image.

Percival Lowell 1855 - 1916

Percival Lowell: built his observatory in Flagstaff because of its – • High altitude • Lack of cloudy weather • Distance away from city lights

Percival Lowell: very interested in Mars and its geographic landforms

He was determined to prove that what appeared to be canals were not naturally formed

• His theory died in the 1960’s with the Mars mariner missions • Found surface markings to be optical illusions

Discovery of:

Lowell spent the last 10 years of his life observing the orbits of Uranus and Neptune

He predicted that Neptune and Uranus’ orbit were displaced due the gravitational pull of Planet X’s orbit

About 15 years after Lowell’s death Pluto was discovered by an astronomer at Lowell’s observatory

Hubble was the first to discover that the universe stretches beyond the Milky Way Galaxy

He found some stars to be much to far to be a part of the Milky Way These stars were thought to be located in various Nebulas within the Milky Way

Nebula: is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases

His work in astrophysics went a long way in helping contribute to a support the Big Bang Theory: the idea that the universe is expanding

Hubble’s 2 HUGE contributions: - There are other galaxies out there - Made observations that supported the Big Bang Theory

What do Copernicus, Galileo, Lowell and Hubble have in common?