Astronomer
An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. Historians often argue that ancient astronomers were priests and that this duality led to the rise of astrology.Unlike most scientists, astronomers cannot directly interact with the celestial bodies, and so instead must resort to detailed observation in order to make discoveries. Generally, astronomers use telescopes or other imaging equipment to make such observations.
| Astronomer | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Hipparchus and Ptolemy | magnitude. |
| Aristarchus | heliocentric model of universe |
| Nicolaus Copernicus | Reitererated the heliocentric model of universe. |
| Galileo Galilei | Was the first to use the telescope to observe the sky. |
| Johannes Kepler | elliptical orbits. |
| Isaac Newton | Used laws of gravitation and motion to predict exact orbits of planets. |
| Edwin Hubble | Discovered the expansion of the universe. (Hubble%27s_Law). |
See also: List of astronomers
There is also a well-known painting by Johannes Vermeer titled The Astronomer, which is often linked to Vermeer's The Geographer. These paintings are both thought to represent the growing influence and rise in prominence of scientific enquiry in Europe at the time of their painting, 1668-69.