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Astronomical Research (astronomical + research)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Physics and Astronomy	80%

Selected Abstracts

Kepler's search for form and proportion

RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 1 2001
A van der Schoot
Kepler's discovery of the courses of the planets did not result from his mechanical intuition: it was not before Newton that his discoveries could be read in the context of classical mechanics. Kepler's own intentions were more in line with Renaissance Platonism: he sought to reconcile the Holy Scripture with Copernican revolution and found an answer to his questions in Plato's Timaeus. His research into the phenomena of growth and procreation in earthly nature was guided by the same yearning to fathom the formal cause which also directed his astronomical research. He singled out one proportion as the divine symbol of procreation: the golden section. Aside from Pacioli's Divina Proportione, Kepler's writings present the only original thoughts about this particular proportion which were published before the nineteenth century. The Mysterium Cosmographicum is still suffused with the spirit of the Renaissance, but in some of his later writings we can trace the dawning of the new mechanistic era. [source]

Kepler, Galileo, the telescope and its consequences

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 6 2009
J. Hamel
Abstract In the beginning Copernicus' system of the world did not have empirical confirmation. In this situation, Kepler's research, as well as the astronomical observations with the telescope, invented in 1608, played a decisive role. Under the assumption of the central position of the Sun, Kepler discovered the elliptical orbital motion of the planets as a base of the computation of noticeably improved ephemerides. The first telescopic observations , Jupiter's moons, phases of Venus, sunspots, surface features of the moon, gave important arguments for Copernicus' system. Galilei was one of the first who used the telescope for astronomical research (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Ir A.H. de Voogt: life and career of a radio pioneer

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 5 2007
R.G. Strom
Abstract There are probably few radio astronomers who would be able to recall A.H. de Voogt, which is unfortunate, but at the same time unsurprising: for he published no original astronomical research, never carried out pioneering observations, nor is his name linked to either theoretical or instrumental breakthroughs. Yet he was described by the man who first observed the 21 cm hydrogen line from the Netherlands as a radio astronomy pioneer, at the very birth of the Dutch effort. He was, moreover, a trail blazer at the cutting edge of radio, not once but twice in his career. Without him it is unlikely that the 21 cm line would have been observed in the Netherlands in 1951, and arguably the H I mapping of the Milky Way under Jan Oort's leadership would have taken place much later, if at all. Radio astronomy observing itself might well have been compromised by interference had it not been for De Voogt's foresight. Anthonet Hugo de Voogt (1892,1969) built, while still a teenager, one of the very first amateur radio stations (call letters VO: · · · ,/, , ,) in Holland, earned the radio-telegrapher's diploma during his student days, and was intimately involved in the foundation of the Dutch Society for Radio-Telegraphy in 1916. Until the 1920s, he was very active in amateur radio and astronomy circles. Trained in electrical engineering at Delft, he joined the PTT (Post Office) as a telegraph engineer in 1919, worked his way through the ranks to become head of the telephone district of Breda in 1939, and was promoted to head the PTT Radio Service just days after the end of the war. As his department was responsible for overseas radio communication, he initiated a research effort to study radio propagation in the ionosphere and the effects of solar activity. To this end, he rescued a number of Würzburg-Riese 7.5-m radar antennas abandoned at the end of the war, made one available for Jan Oort's H I work, and launched a series of radio astronomical initiatives. His group also built a number of antennas, monitored solar emission, and participated in the International Geophysical Year (1957,1958). (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

A total solar eclipse over Rapa Nui

ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 5 2010
Article first published online: 17 SEP 2010
Francisco Diego recorded spectacular images of the 11 July 2010 total solar eclipse from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), making the most of modern digital technology , much of which originated from astronomical research , in taking and processing the images. [source]

Teenage team traces terminal tracks

ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 4 2010
Article first published online: 23 JUL 2010
Digital cameras , inspired, of course, by astronomical research , are now ubiquitous. It seems that nothing happens anywhere in the world without it being recorded by a teenager and promptly uploaded to the net. This truism now extends to the edge of the atmosphere: a group of high-school students has recorded a video of the re-entry and disintegration of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, from a plane over the Australian outback. [source]