Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy

There’s more to astronomy than Hubble. Meet the bright minds and unsung heroes of astronomy and hear the human stories behind our greatest scientific endeavors.

Overview

Course No. 10050

When it comes to the heroes of astronomy, we tend to think of lone men persevering in the face of daunting odds. Think of the titans of astronomy and you’re likely to think of names like Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, and Carl Sagan. And while these individuals revolutionized our understanding of the visible and invisible universe, they, too, were standing on the shoulders of other scientists and engineers without whom none of their groundbreaking ideas would have been possible.

Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy takes you around the world and across time in search of the unsung heroes who, in many ways, are just as important to the story of astronomy as Hubble, Einstein, and Sagan. Whether they stood on the shoulders of giants or themselves offered shoulders for giants to stand on, the heroes of astronomy you’ll meet in these 24 lessons are a collective of the brightest and most daring minds in science.

Other influential astronomers you’ll meet include Annie Jump Cannon, who revolutionized the way astronomers classified the stars; Grote Reber, who designed what we recognize today as radio telescopes; Vera Rubin, who identified the first observational evidence of dark matter; and so many others. From groundbreaking new theories to serendipitous observations, from engineering the world’s largest telescopes to designing bold new ways to detect gravitational waves, you’ll witness the evolution of astronomical knowledge in small steps and incredible leaps.

This is an incomparable window into why we’ve always found the stars so fascinating. And why we always will.

Course Structure

1. What Astronomy’s Heroes Can Teach Us
   Begin with an overview of the course, which revolves around the landmark accomplishments of Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, and Carl Sagan. Preview some of the fascinating astronomical discoveries tied to their legacies—and the many other great heroes of astronomy who helped make these scientific strides possible.
   Duration: 33 min
2. Designing and Building the Modern Telescope
   Meet George Ellery Hale, the father of the modern telescope. After learning the engineering science behind telescopes, follow the story of how Hale raised funds for a massive 200-inch telescope that went on to hold the world record for largest telescope for nearly 30 years—and sparked our continued plans to build more ELTs, or Extremely Large Telescopes.
   Duration: 26 min
3. Harvard Heroines Show Us the Stars
   With so many stars, could we possibly study them all? Enter three women: Williamina Fleming, who developed a method for classifying stars based on their spectra; Annie Jump Cannon, who rearranged the classification system’s order using multiple elements; and Cecilia Payne, who established the first temperature scale for stars based on their classifications and spectral appearances.
   Duration: 26 min
4. The Heroic Discovery of Other Galaxies
   How did Henrietta Swan Leavitt, the prolific discoverer of variable stars, make sense of “Cepheid variables”? How did she calculate the relationship between their periods and their true luminosities? How did Edwin Hubble use Leavitt’s work (known as the Leavitt law) to measure the distance to the Great Andromeda Nebula in the 1920s?
   Duration: 25 min
5. Edwin Hubble and the Expanding Universe
   In this lesson, unpack the mysteries of Hubble’s law. First, take a closer look at each part of this deceptively simple equation. Then, encounter the many heroes behind the law, including Vesto Slipher, an astronomer at Arizona’s Lowell Observatory, and Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest and astronomer who may have influenced Hubble’s insights.
   Duration: 28 min
6. Heroes of the Hubble Space Telescope
   Here, focus on the story of Edwin Hubble’s most famous namesake: the Hubble Space Telescope. Among the heroes who helped make this vision a reality were the astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer; Nancy Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy; and a team of astronomers and telescope builders who helped repair a critical problem post-launch.
   Duration: 26 min
7. Pioneers of Radio Astronomy
   Today, radio astronomy is an immense field that has given rise to some of the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last century. Explore the work of Karl Jansky, who first detected radio waves in the early 1930s, and Grote Reber, who built the first dedicated radio telescope and kicked off a surge of interest in radio astronomy.
   Duration: 26 min
8. Discovering the Cosmic Microwave Background
   What began as a faint hiss soon became one of the most crucial signals being studied in astronomy today. In this lesson on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), discover how detector designs, satellite observations, and other heroic efforts have shaped our understanding of the entire universe, from its age to the way it behaves today.
   Duration: 26 min
9. Vera Rubin and the Discovery of Dark Matter
   Today’s physicists and astronomers debate the idea of dark matter: what it’s made of, how it works, and what it means for the makeup of our universe. Go back to the beginning and learn about the invaluable contributions of Vera Rubin and Kent Ford, who found the first observational evidence of dark matter.
   Duration: 25 min
10. Finding the Beginning and End of the Cosmos
    In this lesson, cover two of the most fundamental—and intertwined—questions astronomers around the world continually ask themselves: How did the universe begin? How will it end? Central to these questions is an innovative theory proposed by physicist Alan Guth that could explain the earliest moments of the universe.
    Duration: 28 min
11. How Astronomers Have Shaped Our World
    Turn now to the physical and energetic extremes of the universe, which are some of the most brain-bending areas of astronomy. Begin by taking a look at how astronomers from all backgrounds—from theoretical physicist and humanitarian Albert Einstein to astronomer and gay rights advocate Frank Kameny—have taken on the challenge of shaping the world we live in, as well as the continued efforts in the profession to fight for continued and improved equity.
    Duration: 25 min
12. The Discoverers of Exploding Stars
    Supernovae are some of the most luminous events in our universe. Learn why Oscar Duhalde deserves a unique place among astronomical heroes, then examine how astronomers study and classify supernovae and eventually discovered SN 1987A: one of the most infamous and well-studied supernovae of all time.
    Duration: 25 min
13. Pioneers of X-ray and Ultraviolet Astronomy
    X-ray and ultraviolet light are invaluable pieces in the puzzle of observational astronomy that have opened our eyes to everything from the solar corona to Earth’s magnetic field. Here, take a closer look at the importance of ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, and the invaluable efforts of scientific heroes like George Carruthers and Riccardo Giacconi.
    Duration: 28 min
14. Finding Neutron Stars and Black Holes
    Discover the contributions of Jocelyn Bell and other astronomers in the search for neutron stars and black holes. How do astronomers observe these strange objects—and what, exactly, are they? What cutting-edge techniques are today’s teams of heroic astronomers using to study topics like stellar death and gravity?
    Duration: 26 min
15. Astronomers Put Einstein to the Test
    There is perhaps no more famous theory in the field of physics than Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. After unpacking the details of the infamous equation that revolutionized science, discover how Arthur Eddington catapulted Einstein and his newly proven theories about the relationship between space, time, and gravity worldwide.
    Duration: 31 min
16. The Heroic Detection of Gravitational Waves
    Dig into what gravitational waves are, as well as the enormous observatories and groups of scientists that accomplished the mind-blowing task of detecting them. Focus on the work of teams led by Rai Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Barry Barish, whose Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the tiny chirps of minuscule density waves in spacetime.
    Duration: 28 min
17. Heroic Surveys of the Entire Night Sky
    How do astronomers study and track changes in the night sky? Track the development of astronomical surveys, from the work of William and Caroline Herschel in the 1780s to build a systematic catalogue of the northern night sky to Jim Gunn’s work in the late 20th century to develop the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
    Duration: 24 min
18. Carl Sagan: The Great Space Communicator
    Explore the vital importance of communicating astronomical discoveries to the rest of the world. First, witness the rise of planetariums that can simulate a night sky for the public. Then, turn to the storytelling of science-fiction authors like Jules Verne and Gene Roddenberry. Lastly, celebrate the impact of Carl Sagan and his Cosmos television series.
    Duration: 23 min
19. The Shoemakers Reveal Asteroids and Comets
    Take a census of our solar system’s smallest members, including asteroids and comets, and their relationship with geological history. We have Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker to thank for the dawn of planetary geology, which helped astronomers better understand the origins of the Moon and project the paths of near-Earth objects.
    Duration: 26 min
20. Discovering Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
    Explore Pluto’s brief decades of fame. Start with Percival Lowell and Clyde Tombaugh’s search for another planet lurking beyond Neptune, continue with Gerard Kuiper’s pioneering work on airborne observatories that revealed our first glimpse of Pluto’s atmosphere, and conclude with the planet’s demotion to a dwarf planet that was part of the ring of rock-and-ice objects known as the Kuiper belt.
    Duration: 26 min
21. Solar Astronomers Reveal the Universe
    Drawing on a great deal of heroic research, take a long (and safe) look at our own Sun. How have particle physics and asteroseismology helped us to understand the Sun’s inner workings and deepest layers? How did astronomers build solar telescopes that could tackle the unique challenges of studying the Sun and eye-catching events like sunspots and solar flares?
    Duration: 27 min
22. The Heroic Hunt for Extrasolar Planets
    Astronomers today continue the search for exoplanets orbiting around other stars. In this lesson, meet astronomers Alex Wolszczan and Dale Frail, who in the 1990s discovered not only the first extrasolar planets, but also the first multi-planet system and the first evidence of planets forming around pulsars.
    Duration: 26 min
23. The Seekers of Extraterrestrial Life
    Explore how we study the environments of distant planets and what—or who—may be living on them. Among the many bright minds you’ll meet are Vikki Meadows, whose team specializes in habitability and biosignatures, and Frank Drake, whose famous equation puts a number on the civilizations in our galaxy we could potentially detect.
    Duration: 26 min
24. Tomorrow’s Heroes of Astronomy
    Tomorrow’s heroes of astronomy are hard at work today pursuing new discoveries, testing new theories, and making groundbreaking technological advances. Topics in this final lesson include the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), and the James Webb Space Telescope.
    Duration: 31 min