Monday, April 7, 2014

Nature and Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy

Galileo:

  • Interested in "invisible" stars
  • Thought the milky luster in the sky was made up of small stars clustered together
    • He proved this assertion by sketching "nebulae" that were actually stars

Harlow Shapley:

  • First to realize that the galaxy was much larger than previously believed
  • Found that the Sun's location in the galaxy is in a nondescrpit location
    • supports the Copernican Principle
  • Participated in the "Great Debate" against Heber D. Curtis on the nature of nebulae, galaxies, and the Universe
    • argued that spiral nebulae (now called galaxies) are inside our Milky Way
      • opposed Curtis and Hubble, but was terribly wrong

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