Often in science, researchers and scientists use past information to make new predictions,

discoveries, and advancements. This is especially true in the advancement of astronomy. Many

successful astronomers from older times greatly inspired and helped more recent astronomers

find new information about our universe and solar system.

To begin, one major astronomer who had a large impact on future astronomers was

Hipparchus. Hipparchus’ most important discoveries were related to the distance and proportion

of many celestial objects and planets. Hipparchus was able to measure the Earth’s rotation axis,

and the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Both of these discoveries were extremely

crucial foundations for future discoveries. For example, Tycho Brahe made many observations

about the relationship and distances between the stars, planets, and Moon. These would not have

been as accurate or even possible to calculate without Hipparchus’ basic earlier discoveries.

Secondly, one of the most influential astronomers from past times that influenced later

successful astronomers was Copernicus. Before Copernicus started making observations, the

general public of astronomers believed a theory called the Geocentric Model, which placed the

Earth at the center of the universe while everything else revolved around it. When Copernicus

began to look at this more closely, he proposed his Heliocentric Model, where the Sun was put in

the center with everything else around it. This Heliocentric Model proved the previous

Geocentric Model to be incorrect. We now know that the Heliocentric Model, created by

Copernicus, is the accurate model. Without Copernicus’ creation of this theory, Galileo, Kepler,

and Newton would never have been able to discover their own information. For example, one of

Galileo’s major discoveries was the phases of Venus. He noticed that the phases of Venus were

crescent-shaped, like those of the moon. The shape of these phases could only be possible if

Venus was revolving around the Sun instead of the Earth. So if Copernicus had not discovered
that Venus and the other planets did in fact circle the Sun, Galileo would never have been able to

accurately observe Venus’ phases. Kepler was also influenced by Copernicus’ discoveries.

Kepler’s major advancement in astronomy was his Laws of Planetary Motion. These laws

described and defined the orbits of the planets in greater detail. Through his calculations, he

proved Copernicus’ Heliocentric Model correct, and used this information to discover more

information about how the planets orbited around the Sun. Newton’s gravitational theory also

used information from Copernicus’ findings. Newton proposed that gravity was what kept the

planets in their constant orbits. Newton used Kepler’s Laws to prove his gravitational theory

correct, which in turn proved Copernicus’ Heliocentric theory correct.

Therefore, several early astronomers made critical observations and developed crucial

theories about several aspects of our universe. These findings later influenced many other

astronomers to continue their research. Without the earlier astronomers working to uncover

information, and the following astronomers continuing to discover things, our current

understanding of our universe would be extremely limited and basic, and as a result, the

advancement of our world would look entirely different.