Robert Grant Aitken

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Galaxy clusters like Abell 2744 can act as a natural cosmic lens, magnifying light from more distant, background objects through gravity. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope may be able to detect light from the first stars in the universe if they are gravitationally lensed by such clusters. (astronomy, space exploration, galaxies)

How Fast Is the Universe Expanding?

Where Did the Moon Come From?

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Arrangement of the phases of the moon in total eclipse with Blood Moon

9 Celestial Omens

1 July 2002: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite reveals a massive solar eruption more than 30 times the Earth's diameter. The eruption formed when a loop of a magnetic field over the surface of the Sun trapped hot gas.

6 Questions About the Sun Answered

Discover

Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company

Periods of American Literature

Shadow of a man holding large knife in his hand inside of some dark, spooky buiding

7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar

Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

Is Australia an Island?

Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland

The Largest Islands in the World

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

Robert Grant Aitken: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Born	December 31, 1864 • California
Died	October 29, 1951 (aged 86) • Berkeley • California
Subjects Of Study	binary star

Alvan Graham Clark

American astronomer

Henry Norris Russell

American astronomer

Harlow Shapley

American astronomer

William Herschel

British-German astronomer

Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet

English astronomer

Michel Mayor

Swiss astronomer

Karl Schwarzschild

German astronomer

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve

Russian astronomer

William Rutter Dawes

British astronomer

Fred L. Whipple

American astronomer

Edwin Hubble

American astronomer

Vera Rubin

American astronomer

Simon Newcomb

American astronomer and mathematician

George Ellery Hale

American astronomer

Jane Luu

American astronomer

Carl Sagan

American astronomer

Geoffrey Marcy

American astronomer

Neil deGrasse Tyson

American astronomer

Jill Tarter

American astronomer

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

British-born American astronomer

Quiz

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz

Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.

Faces of Science

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

All About Astronomy

Robert Grant Aitken: Facts & Related Content

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