By John Loci

Next Month in Astronomy History

1, 1980
Voyager 1 probe confirms the Saturn Moon Janus exists.

1, 1980
P. Laques and J. lecacheus on discovers the Saturnian moon, Helene.

2, 1840
German astronomer, physician and physicist, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthaus Olbers, dies. Heinrich Olbers discovers three comets.

2, 1972
The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

3, 1969
Apollo 9 is launched to test the lunar module.

3, 1972
Pioneer X is launched by NASA

4, 1275
Chinese astronomers observe a Total Eclipse of the Sun.

4, 1675
John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England

4, 1774
William Herschel discovers the Orion Nebula (M42).

4, 1835
Giovanni Schiaparelli is born. He grows up to be the director of the Milan observatory and "discovers" the canals of Mars

4, 1979
Steven Synnott discovers the innermost Jovian (Jupiter) moon, Metis.

4, 1997
Comet Hale-Bopp directly above the Sun.

4, 2006
The Deep Space Networks attempts the final contact attempt with Pioneer 10. No response was received.

5, 1827
French mathematician and astronomer, Pierre-Simon Laplace, dies. Pierre-Simon Laplace publish Celestial Mechanics, which summarized the astronomy mathematics discovered at the time and came up with Laplace's equation.

5, 1979
Steven Synnott discovers the innermost Jovian (Jupiter) moon, Thebe.

5, 1980
Earth satellites record gamma rays from supernova N-49

6, 1937
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, was born.

7, 1837
American doctor and astronomer, Henry Draper, is born. Henry Draper was a pioneer in astrophotography, being the first to photograph Saturn and the Orion Nebula. He also led an expedition to photograph the transit of Venus in 1874.

7, 1962
The first astronomy satellite, OSO 1 is launched. (solar flare data)

7, 1973
Comet Kohoutek discovered at Hamburg Observatory

7, 1996
First photos of Pluto by Hubble Space Telescope

8, 1618
Johannes Kepler discovers the Third Law of Planetary Motion then rejects it due to errors in calculation. On May 15th, 1618 he confirms his discovery.

8, 1979
First extraterrestrial volcano discovered on the Jovian moon Io.

9, 1497
Nicolaus Copernicus first recorded astronomical observation, a lunar occultation of the star Aldebaran.

9, 1959
First known radar contact is made with Venus

9, 1997
Due to an Eclipse, observers in China, Mongolia and Siberia can view the Comet Hale-Bopp during the day.

9, 2006
Liquid water found on Saturn's sixth largest moon, Enceladus.

10, 1977
Voyager II discovers the Rings of Uranus

10, 2006
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.

11, 1897
A meteorite explodes over New Martinsville, West Virginia.

11, 1952
Douglas Adams is born - DON'T PANIC! The answer is 42.

12, 1835
Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician, Simon Newcomb, is born. Newcomb prepared ephemeredes (tables of computed places of celestial bodies over a period of time) and tables of astronomical constants.

13, 1781
British astronomer, William Herschel, discovers the planet Uranus.

13, 1855
U.S. astronomer, Percival Lowell, predicts the discovery of Pluto

13, 1969
Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth.

13, 1980
Brad Smith, Harold Reitsema, Steven Larson and John Fountain discovers the Saturnian moon, Calypso.

14, 1879
Albert Einstein born in Wilrttemberg, Germany

14, 1986
Halley's Comet flown past by the European Space Agency's Giotto space craft.

15, 1713
French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, is born. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille published the Coelum Australe Stelliferum a catalogue of 10,000 stars, 42 nebulous objects and 14 constellations (some which are still used) for the Southern Hemisphere.

15, 1999
Then planet, Pluto again becomes outermost planet when its orbit carries it past Neptune.

15, 2004
Announcement of the farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed, known as 90377 Sedna.

16, 1079
Iran adopts solar Hijrah calendar

16, 1750
English astronomer and sister to Sir William Herschel, Caroline Lucretia Herschel, is born. She is credited with the discover of several comets.

16, 1942
The first test launch of the V2 rocket is abruptly halted when it explodes at lift-off.

17, 1846
German mathematician and astronomer, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel , dies. In 1841, Bessel was the first to claim of a previously unobserved 'dark companion' of Sirius by positional measurement, and eventually led to the discovery of Sirius B.

17, 1898
William Pickering discovers the Saturnian moon, Phoebe.

18, 1965
The first spacewalk is preformed by Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov from his spacecraft Voskhod 2. The spacewalk last 12 minutes.

18, 1989
English mathematician, statistician, geophysicist, and astronomer, Sir Harold Jeffreys, dies. Sir Harold Jeffreys contributed the idea that the Earth's planetary core was liquid. He was knighted in 1953.

19, 721 BCE
The first lunar eclipse is recorded in Ptolemy's Almagest, based on Babylonian sources.

19, 1915
Pluto is photographed for the first time. This was before it was discovered as a planet.

19, 1958
Britain's First planetarium opens in London at Madame Tussaud's

19, 2008
A cosmic burst, GRB 080319B, that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.

20, 141
6th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

20, 1345
Triple conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in thought to cause a plague epidemic.

20, 1916
Albert Einstein publishes the Theory of Relativity.

21, 1762
French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, dies. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille published the Coelum Australe Stelliferum a catalogue of 10,000 stars, 42 nebulous objects and 14 constellations (some which are still used) for the Southern Hemisphere.

22, 1997
Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest pass to Earth. Missed.

23, 1066
Eighteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

23, 1749
French mathematician and astronomer, Pierre-Simon Laplace, is born. Pierre-Simon Laplace publish Celestial Mechanics, which summarized the astronomy mathematics discovered at the time and came up with Laplace's equation.

23, 1840
First photo of the Moon was taken.

23, 1965
NASA launches Gemini 3 with the first multi-person US crew.

23, 2001
Russian Space Station Mir breaks up and returns to Earth near Fiji.

24, 1893
German astronomer, Walter Baade, is born. Walter Baade, along with Fritz Zwicky, proposed that supernovae could create neutron stars

24, 1930
Former Planet Pluto is named.

24, 1993
Carolyn Shoemaker, Eugene M. Shoemaker, David Levy discover Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

25, 1538
German mathematician, astronomer and Jesuit, Christopher Clavius, is born. Christopher Claviuswas the major architect of the Gregorian Calendar.

25, 1655
The largest moon of Saturn, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens.

25, 1857
Frederick Laggenheim takes the first photograph of a solar eclipse

25, 1996
Comet Hyakutake passes within 0.1018 AUs of Earth

26, 1859
The first sighting of Vulcan, an imaginary planet thought to orbit inside Mercury.

26, 1958
Us Army launches Explorer III.

27, 1969
NASA launches Mariner 7 to Mars.

27, 1996
The spacecraft, NEAR, photographs Comet Hyakutake.

28, 1802
German astronomer, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthaus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.

29, 3760 BCE
One possible date of Creation by the Jewish calendar

29, 1974
Mariner 10 becomes the first probe to fly past Mercury

30, 239 BCE
First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.

31, 1727
Isaac Newton dies in London, age 84

31, 1970
Explorer I returns to Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.

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