- published: 03 Nov 2009
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An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.
Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws. Today, that distinction has mostly disappeared and the terms "astronomer" and "astrophysicist" are interchangeable. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a PhD in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although they quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments, or aiding in the operation of an observatory. The number of professional astronomers in the United States is actually quite small. The American Astronomical Society, which is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, has approximately 7,700 members. This number includes scientists from other fields such as physics, geology, and engineering, whose research interests are closely related to astronomy. The International Astronomical Union comprises almost 10,145 members from 70 different countries who are involved in astronomical research at the PhD level and beyond.
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
King Charles II, who founded the Royal Observatory Greenwich in 1675 instructed the first Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, "... forthwith to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so-much desired longitude of places for the perfecting the art of navigation."
From that time until 1972 the Astronomer Royal was Director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich. As Astronomer Royal he receives a stipend of 100 GBP per year and is a member of the Royal Household, under the general authority of the Lord Chamberlain. After the separation of the two offices the position of Astronomer Royal has been largely honorary, though he remains available to advise the Sovereign on astronomical and related scientific matters, and the office is of great prestige.
Tycho Brahe (14 December 1546 – 24 October 1601), born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. Coming from Scania, then part of Denmark, now part of modern-day Sweden, Tycho was well known in his lifetime as an astronomer and alchemist.
In his De nova stella (On the new star) of 1573, he refuted the Aristotelian belief in an unchanging celestial realm. His precise measurements indicated that "new stars" (novae or also now known as supernovae), in particular that of 1572, lacked the parallax expected in sub-lunar phenomena, and were therefore not "atmospheric" tail-less comets as previously believed, but occurred above the atmosphere and moon. Using similar measurements he showed that comets were also not atmospheric phenomena, as previously thought, and must pass through the supposed "immutable" celestial spheres.
Tycho Brahe was granted an estate on the island of Hven and the funding to build the Uraniborg, an early research institute, where he built large astronomical instruments and took many careful measurements, and later Stjerneborg, underground, when he discovered that his instruments in the former were not sufficiently steady. Something of an autocrat on the island he nevertheless founded manufactories such as paper-making to provide material for printing his results. After disagreements with the new Danish king in 1597, he was invited by the Bohemian king and Holy Roman emperor Rudolph II to Prague, where he became the official imperial astronomer. He built the new observatory at Benátky nad Jizerou. Here, from 1600 until his death in 1601, he was assisted by Johannes Kepler. Kepler later used Tycho's astronomical results to develop his own theories of astronomy.
Actors: Michael J. Widger (writer), Michael J. Widger (director), Brian Hewitt (actor), Joel Miscione (actor), Eliza Widger (writer), Eliza Widger (director), Richard L. Breyer (actor), Richard L. Breyer (actor), Peter Mahan (actor),
Plot: Mars is on a crash course with Earth, and today is THE END... Tom travels to a run down grocery store in search of last minute provisions for his wife and children, COR binges on sex and drugs, Nicole yearns for love, Oxburg copes with his unsuccessful rap career, and a pack of armed bikers go on a killing spree. Various characters crisscross and collide in a series of unusual adventures, all of which take place in the small city of Syracuse, NY.
Genres: Drama, Horror, Romance, Short,Actors: John Mills (actor), Marcus Dillistone (editor), Marcus Dillistone (writer), Marcus Dillistone (producer), Marcus Dillistone (director), Mike Busson (actor), Oreke Mosheshe (actress), Dimitris Marcantonatos (miscellaneous crew), Olivia Dillistone (actress), Paul Stefanides (composer), Belinda Stephens (actress), Dominic Stephens (actor), Frank Bonacorso (actor),
Genres: Short,Actors: Bob Weinstein (producer), Harvey Weinstein (producer), Bill Timoney (actor), Maureen Stapleton (actress), Meg Ryan (actress), Larry Pine (actor), Kelly Preston (actress), Lee Wilkof (actor), Matthew Broderick (actor), Tchéky Karyo (actor), Daniel Dae Kim (actor), David Boston (actor), Steve McAuliff (actor), Griffin Dunne (director), Rachel Portman (composer),
Plot: Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life, Linda, leaves him for a suave Frenchman named Anton. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do; go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, intent on winning her back and waiting until she decides to leave her current lover. What Sam does not count on is being joined several weeks later by ultra hip tomboy Maggie, a photographer and motor-cyclist who is determined to get revenge on Anton, her ex-fiance. Hostile at first, the two of them eventually join forces in an attempt to separate the couple, and ruin Anton's life. However, complications ensue when Sam and Maggie start falling for each other.
Keywords: airplane, allergy, astronomy, automated-teller-machine, camera, camera-obscura, cockroach, lingerie-slip, love, male-nudityActors: Robert Carradine (actor), Robert Carradine (actor), Orson Welles (actor), Stanton Friedman (actor), Stanton Friedman (actor), Edgar D. Mitchell (actor), James Fox (director), James Fox (actor), James Fox (editor), James Fox (producer), Robert Dean (actor), J. Allen Hynek (actor), Wendelle Stevens (actor), Jesse Marcel (actor), William Blanchard (actor),
Genres: Documentary,Actors: Bob Weinstein (producer), Harvey Weinstein (producer), Bill Timoney (actor), Maureen Stapleton (actress), Meg Ryan (actress), Larry Pine (actor), Kelly Preston (actress), Lee Wilkof (actor), Matthew Broderick (actor), Tchéky Karyo (actor), Daniel Dae Kim (actor), David Boston (actor), Steve McAuliff (actor), Griffin Dunne (director), Rachel Portman (composer),
Plot: Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life, Linda, leaves him for a suave Frenchman named Anton. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do; go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, intent on winning her back and waiting until she decides to leave her current lover. What Sam does not count on is being joined several weeks later by ultra hip tomboy Maggie, a photographer and motor-cyclist who is determined to get revenge on Anton, her ex-fiance. Hostile at first, the two of them eventually join forces in an attempt to separate the couple, and ruin Anton's life. However, complications ensue when Sam and Maggie start falling for each other.
Keywords: airplane, allergy, astronomy, automated-teller-machine, camera, camera-obscura, cockroach, lingerie-slip, love, male-nudityActors: David Seltzer (writer), Jerry Goldsmith (composer), Dick Anthony Williams (actor), Harvey Bernhard (producer), Richard Donner (producer), Ruby Wax (actress), Hazel Court (actress), Mason Adams (actor), Arnold Diamond (actor), Norman Bird (actor), Sam Neill (actor), Harvey Bernhard (actor), Rossano Brazzi (actor), Geoff Freeman (miscellaneous crew), Don Gordon (actor),
Plot: Now come into his full knowledge and power, the Anti-Christ in the body of Damien Thorne is about to strike his final blow. The Christ-child has been born again, on the Angel Isle, Great Britain (Scotland, England & Wales). The plan is simple, find the male children born on the specified day, and kill them all.
Keywords: 666, accident, adoption, ambassador, american-flag, anal-rape, angel, animal-like, antichrist, apocalypseActors: Alberto Cavalcanti (actor), Paul Crauchet (actor), Gilles Ségal (actor), Pierre Tabard (actor), Gilles Katz (director), Gilles Katz (actor), Gilles Katz (writer), Frederic Muninger (actor), Patricia Saint-Georges (actress), James Cellier (actor),
Genres: ,Actors: William Hornbeck (editor), Vernon Dent (actor), Harry Langdon (actor), Tiny Ward (actor), Natalie Kingston (actress), Andy Clyde (actor), Mack Sennett (producer), Frank Capra (writer), Al Giebler (writer), Arthur Ripley (writer), Harry Edwards (director), Ruth Taylor (actress),
Plot: Henry Lamb sits listlessly on a curb. A sidewalk fortune teller with a telescope tells Henry he has a lucky star, and that if he follows it, he'll become a doctor, travel far, and meet a dark lady. Henry now has a purpose. With the wad of money he's saved, he boards a train, meets Dr. Healy, goes with Healy to the Mexican town of San Tabasco, and sees the lovely Mazda looking down on him from a balcony. Is everything just as his fortune foretold? Has he indeed followed his lucky star?
Genres: Comedy, Short,Actors: Georges Méliès (actor), Georges Méliès (editor), Georges Méliès (director), H.G. Wells (writer), Jules Verne (writer), Georges Méliès (writer), Georges Méliès (producer), Georges Méliès (actor), Jeanne d'Alcy (actress), Jeanne d'Alcy (costume designer), Jean-Benoît Dunckel (composer), Bleuette Bernon (actress), Nicolas Godin (composer), Octavio Vázquez (composer), Henri Delannoy (actor),
Plot: A group of men travel to the moon by being shot in a capsule from a giant cannon. They are captured by moon-men, escape, and return to the earth.
Keywords: alien, anthropomorphic-moon, anthropomorphism, astronomer, based-on-novel, cannon, capture, comet, crater, escapeActors: Georges Méliès (actor), Georges Méliès (editor), Georges Méliès (director), H.G. Wells (writer), Jules Verne (writer), Georges Méliès (writer), Georges Méliès (producer), Georges Méliès (actor), Jeanne d'Alcy (actress), Jeanne d'Alcy (costume designer), Jean-Benoît Dunckel (composer), Bleuette Bernon (actress), Nicolas Godin (composer), Octavio Vázquez (composer), Henri Delannoy (actor),
Plot: A group of men travel to the moon by being shot in a capsule from a giant cannon. They are captured by moon-men, escape, and return to the earth.
Keywords: alien, anthropomorphic-moon, anthropomorphism, astronomer, based-on-novel, cannon, capture, comet, crater, escape