NATS 1745 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Double Star
28 Mar 2019
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Newton examined positions of several comets over time. Concluded: the orbits were highly elliptical or parabolic. Concluded that comets more under gravitational influence of sun. The path of an object orbiting the sun (or other mass) which has a grantatinal pull (1/r^2. Law) the object"s path will be a conic section. Halley analyzed data from many comets tables of their positions through time. Used newton"s law of gravity to interpret comet"s motions. Found one comet had the same orbital characteristics. Predicted comet would return 1758 or 1759. Found many other fuzzy objects through telescope. Didn"t want to confuse fuzzy object with comets. Found many stars appeared as two stars in telescope but one star with naked eye. Astronomers tried to predict the position of the unknown planet.
