THE UNIVERSE AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Physical Science
INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever wondered about the shape of the Earth? There was a
conspiracy theory that people think the Earth was flat, however, there
are no coherent natural explanations for anything in the Flat Earth
model. By the 5th century B.C., the debate about its shape has been
settled. It was widely accepted that the Earth is a sphere instead. Learn
more how the center of the universe is being derived or considered.
 • Explain how the Greeks knew that the
Earth is spherical;
• Cite examples of astronomical
phenomena known to astronomers
Learning before the advent of telescopes; and
Objectives: • Explain how Brahe’s innovations and
extensive collection of data in
observational astronomy paved the
way for Kepler’s discovery of his laws
of planetary motion.
 EARTH:
THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE
How the Greeks knew
that the Earth is
spherical?
Pythagoras

• Pythagoras was a Greek

philosopher and mathematician.
• He was first to assert Earth is not
flat but round.
• He mainly used aesthetic
grounds than physical evidence.
Theory of Pythagoras

• It was Pythagoras and his pupils who were first to propose a spherical
Earth.
• Years after, Anaxagoras further supported Pythagoras’ proposal
through his observations of the shadows that the Earth cast on the
Moon during a lunar eclipse.
• The shadow reflected was circular.
Aristotle

• Aristotle was a Greek Philosopher

who made an important contribution
in discovering the shape of the Earth.
• He used geometric grounds but
backed it up with physical evidence.
Theory of Aristotle

• Aristotle listed several arguments for a spherical Earth which

included the positions of the North star, the shape of the
Moon and the Sun, and the disappearance of the ships when
they sail over the horizon.
 Eratosthenes

• Eratosthenes was an ancient Greek

astronomer, geographer, and mathematician
making the first accurate measurement of the
circumference of the Earth.
• He used a scheme that combined geometric
calculations and physical observation.
Theory of Eratosthenes

• One of the most interesting facts about astronomy is when

Eratosthenes use ratio and proportion to find the
circumference of the earth which also supports the idea of
spherical earth.
Using satellites and other technology, scientist know that the Earth
is a sphere. Moreover, the fundamental reason why Earth is round is
due to force of gravity depends upon the distance between two
interacting objects, and the only three- dimensional object you can
make with a single distance is a sphere.

As defined sphere refers to shape that looks like a ball, with all
points on the surface at an equal distance from the center.
 Earth was believed to be a flat disk.

According to The primary reason they believe Earth

Mesopotamian was flat because it looks flat from our
Mythology vantage point on the ground.

Most people in history never traveled

more than a few miles so the horizon
that they saw was always the same.
Some
observations or
proofs that the
Earth is round
1. Lunar Eclipse

• The Earth shadow on the face of

the sun is curved shaped during all
lunar eclipses- in other words
Earth shape is a sphere.
2. Different Locations on Earth
experience seasons at different
times

• We experience different seasons

at different time because the sun’s
rays strike Earth at different angles
during different parts of the year. If
Earth were flat , it would come in at
the same angle.
3. Different stars are visible from
different latitudes (Motion of
Stars)

• Stars that can be seen in northern

latitude are not visible in southern
part hence if the Earth were flat,
everyone will see the same sky.
 The Early Universe:
(Geocentric vs. Heliocentric Models)
 The Celestial Sphere

• The ancient Greeks considered

Earth to enclosed in a hallow sphere
called the celestial sphere, where
the stars, the sun, and other
heavenly bodies are embedded.
• The points where Earth’s rotational
axis cuts this sphere are called the
north celestial pole (NCP) and the
south celestial pole (SCP). The
celestial equator is the projection of
Earth’s equator in the celestial
sphere.
The Geocentric
Models
Aristotle’s Model
• Aristotle divided the universe into two realms-
the terrestrial and celestial- with the orbit of
the moon as the boundary.
• Below the moon’s orbit was the terrestrial
realm.
• This realm was composed of four primordial
elements in this sequence: earth, water, air, and
fire.
Ptolemy’s Model

• The equant and the center of earth are

equidistant from the center of the
deferent.
• When viewed at the equant, the
epicycle orbited Earth at a constant
rate.
• In Ptolemy’s model, each planet has its
own epicycle and deferent.
The Heliocentric
Models
 Copernicus’ Model
• Nicolaus Copernicus asserted that Earth spins on
its axis every day and revolves around the sun
just like the other planets; only the moon orbits
Earth.
• He maintained the concept of uniform circular
motion and Ptolemy’s epicycles. He gave
reasonable explanations for the variation of
brightness of planets and their retrograde motions.
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA KNOWN TO
ASTRONOMERS BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
TELESCOPES
Galileo’s Astronomical Observations

• History had claimed that a refracting telescope was

accidentally invented by Dutch lens maker Hans
Lippershey in 1608.
• Galileo, upon hearing of this invention without having seen
it, made his own telescope and aimed it at the skies.
 The moon has mountains, valleys, and craters. This
suggested that the moon is not so different from
The earth, implying that something in the celestial realm is
following barely distinguishable from objects that belong to the
terrestrial realm.
are some The surface of the sun has some blemishes, which
of the are now called sunspots. This observation
contradicted the Greek concept of the sun as being a
things he perfect celestial body.
saw with
Jupiter has four moons revolving around it. This
his showed that not all heavenly bodies revolve around
telescope: earth. There are other centers of revolution that are
themselves revolving.
 Venus has phases similar to those of the
moon. This suggested that Venus is merely
illuminated by the light from the sun, and that
it revolves around the sun.
The following
are some of
the things he Many stars too faint to be seen by the naked
eye became visible with his telescope. He
saw with his observed that the Milky Way was simply
telescope: made of individual stars. Even when viewed
through the telescope, the stars still
appeared to be points of light. This provided
evidence that the stars were extremely far
away and that observing stellar parallax is
extremely difficult.
 BRAHE’S EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF DATA
AND KEPLER’S LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION
 Tycho Brahe was considered the last and the
greatest astronomer prior to the invention of the
telescope. He was able to establish his own
Tycho Brahe astronomical observatory.

In his observatory, he accurately measured and

recorded the positions of the sun, the moon, and
the planets for 20 years. Realizing that his data did
not fit into the models of Ptolemy and Copernicus,
he proposed his own model of the universe.

In his universe, the sun orbited Earth, while the

other planets orbited the sun.
 German mathematician
astronomer who concluded
geometric scheme was wrong and
found out that orbits of planets
followed three laws.
Johannes
Kepler
This was done through Brahe’s
data which include precise and
detailed observation.
3 Laws of Planetary Motion
First Law

The first law is known as

the law of ellipses, which
The closest point to the sun
states that the planets
in a planet’s orbit is the
move ellipses having a perihelion; the farthest point
common focus situated at
is called the aphelion.
the sun, and the other focus
is empty.
Second Law

The second law is the law of equal areas. According to this law, the
planets move around the sun in such a way that a line drawn from the
sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.

For this to be true, the planet moves fastest at the perhelion and the
slowest at the aphelion.
Second Law
Third Law

• Kepler’s third law is known as the law of harmonies. It states

that the squares of the periods of the planets are
proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the
sun (period is the time it takes to make one complete
revolution around the sun).
Draw/Create your own Earth model from any view point you like
and answer below synthesis question at least 2 sentences each.
Synthesis Questions:

1. Consider the following objects which are closest to the Earth’s shape?
a. Ball
b. Box
c. CD
2.How does the size of your drawing compare with actual size of the Earth?
3.How does the viewpoint of your drawing affect the way objects look?
Thank You!
MELANIE B. RAMOS
Subject Teacher