History of Astronomy
Topics
Ancient Astronomy
The Geocentric Universe
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar System
The Foundations of the Copernican Revolution
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Some Properties of Planetary Orbits
Newtonian Mechanics
Weighing the Sun
Ancient Astronomy
• Ancient civilizations observed the skies
• Many built structures to mark astronomical events which may
have also been for agricultural reasons
Summer solstice sunrise at Stonehenge
Ancient Astronomy
Native Americans - Spokes of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel
are aligned with rising and setting of Sun and other stars
Ancient Astronomy
Mayans - Temple at
Caracol, in Mexico, has
many windows that are
aligned with astronomical
events
Ancient Astronomy
Greeks: knew of five planets: (visible to naked eye)
Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Cronus
We know them by the Roman names:
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Term planet comes from planetes which means wanderer
in Greek
Ancient Astronomy
During dark ages in Europe– The
Chinese and Islamic astronomers
preserved information and made
new discoveries
Islamic terms – Vega, Betelgeuse,
Rigel, zenith (directly overhead)
Illustration from a 16th-century
manuscript.
Ancient Astronomy
Chinese recorded the Crab
Nebula supernova in 1054 AD
The Geocentric Universe
Sun, Moon, and stars all have simple movements in the sky
Greeks knew planets
were different in
motion and brightness,
not predictable, and
always near ecliptic
The Geocentric Universe
Planets:
• Move with respect to
fixed stars
• Change in brightness
• Change speed
• Undergo retrograde
(backwards) westward loop
motion
The Geocentric Universe
Plato’s student first
modeled the solar
system.
Earth centered
(geocentric) perfect
circle.
Couldn’t account for
retrograde motion.
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)
The Geocentric Universe
Ptolemy (140 AD)
Complicated model –
epicycles which
accounted for retrograde
motion
Model lasted until 16th
century
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar
System
Built on idea from Greek Aristarchus (310 BC – 230 BC)
Sun is at center of solar system.
Only Moon orbits around Earth;
planets orbit around Sun.
This is called heliocentric (Sun
centered).
Copernicus (1473-1543)
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar
System
•Much simpler – still had some
epicycles
•Earth spins on axis – explained
seasons
•Accounted for retrograde
Published in Latin (which most could
not read) and published on his
death bed
Copernicus (1473-1543)
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar
System
Retrograde motion - caused when Earth passes a
planet on the same side of the Sun.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Began with Copernicus and the heliocentric view
Telescope invented 1600s
Galileo:
•built his own and improved
the telescope
•believed in Copernicus's work
•first to make observations of
the sky using the telescope
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Galileo’s observations:
• Moon - mountains, valleys, craters
• Sun - sunspots and rotates
• Jupiter’s moons (Galilean moons)
• Venus’s phases
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Observations provided support
of Copernicus's heliocentric
theory
Published observations in 1610
in Italian not Latin – banned by
church in 1616
Published again in 1632 – placed
under house arrest in 1633 –
died under house arrest in 1642
Church publically forgave him of
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
his “crimes” in 1992
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Others working on models of
the solar system, including -
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601).
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
He observed and
collected data on
Mars motion and
used these results to
form his own model
of the solar system.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
His model was hybrid of
Copernican and his own
work.
The Moon and Sun revolved
about the Earth and the shell
of the fixed stars was
centered on the Earth. But
Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn revolved
about the Sun.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Brahe hired Kepler in 1600 to
analyze data
Brahe died a year later and Kepler
inherited his observational work
Kepler worked on his own theory
– based on the Copernican view
Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Kepler’s Laws of Planetary
Motion – consisted of
three laws summarizing the
motions of the planets
Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Kepler’s First Law
The orbital path of the planets
are elliptical with the Sun at
one focus.
The Laws of Planetary Motion
•Ellipses have different eccentricities.
•Eccentricity (e) – measure of the flatness of an ellipse.
•An eccentricity a circle is 0.
•Earth’s orbit has an eccentricity of 0.017.
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Kepler’s Second Law – An imaginary line connecting Sun to any
planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
For equal intervals of time for A and C to occur the speed must
change.
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Orbital properties – Eccentricity (e) and Semimajor axis (a)
average distance from the Sun
Perihelion (perigee): point closest to Sun and fastest speed
Aphelion (apogee): point farthest from Sun and slowest speed
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Kepler’s Third Law - The square of a planet’s period (P)is
proportional to cube of semimajor axis (a)
Units – Period (years); Semimajor axis (AU)
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Examples of Kepler’s Third Law
Earth Venus
1 year = 1 AU
The Laws of Planetary Motion
Newtonian Mechanics
Newton’s three laws of motion
explain how objects interact with
the world and with each other.
Newton’s law of gravity showed
how two objects interacted with
each other gravitationally.
Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
Newtonian Mechanics
Gravity
For two massive objects,
gravitational force is
proportional to the product of
their masses divided by the
square of the distance between
them.
Gravity is an inverse square law.
Gravity
If the mass are equal the center of mass is in the center; if
the masses are not equal the center of mass changes.
Kepler did not account for this in his orbits.
Newtonian Mechanics
Newton’s Modification of
Kepler’s First Law:
(accounted for different
masses)
The orbit of a planet around
the Sun is an ellipse, with the
center of mass (of the
planet–Sun system) at one
focus.
Newtonian Mechanics
Newton’s Modification of
Kepler’s Third Law:
Combines the law of gravity
with Kepler’s Third law to
give the masses of the
objects.
Period in years, a in AU, and Masses are in solar units
(1M=mass of the Sun). Used to find mass of orbiting
objects.
Copernican theory
Copernican theory – Earth orbits the Sun therefore the
Earth should move. The measurement of parallax should
prove this. Was not detected because of lack of
technology at the time.
Earth’s motion was not proven until 1728 (aberration of
starlight).
Parallax measured in 1838 solidified this finding.
Inferior planets - orbits closer to Sun than Earth’s : Mercury, Venus
Inferior planets: 2 conjunctions (appears close to Sun)
Inferior Conjunction – closest to Earth (same side of the Sun)
Superior Conjunction– farthest from Earth (opposite side)
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar
System
Inferior planets:
•Never too far from Sun
•Brightest near inferior conjunction
•Retrograde at inferior conjunction
Superior planets- orbits are farther away: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune
Superior planets:
Conjunction –farthest from Earth(on opposite of the Sun from Earth)
Opposition – closest to Earth (same side of the Sun)
The Heliocentric Model of the Solar
System
Superior planets:
•Not tied to Sun
• Exhibit retrograde motion at opposition
•Brightest at opposition
Summary
•Ancient civilizations observed the skies; many of the terms and
discoveries were from the ancients
•First models of solar system were geocentric but couldn't
easily explain retrograde motion – complicated epicycles
•Heliocentric model needs fewer epicycles (Copernicus); also
explains brightness variations and retrograde
•Galileo's observations supported heliocentric model
•Kepler found three empirical laws of planetary motion from
observations
•Newtonian modified Kepler’s laws
•The heliocentric model of the solar system gives inferior and
superior planets.
