Origin & Science of Astronomy

Ancient Astronomy
Ancient Greek Science
The Copernican Revolution
Key Concepts: Motion, Energy & Gravity

Further Reading: The Essential Cosmic Perspective, Chapters 3 & 4

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Ancient Astronomy
Nearly all ancient civilizations throughout the world
practiced astronomy.
many built remarkable structures for observing the sky
They made careful observation of the sky for:
tracking the seasons & calendar
daily timekeeping
navigation
monitoring lunar cycles
monitoring planets & stars
predicting eclipses
Modern astronomy grew from its
roots in ancient observations.
most impressive advances in knowledge achieved only in past
few centuries
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Ancient Astronomy: Time Keeping
Egyptian obelisk (3150BC~31BC)
a tall, narrow, four-sided,
tapering monument which ends in
a pyramid-like shape at the top
shadows tell time of day
ancient Egyptians divide daylight
into 12 equal parts modern
clock
At night, time is estimated from
the position & phase of the
Moon.

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Ancient Astronomy: Marking of Seasons

Stonehenge in southern England

one of the oldest standing man-made structures for marking
seasons (built in stages from 2750BC to ~1550BC)
served as astronomical device for tracking seasons & social and
religious gathering place
some suggest the Aubrey holes are used to predict eclipse
long-term use may be principally for burial & 240 people are
estimated to be buried there, mostly in the Aubrey holes
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Ancient Astronomy: Marking of Seasons, contd

Templo Mayor of the Aztec civilization (AD1325~AD1521,

Mexico)
Twin temples stood on a flat-topped pyramid
Sun rose through the notch between the temples on equinoxes
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Ancient Astronomy: Marking of Seasons, contd

Sun Dagger of ancient Anasazi people (1200BC~AD1300,

New Mexico, US)
19-turn spiral carved on a vertical cliff face
Suns ray forms a dagger of sunlight on the center of the spiral
only at noon on the summer solstice
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Ancient Astronomy: Eclipse Prediction
Mayan observatory at
Chichn Itz
(fl. AD200~AD900, Mexico)
windows at the top level, now
partially destroyed, were
strategically placed to
observe the positions of
sunrise, sunset & the motions
of the Moon and Venus
Mayans also appear to be
experts at eclipse prediction.

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Ancient Astronomy: Astronomical Records

"On the Xinwei

day the new
star dwindled."

Star map from the Tang Dynasty made

in AD700. Ursa Major, Sagittarius &
Earliest known records of supernova Capricornus are recognizable.
explosions in bone or tortoise shell
inscription from 1400BC.

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Ancient Greek Science
Path to modern science emerged from ancient
Mediterranean civilization, esp. ancient Greece.
rose as a power in the Middle East in c. 800BC & was well-
established by c. 500BC
crossroads for diverse ideas & culture to meet
ideas spread widely with the conquests of Alexander the Great (356-
323BC), who had a keen interest in science
library of Alexandria opened in c. 300BC after his death, which was
the worlds pre-eminent research center for ~700 years
Greek innovations that are still central to modern science.
They tried to explain patterns in nature without resorting to myth
or the supernatural
Greeks were the first people known to make models of nature
They understand that an explanation cannot be right if it
disagreed with observed facts
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Flat Earth?

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How did the Greeks explain Planetary Motion?

Plato Aristotle
(428-348 BC) (384-322 BC),
student of Plato

Idea of a round Earth taught as early as c. 500BC by Pythagoras.

Early Greek philosophers, like Plato & Aristotle, adopted a
geocentric model of the universe.
Earth at center of a celestial sphere with stars & planets orbiting around it
Heavens must be perfect: objects moving on perfect spheres or in perfect
circles
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Limitations of the Geocentric Model

Hard for the geocentric model to explain the

apparent retrograde motion of planets.
Could be easily explained by a Sun-centered model.
proposed by Aristarchus in c. 260BC
did not gain much support in ancient times & contradicts developed ideas of
physics at that time
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Explaining Retrograde Motion with Geocentric Model

Claudius Ptolemy
(AD100-170)
Greeks came up with many clever ideas to explain planetary
motion while preserving Earths central position.
These ideas were refined for centuries & eventually the Ptolemaic
model was widely adopted.
each planet moved on a small circle whose center moved around Earth on a
large circle
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The Copernican Revolution
Although the Ptolemaic model is
remarkably successful in predicting
planetary positions, it is
mathematically complex.
Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus
adopted Aristarchuss Sun-centered
idea & worked out the mathematical
details of the simpler model.
Nicolaus Copernicus
by that time, the Ptolemaic model had (AD1473-1543)
been growing increasingly inaccurate
his work was finally published on the day he died, 24 May 1543

His work fundamentally changed the way we perceive our

place in the universe Copernican Revolution

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Copernicus Heliocentric Model
Sun is at the center of the universe.
Earth orbits like any other planets.
Inferior planets have smaller orbits.
Retrograde motion occurs when we
lap Mars & the other superior
planets.
The model had the right general
ideas but its predictions were not much better than those of
Ptolemys Earth-centered model.
held to the belief that heavenly motion must occur in perfect circles
still need to use epicycles to get decent predictions
as complex as Ptolemaic model but not more accurate

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Tycho Brahe (AD 1546-1601)
A Danish nobleman known for his accurate &
comprehensive astronomical & planetary
observations.
Compiled the most accurate (1 arcminute) naked
eye measurements ever made of planetary
positions
observed a nova in 1572 (actually a supernova) &
proved that it was much further away from the
Moon
observed a comet & proved that it also lay in the
realm of heavens
Still could not detect stellar parallax, thus
thought Earth must be at center but recognized
that other planets go around the Sun.
few people took this model seriously
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Johannes Kepler (AD 1571-1630)
A German mathematician, astronomer &
astrologer, & key figure in the 17th century
scientific revolution.
greatest theorist of his day & deeply religious
Tycho hired him as an apprentice
in his death bed, Tycho begged Kepler to find a
system that would make sense of his observations
so that it may not appear I have lived in vain.
Used Tychos observations to discover the truth about
planetary motion.
first tried to match Tychos observations with circular orbits
but an 8 arcminute discrepancy led him eventually to ellipses...

His discovery led to the Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion.

reveal underlying truth of planetary motion & became accepted as a
model of nature
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What is an Ellipse?

An ellipse looks like an elongated circle.

a perfect circle is a special type of ellipse
Amount ellipse stretches out is described by eccentricity.
controlled by foci distance
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Keplers First Law

The orbit of each planet around the Sun is an ellipse with the
Sun at one focus.
nothing at the other focus
distance of planet from the Sun varies during its orbit

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Keplers Second Law

As a planet moves around its orbit, it sweeps out equal areas

in equal times.
a planet travels faster when it is nearer to the Sun & slower when it is
farther from the Sun
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Keplers Third Law

More distant planets

orbit the Sun at slower
average speeds, obeying
the relationship
p2 = a3
p orbital period (years)
a average distance from
Sun (AU)

This led to Kepler suggesting that planetary motion might be

the result of a force from the Sun.
but he did not know the nature of the force

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Objections to the Copernican View
Three key objections rooted in 2,000
year old beliefs of Aristotle & other
ancient Greeks:
Earth could not be moving because
objects in air would be left behind
non-circular orbits are not perfect as
heavens should be
if Earth were really orbiting Sun, we
would detect stellar parallax
Galileo Galilei (an Italian physicist,
mathematician, astronomer & Galileo Galilei
philosopher) answered all three (AD1564-1642)
objections.
solidify the Copernican Revolution

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Refuting the Objections
Galileos experiments showed that objects in air would stay with a
moving Earth.
Aristotle thought that all objects naturally come to rest
His rolling balls experiments showed that a moving object remains in
motion unless a force acts to stop it (Newtons 1st Law)
Idea of heavenly perfection shattered after he built a telescope in
1609.
Tychos observations of comet & supernova
already challenged the heavenly perfection idea
he saw sunspots on Sun (imperfections), mountains
& valleys on the Moon (not a perfect sphere)
Galileo saw Milky Way resolved into countless stars with his
telescope, which help him argue that stars are much farther than
Tycho thought.
lack of detectable parallax was no longer so troubling
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Final Nails in the Coffin of the Earth-Centered Model
Galileo also saw four moons orbiting Jupiter,
proving that not all objects orbit the Earth.
Jupiter was the center of its own system
heavenly bodies which did not orbit the Earth
existed
His observation of phases of Venus proved
that it orbits the Sun & not Earth.
all phases were observed for Venus

Ptolemaic Model: Heliocentric model:

Only new & crescent phase All phases (like our Moon)
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Fate of Galileo
Published the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World
Systems (written in Italian) in 1632.
At that time, the Catholic Church doctrine still held Earth to be the
center of the universe
led to Galileo being tried
& ordered to recant his
claim that Earth orbits
the Sun in 1633 by the
Catholic Church

His book on the subject was only removed from the Churchs
index of banned books in 1824.
Galileo was formally vindicated by the Church in 1992.
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The Nature of Science
Science generally exhibits 3 hallmarks:
Modern science seeks explanations for observed phenomena
that rely solely on natural causes
Science progresses through the creation & testing of models of
nature that explain the observations as simply as possible
A scientific model must make testable predictions about natural
phenomena that would force us to revise or abandon the model
if the predictions do not agree with observations

A scientific theory is a simple yet powerful model that

explains a wide variety of observations in terms of just
a few general principles & has attained the status of a
theory by surviving repeated & varied testing.

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Key Concepts in Astronomy:

Motion, Energy & Gravity

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How do we describe Motion?
Speed
rate at which an object moves, i.e.
the distance traveled per unit time
unit of m/s
Velocity
an objects speed & direction
e.g. 10 m/s due east

Acceleration
a change in an objects velocity,
i.e. a change in either speed or
direction is an acceleration
unit of m/s2

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The Acceleration of Gravity
All falling objects accelerate
at the same rate (if air
resistance is ignored).
The acceleration due to
Earths gravity is g = 10
m/s2, i.e. speed increases 10
m/s with each second of
falling.
The higher you drop, the
greater your velocity will be
when you hit the ground.

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The Acceleration of Gravity

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Momentum & Force
Momentum of an object = mass velocity
A force is any influence that causes a free body to undergo
an acceleration.
defined as the rate of change of momentum
as long as the objects mass does not change, the force causes a
change in velocity, or an acceleration
For multiple forces on an
object, a net force will
change its momentum
(change in velocity
= acceleration).

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Difference between Mass & Weight
Mass refers to the amount of matter in an object.
Weight is the force that acts upon an object.
Mass is the same no matter where you are, but your weight
can vary!

You become
weightless in
free-fall!

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How did Newton change our View of the Universe?
An English physicist, mathematician,
astronomer, natural philosopher,
alchemist & theologian considered by
many to be one of the most influential in
human history.
Realized the same physical laws that
operate on Earth also operate in the
heavens one universe
Discovered laws of motion & gravity.
published in 1687, in his book Philosophiae Sir Isaac Newton
Naturalis Principia Mathematica (AD1642-1727)

Built the 1st reflecting telescope.

Invented the mathematics of calculus.
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Newtons First Law of Motion
An object moves at constant velocity unless a net force
acts to change its speed or direction.
e.g. you will not feel a sensation of motion in an airplane at
constant velocity

A spaceship needs no
fuel to keep moving in
space

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Newtons Second Law of Motion
A body of mass m subject to a force F undergoes an
acceleration a in the same direction as the force & a
magnitude directly proportional to the force &
inversely proportional to the mass.
F=ma

You can throw a

baseball farther
than you can throw
a short-put.

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Newtons Second Law of Motion

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Newtons Third Law of Motion
For every force, there is always an equal & opposite
reaction force.
tells us that objects always attract each other through gravity
e..g. explains how a rocket works

reaction

action

A rocket is propelled upward by a

force equal & opposite to the force
with which gas is expelled out.
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Conservation Laws in Astronomy
Important conservation laws in Astronomy:
Conservation of Momentum
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Conservation of Energy

These laws are embodied in Newtons laws, but

offer a different & sometimes more powerful
way to consider motion.

Conservation
of momentum

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Conservation of Angular Momentum
An objects angular momentum cannot change unless it
transfers angular momentum to or from another object.
Angular momentum = m v r
m mass, v speed, r radius of orbit
describes circling momentum

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Conservation of Angular Momentum, contd

Explains why a planet keeps rotating & orbiting the Sun.

not transferring angular momentum to other object
also explains Keplers 2nd law
Also explains the many spinning disks in the universe.
disks of galaxies
disk of materials around young stars
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Basic Types of Energy
Kinetic Energy
energy of motion
e.g. falling rocks, orbiting
planets
Radiation Energy
energy carried by light
Potential Energy
stored energy
e.g. gasoline has chemical
potential energy

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Thermal Energy Kinetic Energy of Many Particles
It is the collective kinetic energy of many particles (atoms
& molecules) moving randomly within a substance.
Thermal energy is related to temperature but it is not the
same.
Temperature measures average kinetic energy of the
many particles in a substance.

300 K 400 K

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Potential Energy in Astronomy
Gravitational potential energy depends on objects mass
& how far it can fall as a result of gravity.
in space, an object or gas cloud has more gravitational energy
when it is spread out than when it contracts.
a contracting cloud converts gravitational potential energy to
thermal energy

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Potential Energy in Astronomy, contd
Mass-energy refers to the potential energy associated with
objects mass.
described by Einsteins equation: E = mc2
a small amount of mass can release a great
deal of energy, e.g. H-bomb
concentrated energy can spontaneously
turn into particles, e.g. in particle accelerators

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Conservation of Energy
Energy can be neither created nor destroyed.
It can change form or be exchanged between objects.
radiative energy in sunlight chemical potential energy in
food chemical potential energy in muscle kinetic
energy of a baseball thrown by you
Fundamental to science.
The total energy content of the universe was
determined in the Big Bang & remains the same
today.

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Force of Gravity
Most important force in astronomy is gravity.
Newton discovered the basic law that describes how
gravity works.
According to the Universal Law of Gravity:
every mass attracts every other mass
attraction is directly proportional to the product of their
masses & inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between their centers

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How does Newtons law of gravity extend Keplers laws?
Newton showed that Keplers laws are a result of the law of
motion & the universal law of gravity.
Newton discovered that Keplers laws can be generalized in
many ways, 3 of which are:
Keplers first two laws apply to all
orbiting objects, not just planets.
e.g. moon around planets
e.g. asteroids around Sun
Ellipses are not the only orbital paths.
Orbits can be:
bound (ellipses)
unbound parabola or hyperbola

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How does Newtons law of gravity extend Keplers laws?
Newton generalized Keplers Third Law (most important)
2
4
p2 a3
G m1 m2
Newtons version of Keplers Third Law (p2 = a3)
allows the mass of distant object to be calculated if you
can observe another object orbiting it
measure orbital period & orbital distance

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Understanding Orbits
Orbital energy = kinetic energy +
gravitational potential energy
Conservation of energy implies:
orbits cannot change spontaneously
left undisturbed, planets, stars,
moons will keep the same orbits
An orbit can only change if it
gains or loses energy from another Comet loses orbital energy to Jupiter,
changing its unbound orbit to a bound
object, such as in a gravitational orbit around the Sun.
encounter.
gravitational slingshot, gravity assist maneuver to alter the
path & speed of a spacecraft
Atmospheric drag can also cause objects to lose orbital
energy, e.g. satellite s around Earth.
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Escaping from Orbits

An object that gains orbital

energy moves into a higher altitude orbit.
If an object gains enough orbital energy, it may escape.
orbit changes from bound to unbound
achieves the escape velocity

From Earths surface, escape velocity is ~11 km/s.

equivalent to ~40,000 km/hr
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How does Gravity cause Tides?

Tides rise & fall twice each day (every 12 hrs 25 mins).
Tides are due to difference in the force of attraction between
different parts of Earth & Moon.
Since gravity force decreases with (distance)2, Moons pull on
Earth is strongest on the side facing the Moon, & weakest on
the opposite side stretching (tidal) force
Earth gets stretched along the Earth-Moon line
affects both land & ocean
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Suns Effect on Tides

Suns tidal effect

on Earth is 1/3
that of the Moon.

Tides vary with the phase of

the Moon.
Spring tides when the Sun &
Moon work together during
new & full moon.
Neap tides when the tidal
forces from the Sun & Moon
counteract each other during
first- & third-quarter moon.
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Why does the Moon always show the Same Face to Us?
The Moon rotates on its axis
in exactly the same time
period that it takes to orbit
Earth.
Synchronous rotation
Tidal force from the Earth
gives the Moon two bulges
along the Earth-Moon line.
Moon probably rotated much
faster than it does today
consequently the Moon did rotate through its tidal bulges but
gradually slowed due to tidal friction
when Moons rotation slowed to the same rate as the orbital
period, it become tidally locked
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