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    A History of Astronomy

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    This document provides a history of astronomy from ancient times through Isaac Newton. It describes how ancient cultures made early astronomical observations but believed in a geocentric model of the universe. Copernicus later proposed a heliocentric model based on Mars' orbit. Kepler further refined this based on elliptical orbits and Galileo provided evidence for it through his astronomical discoveries with telescopes. Finally, Newton combined all prior work to develop his laws of motion and universal gravitation, accurately describing motion of all objects.

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    A History of Astronomy

    Uploaded by

    3Spot
    66 views10 pages
    This document provides a history of astronomy from ancient times through Isaac Newton. It describes how ancient cultures made early astronomical observations but believed in a geocentric model of the universe. Copernicus later proposed a heliocentric model based on Mars' orbit. Kepler further refined this based on elliptical orbits and Galileo provided evidence for it through his astronomical discoveries with telescopes. Finally, Newton combined all prior work to develop his laws of motion and universal gravitation, accurately describing motion of all objects.

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    This document provides a history of astronomy from ancient times through Isaac Newton. It describes how ancient cultures made early astronomical observations but believed in a geocentric model of the universe. Copernicus later proposed a heliocentric model based on Mars' orbit. Kepler further refined this based on elliptical orbits and Galileo provided evidence for it through his astronomical discoveries with telescopes. Finally, Newton combined all prior work to develop his laws of motion and universal gravitation, accurately describing motion of all objects.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    66 views10 pages

    A History of Astronomy

    Uploaded by

    3Spot
    This document provides a history of astronomy from ancient times through Isaac Newton. It describes how ancient cultures made early astronomical observations but believed in a geocentric model of the universe. Copernicus later proposed a heliocentric model based on Mars' orbit. Kepler further refined this based on elliptical orbits and Galileo provided evidence for it through his astronomical discoveries with telescopes. Finally, Newton combined all prior work to develop his laws of motion and universal gravitation, accurately describing motion of all objects.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 10

    A History of Astronomy

    Astronomy is the branch of science that tries to


    know about objects outside the Earth (astronomical
    objects)
    Ancient Astronomy
    Ancient means from time long past,
    especially before the end of the Western
    Roman Empire in 476 A.D.
    Many ancient peoples, including in ancient
    China and India, made detailed observations
    about the objects in the sky
    These observations were useful in making
    calendars, which helped in yearly planning,
    and were also part of many religions
    Is the solar system geocentric or
    heliocentric?
    geo = earth, helio = sun, centric =
    centered, so geocentric means earth-
    centered and heliocentric means sun-
    centered
    Most ancient Greek astronomers believed that
    the earth was the center of the solar system
    and the universe, with everything orbiting it,
    which is called a geocentric model or system
    We now know that the earth orbits the sun,
    which is called a heliocentric model
    Ancient Greek Astronomy
    Most ancient Greeks believed that all
    astronomical objects were perfect,
    unchanging spheres and orbited in perfect
    circles around the earth, following different
    physical laws from those on Earth
    These ideas were believed by most people
    until Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo disproved
    them more than 1000 years later
    Although they had many wrong ideas about
    the solar system, the ancient Greeks made
    many important astronomical discoveries
    Astronomy in the Middle Ages
    In European history, the Middle Ages lasted
    from about 500 A.D. to about 1500 A.D.
    (between antiquity and the modern period)
    In Europe, astronomy (and knowledge in
    general) did not gain much during the Middle
    Ages, and so it has been called The Dark Ages
    This picture shows the earth at the
    center and the sun and other
    planets orbiting the earth in
    perfect circles. This was the model
    believed to be true by most people
    during the Middle Ages
    Nicholas Copernicus (1473 - 1543)
    The publication of Copernicus' book, On the
    Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, just
    before his death in 1543, is considered a
    major event in the history of science
    It argued for the heliocentric model based on
    the observed backward motion of Mars

    In this animation,
    the Sun is yellow,
    the Earth is blue,
    and Mars is red

    Heliocentric model Geocentric model


    Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601)
    His model of the Solar System put forth in
    Introduction to the New Astronomy (1588)
    combined the geocentric and heliocentric
    models

    In the Tychonic system, the


    objects on blue orbits (the Moon
    and the Sun) revolve around the
    Earth. The objects on orange
    orbits (Mercury, Venus, Mars,
    Jupiter, and Saturn) revolve
    around the Sun. Around all is a
    sphere of fixed stars.
    Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630)
    Published Astronomia nova in 1609
    Keplers work provided one of the foundations
    for Isaac Newton's theory of universal
    gravitation
    He discovered that orbits are shaped like
    ellipses, not circles
    The same blue area is swept out in
    a given time. The green arrow is
    velocity. The purple arrow directed
    towards the Sun is the
    acceleration. The other two purple
    arrows are acceleration
    components parallel and
    perpendicular to the velocity.
    Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
    He discovered the four largest moons of
    Jupiter and craters on the Moon
    His 1631 book, Dialogue Concerning the Two
    Chief World Systems, argued for the
    heliocentric model
    He said the Earth could be moving because of
    the law of inertia

    One of Galileos
    drawings of the
    Moon, showing
    craters A drawing of
    Galileo
    Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
    Newton used the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo,
    and others and created the 3 Laws of Motion and
    the Law of Universal Gravitation
    These laws accurately described the motions of
    all objects everywhere, including astronomical
    objects
    Before this it was believed that astronomical
    objects had different laws of motion than objects
    on the Earth
    Published his theories in his work Principia in
    1687

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