How did the ancients describe

the place of the Earth?

How did Copernicus change the
place of the Earth?
Why was Galileo condemned by
the Inquisition?
How did Copernican astronomers
solve the puzzle of planetary
motion?
Lecture 1

1. Historical development of
astronomy
2. Prior beliefs
3. Ancient astronomers and
development of astronomy
 Archaeoastromy
• The study of the astronomical sites which have left us with
no written records or names of the people who set up the
ruins that we study today.

• It is understanding how these sites were used, and the

determination of what these ancients knew by studying the
geometry and alignments of the sites.
 Stonehenge, Salisbury
Plain, England

Pyramids,
Gizeh near Cairo,
Egypt
 Nabta
•
Stonehenge
Nazca Lines in Peru
 Ancient Chinese Depiction of the
Celestial Sphere

Places near the

North Pole were
assigned to
nobility, with lesser
beings relegated to
lower latitudes.
This image dates
from the T'ang
Dynasty (600-800
a.d.) (The Granger
Collection)
 Ancient Building in India

This is Konarak, a temple (c. 1240 a.d.) located on the Bay

of Bengal, south of Calcutta. It is dedicated to Surya, the
Hindu sun god, and is constructed with astronomical
alignments. (J. M. Malville).
 The Venus Tables in the Dresden
Codex (Maya)

These tables show

that the Mayans
attached particular
significance to the
planet Venus.
(Historical Pictures
Service)
 The Caracol Tower at Chiche Itzá

This is one of the most significant of the many astronomically

oriented structures in Mesoamerica. (J. A. Eddy)
 Pawnee Indian Sky Map

This chart, embossed on hide, appears to depict constellations

of the Northern Hemisphere skies. (From Von Del
Chamberlain 1982, When Stars Came Down to Earth:
Cosmology of the Skidi Pawnee Indians of North America
[Ballena Press: Los Altos, Calif.] Skidi Pawnee chart of the
heavens, Field Museum of Natural History, photograph by
Von Del Chamberlain)
 North American Native
Petroglyphs

This Anasazi
drawing on a
ledge in Chaco
Canyon, New
Mexico, is
thought to
depict the great
supernova of
1054 a.d. (J. A.
Eddy)
 Sun Dagger

On Fajada
Butte in Chaco
Canyon is this
spiral pattern,
which is
bisected by a
sliver of light
at the time of
the summer
solstice.
(National Park
Service)
 The Bighorn Medicine Wheel

This prominent and well-studied North American Indian

medicine wheel is located in the Bighorn Mountains of
Wyoming. (U.S. Forest Service, provided by J. A. Eddy)
 Historical Development
Greek Philosophy - Rational Thought, Observation, Explanation,
Hypothesis testing

Thales
The Universe is knowable, understandable
Pythagoras
Nature governed by geometry or mathematical
relations
Plato
Heavens perfect, perfect form (sphere), principle of uniform circular
motion
Aristotle
Heavens perfect, Geocentric universe, earth sphere, immobile
Aristarchus
Earth rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun
 By Ptolemy’s time
• Earth at centre of the universe and
heavens move in uniform circular motion
• Observed motion does not fit theory e.g.
retrograde motion of planets
• Ptolemy followed a geocentric model
and developed the most sophisticated
model of concentric circles (epicycles)
to demonstrate star and planetary
motions
 The Copernican Revolution
• Heliocentric universe, uniform circular
motion
• Explains retrograde motion of the planets
• Small variation of motion of sun, earth,
moon that he could not explain
 Galileo – A new way of knowing
about the world
What Galileo saw
• Moon not perfect
• Milky way made up of lots of stars
• Moons circling around Jupiter
• Sunspots on the sun and it moves
• Venus goes thorough phases like moon
 Arguments from observation
Observation: Moon not perfect, it has mountains
and valleys.
Argument against Ptolemaic model
• Heavens not perfect, it is imperfect like Earth
• Observation: Sunspots on the sun and it moves
Argument against Ptolemaic model
• The sun is not perfect, sun rotates on its axis
 Arguments from Observation
Observation: Moons moving around Jupiter
Argument for Ptolemaic model
• Earth could not move, otherwise moon left
behind.

Argument for Copernican model

• Jupiter moved yet kept its moons, so Earth could
move and keep its moon.
• Jupiter’s moon revolve around Jupiter, so there
could be other centers of motion.
 Argument from observation
Observation: Venus goes
thorough phases like the moon
Argument for Copernican
model
In the Ptolemaic model, Venus
moves around an epicycle
centered on a line between
Earth and the Sun. Venus
would always be seen as a
crescent.

Since Venus goes through

phases, then it must revolve
around the sun.
 Tycho Brahe
• Could not measure parallax for the stars –
earth had to be stationary
• Geocentric universe
• Lots of observational data
 Kepler
• Heliocentric universe
• Eliptical path
• Threee laws of planetary motion
Greek Cosmos
Ptolemy

Kepler
 Size of Earth
Eratosthenes
– Altitude of sun at noon on Jun21
• At zenith in Syene
• 7º south in Alexandria
– Distance between cities
• 5000 stadia
5000 stadia____ = 7º
Circumference of Earth 360º

Circumstance of Earth = 5000 x 360º

7º
= 250,000 stadia
(about 40,000 km)