Download History Of Astronomy

History Of
Astronomy
By Gabriella Lopez and Sam McCrory
How did the ancient
astronomy
contribute to modern
astronomy?
Astronomy has changed over the timeline of
this planet. From Mesopotamia to Nasa, we have
come a very long way. Our use of tools has
changed drastically, and our discoveries are
numerous as a result. The Astronomers of the
past and future always have and always will
decide how our lives are lived.
Astronomical Tools
Astronomical tools have influenced our
discoveries greatly. These tools such as
telescopes, structures, and navigational
tools.
Telescopes
Telescopes have been
irreplaceable in Astronomy
since its inception. Telescopes
were introduced in 1610 by the
famous Galileo. After
publishing his findings, Galileo
was criticized. Many believed
that Galileo saw satanic
illusions, but this belief was
disproved when other
astronomers saw the same
things.
Archeoastronomy
Archeoastronomy is the study of
how past people "have understood the
phenomena in the sky, how they used
phenomena in the sky and what role the
sky played in their cultures." -Clive
Ruggles
The study has led to many ideas such
as solar, lunar, and stellar positioning,
and structures that correspond with the
ideas.
Archaeoastronomy:
Solar Positioning
Solar Positioning is
following the Sun’s
movements throughout
the year.
Solar Positioning is used
for calendars and
agricultural purposes.
Many cultures such as the
Mayans and Celts used
solar positioning in
everyday life.
Archeoastronomy:
Early Structures I
Ancient monuments across the globe all have
one thing in common: Shapes. These famous
structures of astronomical value, for the most
part, are either triangular prisms or circles. The
meaning of these shapes has to do with the way
the ancients viewed the skies. Calendars and
other calculators originated from these
configurations, and they were very accurate.
Once the mathematics of geometry were
discovered by these civilizations, the shapes
became the obviously convenient for calendars
and clocks.
ArchaeoAstronomy:
Early Structures Ii
There are many examples of early
structures; one of the most famous being
Stonehenge. Stonehenge was built in three
different time periods This structure is
believed to have been built as an
observatory for the sun and the moon, but
there are various beliefs to why Stonehenge
was built. Newgrange is the oldest
recorded astronomical structure in the
world; Newgrange was built in 3000 BCE.
Newgrange was built by a Neolithic society
that had a great interest in tracking the sun.
Many structures similar to these were the
starting tools ancients used to observe the
sky and it’s wonders and begin to track
time.
Archaeoastronomy:
Early Structures IIi
Pyramids are one of the prime
structures associated with
Archaeoastronomy. The
Pyramids of Giza and El
Castillo (aka Kukulcán's
Pyramid) are two of the most
famous of these pyramids. The
Pyramids of Giza use Stellar
Positioning and the peaks point
to the three stars of Orion’s Belt.
El Castillo is a monumental
calendar with 365 flights of
stairs, tells the days of the year.
Early Navigation:
Sextants I
Astronomy and early
navigation for numerous
ancient civilizations went
hand and hand. The
sextant gave you the
latitude more or less. You
would do this by looking
through the eye piece and
point the opposite side to
the horizon, adjust the
movable arm to look at
the sun or a star. You
would then measure the
angle between the
horizon and the sun
when the sun is at its
highest point.
Early Navigation:
Sextants II
Basic knowledge would
tell you that it is noon
time and having a
graph of the earth
would give you the
latitude of your
position. When it came
to longitude you were
unsure and could only
take a good guess. As a
result of this early
navigation flaw many
explorers were lost at
sea.
Modern Tools
Modern astronomical telescopes vary but ultimately
all telescopes are collecting light. There are four
hundred telescopes in space currently in use. There
are nine groups of major frequencies ranges: x-ray,
ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave, radio and
gamma ray. Each of the telescopes, except one, has
specific missions. The Hubble telescope has no
specific mission but is one of astronomy’s vital
instruments. Planetary rovers are another
revolutionary tool; rovers have allowed astronomers
to observe planets on the microscopic level as well
as conduct physical experiments and give a more
“life” view of foreign planets.
Astronomers
There have been astronomers since the dawn
of time. The first time we looked up at the sky,
we were entranced. Our obsession with the stars
and planets branched from religion and the need
for a calculator of time. The Ancient Mayans,
Egyptians, Greeks, and Medieval scientists
strived for knowledge about the heavens. This
has carried to the present where we are making
more discovering more than we ever have
before.
Aristotle I
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher
who lived between 383 B.C.E. 321 B.C.E. He was noted for being
a spectacular mathematician and
physicist. Aristotle was a student
of Plato who was the student of
Socrates. Today there are thirty
surviving written works (lecture
notes) from the physicist.
Aristotle’s contributions to science
were detailed observations on
nature and the physical world it is
these observations that Aristotle is
most known for. His most noted
work is his observations on
animals and creating the grouping
term for animals called genera (it
had a much broader sense then
the present day).
Aristotle II
After creating this term he then divided up
animals into two species. One specie had blood
and the other did not posses blood (without red
blood). This observation by Aristotle is very
similar to our idea of distinguishing vertebrates
and invertebrate. Another popular work by
Aristotle is his treatise Meteorology, this treatise
covers a broad sense of the properties of the
Earth and the oceans. No matter what ever
Aristotle did he clarified how Western
Philosophy.
Ptolemy
A roman citizen of Egypt who lived between 90
A.D.- 168 A.D. Ptolemy was a noted
mathematician, geographer, astronomer and
astrologer. Ptolemy had seven treatises. His
most known work is the Almagest. Ptolemy
explained the already existent idea that the
round earth sat motionless in the center of the
solar system were the other planets and sun
revolved around it. The Ptolemaic system was
accepted and lasted in astronomy till Copernicus
released his work De revolutionibus orbium
celestial.
Copernicus
Copernicus was born in 1473 in Thorn, Poland
and died in 1543. Copernicus was an
astronomer, mathematician and was also a
church official. Copernicus is thought of as the
first astronomer to kick off modern astronomy.
He suggest the theory that the Earth did not sit
motionless in the center of the solar system. But
that the sun sat motionless in the center of the
solar system with the Earth and other planets
revolving around it. The astronomer's most
noted work, De revolutionibus orbium celestial,
was published after his death out of fear of being
persecuted by the Church.
Kepler
Kepler was born in 1571 in Germany and
died 1630. Kepler thought that physical
force moved the planets and that the
farther the force the more the power of the
force decreased. Kepler's most noted
works Astronomia nova, Harmonices
Mundi and Epitome astronomiae
Copernicanae ( textbook of Copernican
astronomy). Kepler is most known for his
planetary laws of motion.
Gallileo
Born in 1564 and died in 1642. Galileo was an
astronomer, physicist and mathematician. Galileo is
often called the father of modern science. He is the first
astronomer to receive credit for being the first to look
at the Moon's surface and publish his findings. This
historic event took place in his home in 1610. After
publishing his findings the Inquisition warned Galileo
to stop openly supporting heliocentrism. But in 1632
Galileo published another book comparing the
Copernican system (at the time this system was very
controversial) and the Ptolemaic system (the church
favored this system). The Inquisition again tried
Galileo and this time his was sentenced to life
imprisonment in his home. Many at the time called
Galileo a heretic and said that what he saw were
satanic illusions. To test Galileo's findings many fellow
astronomers pointed their telescopes to the Heavens
and found that they were not looking at Heaven but
outer space.
Newton
Born in 1642 and died in 1727, Newton was an
astronomer, mathematician and physicist.
Newton said he was sitting in his garden when
he saw an apple fall from a tree. He applied
Keplers laws of planetary motion and came to
the conclusion that the force that made the apple
fall to the Earth also makes the moon orbit the
Earth. Gravity. Newton said that gravity was the
universal force and published it in a book called
the "The Principia".
Discoveries
Our various discoveries have stemmed
from astronomers and tools. Such
discoveries as other planets, solar systems,
and even other galaxies!
Planets
Galaxies
We have only
recently
discovered the
existence of
other galaxies.
The first realization of a celestial body larger than
the solar system was around 350 B.C. by
Democritus, a Greek philosopher.
Solar System
Severus Snape is
so sorry that we
turned this in
later than the due
date and
expresses deep
and sincere
apologies.