ASTRONOMY

FAMOUS ASTRONOMERS

PTOLEMY-85-165AD

Believed in geocentric universe earth was the center

used circular orbits with epicycles

was supported by the church for 1500 years

Copernicus-1473-1543AD

Believed in heliocentric universe

sun was the center

still used the circular orbits

Tycho Brahe 1546-1601AD

Supreme mathematician who studied the orbits of the planets had a gold nose

made the best observation of Mars

Kepler 1571-1630 Studied with

Brahe wrote the Laws

of Planetary Motion

gave the planets an elliptical orbit

Orbits are oval shaped with the sun off centered

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion 1. Every planets orbit is an

ellipse.

2. An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time.

3. The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)

A3/ P² = c

Galileo 1564-1642

Perfected and used a telescope

1. Discovered Saturn’s

rings

2. 4 moons of Jupiter

3. Craters on the moon

4. Sunspots on the sun

How Galileo saw the 4 moons of Jupiter

Newton 1642-1727

Wrote the Laws of Motion #1 INERTIA a body at rest /motion will remain at rest/motion unless acted upon by an outside

force

NO SEAT BELT…….

#2 the amount of force an object has is equal to the mass x the acceleration

# 3 For every action there is an equal

and opposite reaction

Einstein-1879-1955 Wrote the Theory of Relativity

gravity holds the universe together

Constant motion

Space and light are related E=mc2

energy= mass x the speed of light squared

Caption: Einstein's theory of general relativity may be interpreted in terms of a

curvature of space in the presence of a gravitational field.

Speed of light=

186,000 mi/ sec or 300,000 Km /sec