the copernican revolution the birth of modern science

The Copernican Revolution

The Birth of Modern Science

Ancient Astronomers

• Found several large, important structures in the ancient world that appear astronomically aligned

• Used for rituals, timekeeping, agrarian cycles

E pluribus unum

• Western astronomy was influenced by:• Antediluvian Civilizations

• Agrarian Timekeeping• Ancient Greece

• Time divisions, ratios, zodiacal relations• Muslim Caliphates

• Too much to list here• Adapted into the Scientific Revolution

• Revolution against what?

Which of these is believed to be an ancient observatory?

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1. Stonehenge

2. El Caracol

3. The Quabba

4. All of these

What is one practical reason for studying the skies?

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1. Zodiacal influence

2. Fortune-telling

3. Agriculture

4. Myths

5. Religion

What label is given to the most ancient civilizations?

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1. Ancient

2. Old

3. Older

4. Antediluvian

5. Postdiluvian

For what were structures like this believed to be used?

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1. Astronomical reasons

2. Religious reasons

3. Cultural reasons

4. All of the above

Identify this structure

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1. Stonehenge

2. El Caracol

3. The Sun Dagger

4. Newgrange

Geocentrism

• Belief that the Earth is the center of the Universe

• Easy to prove the bodies rotate around Earth, just look up

• Early models just matryoshka-style nesting spheres

• Opposite to Heliocentrism, that the Sun is the center of the Solar System

GEOCENTR I C

HEL IOCENTR I C

Unheard Cries

• Many Classical Astronomers believed in, and had proof of, a heliocentric universe

• They did not get public acceptance, as Aristotle was held in high regard by many kings, publican members, etc.

• Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

• There were a few problems with the “perfect spheres”

Retrograde

• Inner planets dive back towards the Sun• Outer planets make small loops in the sky

every so often…• Could this mean the Heavens weren’t

perfect?• Of course, not! All it takes is a little creative

imagining…

Mars 1997

The Aristotelian Cycles• Aristotle thought

maybe each planet on its sphere moved in a small circle centered on the larger sphere

• Epicycle – the smaller circle

• Deferens – the larger circle (orbit)

• epi- surface• cycle- circle

Ptolemaic System

• Ptolemy was a Greek scholar living in Egypt

• Refined Aristotle’s epicycle theories

• Ptolemy’s epicycle-based system required no less than some 80 different cycles

• Imagine a clock with many gears

Close-minded?

• The Ptolemaic Model was popular for some 1300 years

• Many religions consider us, and the Earth, special and specially located

• A heliocentric model made them feel less significant

The Earth is at the center of a

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1. Geocentric model

2. Heliocentric model

3. Gaiacentric model

4. Galactican model

The primary refusal to keep the Earth at the center of the universe was

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1. Religion

2. Open-mindedness

3. Laziness

4. “mental inertia”

The Sun is at the center of a

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1. Geocentric model

2. Heliocentric model

3. Juliacentric model

4. Galactican model

Circles on spheres that allow for retrograde motion were called

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1. Cycles

2. Minicycles

3. Dermicycles

4. Epicycles

One Greek scientist who is credited with “codifying” planetary motion is

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1. Copernicus

2. Galileo

3. Epicurius

4. Aristotle

5. Newton

6. Ptolemy

Identify this view of the universe

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1.1. HeliocentricHeliocentric

2.2. EgocentricEgocentric

3.3. GeocentricGeocentric

4.4. GynocentricGynocentric

What is a small circle centered on a planets’ nested sphere?

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1. Epidermals

2. Epiladis

3. Epicycles

4. Epidurals

Epicycles were devised to explain which motion of a planet in the sky?

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1. Prograde

2. Retrograde

3. Downgrade

4. Upgrade

The “Scientific Revolution” was a rebellion against what?

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1. Ignorance

2. Close-mindedness

3. Superstitions

4. All of the above

Nicholas Copernicus

• Rediscovered Aristarchus’s heliocentric model

• Used it to show harmony and simplicity

• Explained retrograde motion and brightness changes

Huh?

• Still stuck to epicycles• Believed in his theory

rather than proved it• Unimpressed public• Some 70 years (two

ancient generations) passed until his work was proven/improved upon

• Still declared a heretic

The Downfall of the Epicycle

• Occam’s Razor• Increasing accuracy of observations• Longevity of observations

Tycho Brahe

• True “Renaissance Man”

• Built Uraniborg, an observatory in Denmark

• Kept some of the most accurate naked-eye observations for almost 50 years

• Brahe’s naked-eye observations were extremely accurate due to the overly-large instruments he built

Johannes Kepler

• Met up with Tycho in Prague in 1600

• When Tycho died, Kepler inherited his copious tables of data

• Was more controlled scientifically than his peers

• Used math to promote several principles

But, then again…

• Kepler was wrong about a great many things…

• He believed in a perfect geometry of the Universe as evidence of God

• This caused him to reject the correct answer that orbits weren’t circular more than once

What was the flaw in the Copernican view of the solar system?

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2. Had the Moon in orbit around the Sun

3. Still used epicycles

4. He couldn’t read ancient Greek

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Which astronomer kept some of the best naked-eye observations?

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2. Tycho Brahe

3. Johannes Kepler

4. Nicolas Copernicus

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Beside their outstanding accuracy, what was special about Brahe’s

observations?

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2. Their unparalled accuracy

3. He wrote backwards and upside down

4. He kept these logs for many years

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Johannes Kepler rejected many sound scientific arguments while

pursuing…

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2. Geometric perfection

3. Mrs. Johannes Kepler

4. The Unification Theory

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Brahe’s accuracy in his observations was due to the

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2. Sizes of his astronomical tools

3. Excellent assistants he hired

4. Copious quantities he quaffed

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Participant Scores500 Thomas Armstrong 500 Steven Pecko

500 Darryl Blye 500 Adam Ruth

500 Carlos Bogantes 500 Ryan Seymour

500 Sid Cooper 500 Cavender Sutton

500 Michael Holliday 500 Jamie Thrift

500 Melissa James

500 Tamar Kiernan

500 Jeremy King

500 Kenneth Lewis

500 Brittany Madero

Kepler’s First Law

• The orbital paths of the planets are elliptical with the Sun at one focus

FOCI

Semi-Major Axis

Eccentricity

How “not circular” an orbit is

The Sun is at one focus

CIRCULAR ORBIT

e = 0

Small planets around single stars

Single stars around galaxies

NEAR-CIRCULAR ORBIT

0.005 e 0.250

Most single planets around single stars

Asteroids, “dwarf” planets around single stars

Single stars around galaxies

HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

0.250 e

Certain “dwarf” planets around single stars

Comets

“Perturbed” items

Jupiter “perturbing” a comet

Aphelion and Perihelion

• Perihelion• Point of an orbit closest to the Sun

• = a (1 – e)• Aphelion• Point of an orbit farthest from the Sun

• = a (1 + e)

Kepler’s Second Law

• An imaginary line connecting the Sun to a planet sweeps equal areas of the ellipse in equal intervals of time

Kepler’s Third Law

• The square of the planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of its semi-major axis

• p2 = a3

• Obeyed by all planets, not just the six Kepler knew about

For the planets

Ceres

For the Galilean satellites

Kepler’s star

• Seen in 1604• The HST snapped

this picture a few years ago, showing the expanding gas cloud

Galileo Gallilei

• Used a telescope• Mountains on the

Moon• Sunspots• Jovian Moons• Phases of Venus• Rings of Saturn

• Found many “imperfections”

• Wasn’t trying to anger the Church

Sidereus Nuncius

• Published in 1610• In 1616 his works were declared heresy• Published a second treatise, Dialogue

Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, in 1632

• Published in Italian rather than Latin• Placed under house arrest until he died• “Forgiven” in 1992

Latter-Day Proofs

• Aberration of starlight, c. 1720

• Apparent shift of a star due to the revolution and rotation of the Earth

Latter-Day Proofs

• Parallax• If the Earth was the center, there wouldn’t be parallax

from June to January• Multiple launched vehicles that follow predicted

paths

Who first used a telescope to observe and quantify the heavens?

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1. Ptolemy

2. Copernicus

3. Galileo

4. Brahe

Who made multiple-year, high quality observations with large instruments in

order to quantify the heavens?0%

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1. Ptolemy

2. Copernicus

3. Galileo

4. Brahe

Many of Galileo’s observations challenged the Church views because

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1. They were mathematical

2. They were unorganized

3. They showed “imperfections”

4. They were a challenge to modesty

Which type of orbit would you expect Ceres or Vesta to exhibit?

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1. A

2. B

3. C

A

B

C

Who used mathematics to provide explanations for astronomical

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1. Kepler

2. Copernicus

3. Galileo

4. Brahe

Which of these are not one of Galileo’s controversial observations?

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1. Mountains on the Moon

2. Saturn’s Rings

3. The Andromeda Galaxy

4. Venus’s phases

What would Eris’s period be in years if she lies some 67.7 AU from the Sun?

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1. 4583 yrs

2. 557 yrs

3. 16.7 yrs

4. 310288 yrs

Which type of orbit would you expect Halley’s comet to exhibit?

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1. A

2. B

3. C

A

B

C

For his work, Copernicus and Galileo were both

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1. Celebrated in their time

2. Considered heretics

3. Mostly ignored by others

4. Honored as living heroes

What is Ceres’s semimajor axis if she takes 4.6 yrs to orbit the Sun?

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1. 2.8 AU

2. 9.9 AU

3. 21.1 AU

4. 97 AU

Participant Scores900 Julia Burke 800 Sam Campbell

900 Elisa Cooper 800 Brandon Cole

900 Josh Cote 800 Ivy Lopez

900 Natalie Danna 800 Ashden Norton

900 Briana O'Bryant 800 Melvin Pearson

900 Brittany Simmons

900 Tony Torres

900 Justin Valerio

900 Enrique Elias

800 Tony Blatz

the copernican revolution the birth of modern science

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