Chapter 3

The Origin of Modern

Main goals:
Astronomy
• Understand the difference between geocentric and heliocentric cosmologies.
• Know the planetary configurations for the heliocentric cosmology.
• Understand how retrograde motion is explained using the Copernican heliocentric system.
• Define parallax.
• Know how Tycho Brahe showed that the 1572 supernova occurred in the distant heavens.
• Know Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion and be able to explain them.
• Describe how Galileo's telescopic observations of Jupiter and Venus supported a
heliocentric cosmology, and refuted the geocentric cosmology.
• State and understand Newton's three laws of motion.
• Know Newton's universal law of gravitation, and the shapes of orbits it predicts.
• Explain the Moon's role in producing tides on Earth, how often high tides occur, and the
requirements for spring and neap tides.
 Outline

I. Astronomy before Copernicus

A. Aristotle and the Nature of the Earth
B. The Ptolemaic Universe
II. The Copernican Revolution
A. The Copernican Universe
III. The Puzzle of Planetary Motion
A. Tycho Brahe
B. Johannes Kepler
IV. Galileo Galilei
V. Isaac Newton
 The Roots of Astronomy
• There are no written documents about the significance of stone and bronze age
monuments which seem to have an astronomical significance.
• First preserved written documents about ancient astronomy are from ancient Greek
philosophy.
• Greeks tried to understand the motions of the sky and describe them in terms of
mathematical (not physical!) models.
• Models were generally wrong because in general they were based on flawed “first
principles”, believed to be “obvious” and not questioned:
a) Geocentric Universe: Earth at the Center of the Universe.
b) “Perfect Heavens”: Motions of all celestial bodies described by motions involving
objects of “perfect” shape, i.e., spheres or circles moving with constant speed. In the
Pythagorean norm, astronomy was a one of the mathematical arts.

Examples of early models (6-5th century BC):

Anaximander – universe as concentric cylinders, plurality of worlds;
Philolaus – accepted a moving Earth
 Program: By the assumption of what uniform and orderly motions can the
apparent motions of the planets be accounted for? (Plato, 4th century BC)
Examples of later models:
Eudoxus of Cnidus (409 – 356 B.C.), a pupil of Plato,
proposed the two spheres geocentric model of the universe:
a) A spherical central Earth – geocentric model
b) The Earth is at the center of 27 nested spheres containing the
rotating celestial bodies: planets and fixed stars. These bodies
perform uniform circular motion.
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.), an even more famous pupil of
Plato, was a major authority of philosophy until the late middle
ages: he suggested that the universe can be divided into 2 parts:
a) Perfect Heavens (described by 55 spheres – idea inspired by Eudoxus).
a) An imperfect, changeable Earth in the center. Aristotle’s model was geocentric since
he couldn’t see any stellar parallax due to such a motion

Def: Parallaxisisthe
Def:Parallax theapparent
apparentchange
changeininposition
positionofofaanearby
nearbyobject
objectrelative
relativetotothe
the
distant
distantbackground
backgroundwhen
whenthe
theobject
objectisisviewed
viewedfrom
fromdifferent
differentperspectives.
perspectives. The
The
closer
closerthe
theobject,
object,the
thegreater
greaterits
itsparallax.
parallax.
Aristarchus (310-~230 BC) proposed a heliocentric model but Aristotle’s
reputation was so high that the (correct) idea was ignored
 Later Refinements (2nd century B.C.)
Hipparchus (~190 -120 BC): Placed the Earth away from the centers
Ptolemy (83-178 AD): Added further refinements, including epicycles and deferents

Ptolemaic Universe

Deferent: orbit about a center (the

Earth was considered a bit off-center)
Epicycle: orbit about a point moving
along the deferent
 Epicycles: the Ptolemaic System

The epicycles were introduced to explain

the retrograde (westward) motion of planets

• Throughout Middle Ages, the Ptolemaic geocentric system was considered the
“standard model” of the Universe, and his book Almagest (about 150 AD) the main
astronomical reference, until the Copernican Revolution. It inspired the Alfonsine
Tables (1251) – most popular medieval astronomical tables
• The Ptolemaic system per se is not to be judged since Ptolemy was a great and
honest thinker of his times: its persistence should be blamed on those who later on
sustained and imposed it even when evidence started to pile up against it…
 The Copernican Revolution
.icolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543) revolutionized
astronomy (not necessarily purposely…):
• He proposed a heliocentric Universe (Sun in the Center) in
a book , De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1453)
• Copernicus was not the first to suggest a heliocentric
system:
Ex: See the Greek Aristarchus or the Indian Aryabhata.
• However, his ideas were the first to be incorporated into a
quasi-modern scientific mainstream.
• His model was not correct in its details (for instance it still
assumed uniform rotations and perfect heavens), but his
heliocentric hypothesis was. It inspired the Prutenic Tables
(1551) which replaced the Alfonsine tables
• It was a breakthrough which dethroned the geocentric
model forever and made way for a unified science for the
earthly and heavenly worlds
 Copernicus’ .ew (and Correct) Explanation
for the Retrograde Motion of the Planets
• Recall that the retrograde (westward) motion of a planet
occurs when the Earth passes the planet
• It can be understood as a matter of perspective: since the
outer planets have longer orbital periods (local “years”)
than Earth they lag behind Earth for a portion of their
orbit

• This simple explanation in the

heliocentric system made
Ptolemy’s complex epicycles
unnecessary: an example of how
“Occam’s razor” works in
science…
• Albeit based on a correct hypothesis (heliocentric system), the Copernican model
was based on some false assumptions that made the model incorrect
• As a result, it couldn’t predict the motion of the planets better than the Ptolemaic
model: its subsequent success was due to the germinal observations and analysis of
the planetary motions throughout the 16-17th centuries by early scientists such as
Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac .ewton
• Let’s take a brief look at their contributions…
 Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Tyco Brahe was one of the first observational astronomers.
• He collected data exceptionally good for his times but he
didn’t have the necessary conceptual tools to process it.
• One of his early observations, in 1572, lead to the discovery
of a “new star” which was in fact a dying star today called
Tycho’s supernova
• Brahe showed that this supernova had no measurable parallax
when viewed at different times of day, so it had to be in the
distant heavens: this was a startling idea since the Aristotelian
heavens were supposed to be unalterable
• He proposed a world model which was a combination Tycho’s observatory:
Uraniborg
between the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems – the Tychonic
System:
a) Still geocentric (Earth in the center of a sphere of stars)
b) Sun and Moon orbit Earth; Planets orbit the sun.
c) For a while, it was adopted as the philosophically acceptable system before the final
victory of the heliocentric model
 Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)
Johannes Kepler used the precise observational tables of Tycho Brahe to study
planetary motion mathematically.
• He found a consistent description by abandoning the old assumptions about the
perfection of the celestial motion. Thus, he came to the conclusion that
a) The planetary motion is not perfectly circular
b) The planets do not move with constant speed
• He concluded that planets move around the sun on elliptical paths, with non-
uniform velocities. Their motion is a subject to the laws of physics.
• Kepler’s work crystallized into three empiric laws of planetary motion.
• They were later proved by Newton as a token of the applicability of his theory of
universal gravitation.
• Albeit correct, Kepler’s laws were the byproduct of his rather mystical quest to
discover the divine plan for the geometry of the universe.
• However, Kepler was one of the forefathers of the scientific method.
 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion: 1st Law

1.1. The
Theorbits
orbitsof
ofthe
theplanets
planetsare ellipseswith
areellipses withthe
thesun
sunatatone
onefocus.
focus.

How to draw and

characterize an ellipse:
Focus semi-major axis

c a

Eccentricity e = c/a ≤ 1

Notice that, if e = 0, the ellipse

becomes a circle, the semi-major axis
becomes the radius and the two foci
merge into the center
Ex: Eccentricities of Ellipses

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

e=0
(circle)
e = 0.1 e = 0.2 e = 0.4 e = 0.6

still resemble a circle

Mercury:
Eccentricities of Planetary Orbits e = 0.206
Planetary orbits are virtually indistinguishable
from circles:

Most extreme
Earth: e = 0.0167
example is Pluto:
e = 0.248
 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion: 2nd Law

2.2.AAline
linefrom
fromaaplanet
planettotothe
thesun
sunsweeps
sweepsover
overequal
equalareas
areasininequal
equalintervals
intervals
of
oftime.
time.

equal areas
Assume that the arc A’-
B’ is traveled by the
planet in the same time
as the arc between A-B.
Then the blue areas are
equal.

• Notice that, in order to sweep the areas in the same time interval the planet must
move faster between points A’-B’ (when it is closer to the sun) than between A-B
(further from the sun)
 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion: 3rd Law

3.3. AAplanet’s
planet’sorbital
orbitalperiod
period(P)
(P)squared
squaredisisproportional
proportionaltotoits
itsaverage
average
distance
distancefrom
fromthe
thesun
sun(a)
(a)cubed:
cubed:

Py = period in years;
Py2 ~ aAU3
aAU = distance in AU

Py
Ex: The relationship is represented
graphically as shown by the adjacent
curve. So, for instance, if a planet orbits
at a distance of 39 AU from the sun, it
needs about 200 Earth years to complete
one orbit.

aAU
 Galileo Galilei (1594 – 1642)
• Galileo was one of the fathers of the modern view of science: his work marked the
transition from a faith-based “science” to an observation-based science.
• He paved the way toward an explanation for the planetary motions, or a celestial
mechanics – task accomplished later on by Isaac Newton
• He greatly improved on the newly invented telescope technology. (Caution:
Galileo did not invent the telescope!) He was the first to meticulously report
telescope observations of the sky to support the Copernican Model of the Universe.

• His book, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (1632), marked the
beginnings of scientifical rebuttals of unsustainable theories: Galileo proved wrong
the geocentric views using elements of the modern scientic method:

a) “thought experiments”

b) well directed experimental observations

• Not all Galileo ideas are correct, but he was incorrect due to the shortcomings of
the technology and scientific means of his times, not due to blind faith or ideology.
 Major Discoveries of Galileo (1)
Moons of Jupiter (4 Galilean moons)
Jupiter and its
system of moons
hinted to the
possibility of other
centers of attraction
than Earth

Rings of Saturn

(What he really saw…)

 Major Discoveries of Galileo (2)

Surface structures on the moon:

• first estimates of the height of mountains on the moon
• concluded that the moon is not perfect and its terrain is similar to the one on
Earth
 Major Discoveries of Galileo (3)

Sun spots
• proved that the sun is also not perfect
• the motion of the spots suggested that the sun is spinning
 Major Discoveries of Galileo (4)
Phases of Venus (including “full Venus”)
• proved that Venus orbits the sun, not the Earth!

• Notice that, had the Ptolemaic model been correct, only the new and crescent
phases would’ve been visible from Earth.
• Galileo observed all phases: this a typical example of how an experimental
observation discriminates between two models
 Isaac .ewton (1643 - 1727)
• Newton built on the results of his predecessors and offered a mechanics unique
for the earthly and heavenly bodies unsurpassed for centuries
• He added modern physical interpretations and formal consistency to the
mathematical descriptions of astronomy by Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler: for
instance he used his new mechanics to explain and derive Kepler’s empirical laws
from the laws of motion and universal gravitation

Major achievements:
• Newton was one of the inventors of calculus as a necessary tool to solve
mathematical problems related to motion
• He stated in an integrated context the three laws of motion
• Discovered the universal law of gravitational attraction
• He had many contributions to other fields of Physics such as optics
 Velocity and Acceleration
• In the 16th century, appeared a new formalized understanding Ex: Freely falling object
of physics, based on a quantitative approach
• Here are two formalized physical quantities:
Velocity (v) is the change of position with time.
change in position The position changes so the object
v= has a velocity
time

Acceleration (a) is the change of a body’s velocity with time:

change in velocity v
a=
time
a

The velocity increases so the

object has an acceleration
 .ewton’s Laws of Motion: 1st Law
• With Newton’s mechanics, the physical sciences entered into a new era. His laws
of motion and the law of universal gravitation are central in the understanding of
celestial mechanics since the same laws that govern things on Earth drive the
celestial objects. Here are the laws:

1.1. AAbody
bodycontinues
continuesat
atrest
restor
orin
inuniform
uniformmotion
motionin
inaastraight
straightline
line
unless
unlessacted
actedupon
uponby
bysome
somenet
netforce.
force.

• This is identical with Galileo’s idea about inertia: the

objects don’t need a force to move. They actually move
identically as long there is no force…

Ex: An astronaut floating freely in space will continue to

float forever in a straight line unless some external force
accelerates him.
 .ewton’s Laws of Motion: 2nd Law

2.2.IfIfaanet
netforce
forceacts
actson
onan
anobject,
object,then
thenthe
theobject
objectaccelerates
accelerateswith
withan
an
acceleration
accelerationproportional
proportionaltotothe
thenet
netforce.
force.

So, a force is necessary in order to change the motion of an object, and

the change (effect) will be proportional to the force (cause).

Ex: The force of your palm acting on an object initially at rest will change its velocity
from zero to finite values.
• As long as the force continues to act the mass will move faster and faster.
• If the force is removed, the mass will continue to move with the velocity at the moment
of the removal (if there is no other force to slow it down)
 .ewton’s Laws of Motion: 3rd Law

The
Theinteraction
interactionbetween
betweentwo
twodifferent
differentbodies
bodiescan
canbe
bealways
alwaysrepresented
represented
by
bytwo
twoforces:
forces:body
bodyAAacts
actson
onthe
thebody
bodyBBwith
withaaforce
force(action)
(action)equal
equalin
in
magnitude
magnitudeand
andopposite
oppositein
indirection
directionwith
withthe
theforce
force(reaction)
(reaction)acted
actedby
by
BBon
onA.
A.

Therefore, any force on an object is the manifestation of the presence of another

object which in turn will fill the same force.

Ex: A person pushing with a force into a wall will be pushed

by the wall with a force equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction.
 The Universal Law of Gravity

Any
Anytwo
twobodies
bodiesattract
attracteach
eachother
otherthrough
throughgravitation:
gravitation:aaforce
force
proportional
proportionalto
tothe
theproduct
productof
oftheir
theirmasses
massesand
andinversely
inverselyproportional
proportional
to
tothe
thesquare
squareof
ofthe
thedistance
distancebetween
betweenthem.
them.

Note the presence of Newton’s

mM 3rd law: the masses attract each
F =G 2 other with forces forming pairs
r action-reaction
Ex 1: the Earth attracts the Moon
Universal constant of gravity. and also the Moon attracts the
Earth.
Ex 2: Your “weight” is the
F F expression of the attraction that the
Earth acts on you, but you also
attract the Earth with the same
m force!
M
r
 The Explanatory Power of .ewtonian Mechanics
• One of the first applications that Newton found for his mechanics was to explain
Kepler’s laws. Moreover, he was able to analyze systematically the orbital motions
in the solar system. For instance:
1. The gravitational attraction that determines the weight of the objects on Earth also
keeps the objects on their orbits in the solar system
Ex: The motion of the Moon orbiting Earth is
very similar with the motion of a mass
connected by a string and rotated in a circle Gravity
• The difference is that the force that keeps the
Moon on the orbit is the gravitational pull from
the Earth
• The Moon doesn’t fall on Earth since the force
just changes the direction of its motion along a
trajectory that keeps missing the Earth

2. Due to the mutual attraction, the objects orbiting each other have to revolve along
trajectories around their center of mass
Ex: The planets do not orbit around the center of the sun but around the center of mass which
is very close to the center of the sun since its mass is much larger than the planetary masses
 Understanding Orbital Motion
• All objects in the universe (from dust to galaxies) are under the influence of a
gravitational attraction. However, their trajectory depends on their speed and the
magnitude of the attraction leading to closed or open profiles.
• In order to stay on a closed orbit, an object has to move within a certain range of
velocities in the vicinity of a center of attraction.
• For instance, what determines the difference between two objects launched from
Earth such that one becomes a satellite and the other one a star ship?
• Imagine that you launch an object with a certain initial velocity.
Too slow ⇒ object falls back down to Earth

Satellite speed ⇒ object orbits the Earth

along circular or elliptical paths

Escape speed ⇒ object escapes Earth’s

gravity along parabolic or hyperbolic paths

• So, in order to stay on the orbit, a satellite must move with a speed in between the
satellite speed and the escape speed, while a spacecraft must exceed the escape speed
 Geosynchronous Orbits

• An object can be launched with a

speed such that it rotates about the Earth
with the same speed as the planetary
spin
• This will keep the satellite above the
same location on Earth: the respective
orbit is then called geosynchronous
since the orbital period is synchronized
with that of Earth’s axial rotation
 Other Explanations by .ewtonian Mechanics: The Tides
The tides are caused by the different gravitational attraction exerted by the moon
onto the water on Earth on different sides of the planet
• Consider the gravitational attraction
by the moon on different points of the
Earth: on the water facing the moon,
the center of the Earth and the water
on the other side of Earth
1. The water bulges away from the
moon on the far side since the Earth is
pulled at its center by a larger force –
it is like the planet is pulled out of its
oceans
2. On the other hand, excess gravity pulls water toward the moon on the near side
• As the Earth rotates on its axis once per day, a person on the earth rotates through
these tidal bulges twice per day, causing two high tides and two low tides per day.
• The tidal forces are very common in the universe and can explain a multitude of
astronomical phenomena, not only at the scale of a solar system but at much larger
galactic scales as well.
Spring and .eap Tides

• The sun is also producing

tidal effects, about half as
strong as the moon.
Spring tides • Near full and new moon,
those two effects add up to
cause spring tides.
• Near first and third quarter,
the two effects work at a right
angle, causing neap tides.

Neap tides
 Other Tidal Effects
• The "line of tidal bulges" on Earth are slightly ahead of the moon in its orbit as
shown in this figure.
• This is due to the friction with the ocean beds which carry the bulges ahead. This
leads to:
1. The slowing down of the Earth’s spinning speed (the day grows by 0.0023
s/century)
2. The slow increase in the moon’s orbital radius (~3.8 cm/year)