PHYSICAL SCIENCE

QUARTER 2- WEEK 1
MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE (GREEK
ASTRONOMY TO KEPLER)
 How we come to realize that the Earth is not the center of the Universe

The Earth in the Universe

1.How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is Spherical

2.Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers before
the Advent of Telescopes
3.Johannes Kepler's Discoveries from Tycho Brahe's
Collection of Astronomical Data
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
Around 500 B.C., most Greeks
believed that the Earth was round, not
flat. It was Pythagoras and his pupils
who were first to propose a spherical
Earth.
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
In 500 to 430 B.C., Anaxagoras further
supported Pythagoras' proposal through his
observations of the shadows that the Earth cast on
the Moon during a lunar eclipse. He observed that
during a lunar eclipse, the Earth's shadow was
reflected on the Moon's surface. The shadow
reflected was circular.
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
Around 340 B.C., Aristotle listed
several arguments for a spherical Earth
which included the positions of the North
star, the shape of the Moon and the Sun,
and the disappearance of the ships when
they sail over the horizon.
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
The North Star was believed to be at a
fixed position in the sky. However, when
the Greeks traveled to places nearer the
equator, like Egypt, they noticed that the
North Star is closer to the horizon.
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
The Shape of the Sun and the Moon
Aristotle argued that if the Moon
and the Sun were both spherical, then
perhaps, the Earth was also spherical.
How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is
Spherical
Disappearing Ships
If the Earth was flat, then a ship traveling away
from an observer should become smaller and smaller
until it disappeared. However, the Greeks observed
that the ship became smaller and then its hull
disappeared first before the sail as if it was being
enveloped by the water until it completely
disappeared.
 How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is Spherical

The Size of the Spherical Earth

Ancient scholars tried to provide proof of a spherical Earth and its

circumference through calculations. It was Eratosthenes who gave
the most accurate size during their time. While he was working at the
Library of Alexandria in Northern Egypt, he received correspondence
from Syene in Southern Egypt which stated that a vertical object did
not cast any shadow at noontime during the summer solstice. But this
was not the case in Alexandria where, at noon time during the summer
solstice, a vertical object still casts a shadow. These observations
could only mean that the Sun, during this time in Alexandria, was not
directly overhead.
 How the Greeks Knew That the Earth Is Spherical
The Size of the Spherical Earth
Eratosthenes then determined the angle the Sun made with the vertical
direction by measuring the shadow that a vertical stick cast. He found
out that in Alexandria, the Sun makes an angle of 7.2° from the
vertical while 0° in Syene. To explain the difference, he hypothesized
that the light rays coming from the sun are parallel, and the Earth is
curved.
From his measurements, he computed the
circumference of the Earth to be approximately 250
000 stadia (a stadium is a unit of measurement used to
describe the size of a typical stadium at the time), about
40 000 kilometers.
Astronomical Phenomena Known
to Astronomers before the Advent
of Telescopes
 Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers
before the Advent of Telescopes

Diurnal Motion
In modern astronomy, diurnal motion is defined as the apparent daily motion
of stars and other celestial bodies across the sky due to Earth’s rotation. Man has
observed the sun rising from the east and set in the west. The Greek astronomers
have described ‘fixed stars’ moving in the sky at the same arrangement and speed
as most of the stars are. Stars whose movements deviate from what seems to be
fixed stars were called ‘planetes’ which means ‘wandering stars’ in Greek. The
seven wandering stars are the Sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
Saturn.
 Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers
before the Advent of Telescopes

Annual Motion
Annual motion is the apparent yearly motion of stars and other celestial bodies
across the sky due to Earth’s revolution. Below are events under annual motion
 Events under annual motion

Zodiac and the Ecliptic

If we trace the path the sun takes in the celestial sphere as we see on Earth, we
would have traced the ecliptic. A band of thirteen constellations collectively
called zodiac can be seen in the ecliptic. Ancient civilizations have observed that
these constellations changes through months as constellations are visible at
different times in a year. These constellations served to mark the time for
planting and used by astronomers to develop a chart called horoscope.
 Events under annual motion

Equinoxes and Solstices

These are the two days in a year in which the sun crosses the celestial equator
occurring near March 20 (vernal equinox) and near September 22 (autumnal
equinox). Midway between these two equinoxes is the solstices. Solstices are the
two days in a year in which the Sun is at the farthest declination (north or south)
from the celestial equator. Ancient Greeks and Early Chinese civilizations have
recorded solstices by observing the declination of the sun for several days before
and after the solstice. The calculated half-way between the days with the equal
declination of the sun at noon would be the solstice. This method also applies for
equinoxes.
 Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers
before the Advent of Telescopes

Precession
Hipparchus in 150 BCE has discovered based on his observation that the north
celestial pole has changed during the period of a half - century. He noticed that
the slow and continuous change in the direction in which the sky is moving. We
understand at present that precession is the slow ‘wobbling’ of Earth’s axis of
rotation due to the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun. Figure 3 illustrates the
26,000-year cycle of precession. About 5,000 years ago the north celestial pole is
located at the star Thuban. At present, the north celestial pole is located near the
star Polaris and will be located at the star Vega after 14,000 years.
 Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers
before the Advent of Telescopes

Eclipse
Eclipses occur when either the Earth or moon cast a shadow into each other. A
solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun with the
moon casting a shadow on the Earth’s surface. A lunar eclipse occurs when the
Earth is directly aligned between the sun and moon with the Earth casting a
shadow on the moon. Take note that a solar eclipse may occur only during the
new moon phase, while a lunar eclipse may occur only during the full moon
phase.
MODELS OF THE
UNIVERSE
 TYCHO BRAHE AND JOHANNES
KEPLER
Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer continuously and precisely
recorded the position of the sun, moon, and planets for over 20 years
using instruments that are like giant protractors. He noted based on his
observations that the positions of the planets differ from those that
were published. However, he was not able to develop a better model
than Ptolemy’s as he didn’t have the ability to analyze his data. Years
before his death, he hired Johannes Kepler as a research assistant to
aid in analyzing his data.
 TYCHO BRAHE AND JOHANNES
KEPLER
 Brahe was reluctant to provide such data to Kepler, but at his death,
the observational data was possessed by Kepler. Being
knowledgeable in geometry, Kepler was able to derive from Brahe’s
data that the orbital path of Mars was elliptical contrary to the
previous investigators who were trying to fit the planetary paths in
circles. Generalizing his results, he was able to formulate the three
laws of planetary motion:
 LAW OF
PLANETARY
MOTION
Law of Ellipse

 Orbitsof all the planets are elliptical with the

Sun at one focus of the ellipse. An ellipse is a
somewhat flattened circle. It is a closed curve
in which the sum of the distances from any
point on the ellipse to foci (two points inside)
is constant
LAW OF EQUAL AREAS

A line joining a planet and the Sun

sweeps out equal areas in space in equal
intervals of time. Thus, a planet moves
fastest when it is nearest to the sun
LAW OF HARMONY

The square of a planet’s orbital period

(years) is proportional to the cube of the
semimajor axis of its orbit (in
astronomical units or AU) or 𝑃 2 = 𝑎 3 .
Thus, the larger the orbit’s size, the
longer it takes to orbit the sun.