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 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 I

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

The planets of Earth’s solar system vary greatly in size, orbit, matter, mass, and gravitational pull. The one thing they hold in relation is their age. Most all of the planets formed shortly after the sun. The structure of the solar system is mainly elliptical orbits and revolutions. We are still learning about the solar system today.

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

The Solar System is believed to be many billions of years old. This belief is based off of the gas and dust that make up the planets and asteroids (the system as a whole).

Severus Snape is so sorry that we turned this in later than the due date and expresses deep and sincere apologies.