HISTORY OF HISTORY OF TIBETAN TIBETAN
LITERATURELITERATURE
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HISTORY OF HISTORY OF ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
Ancient Greeks
Early Astronomy
Astronomy is the science that studies the universe. It includes the observation and interpretation of celestial bodies and phenomena.
The Greeks used philosophical arguments to explain natural phenomena.
The Greeks also used some observational data.
Ancient Greeks
Early Astronomy
Geocentric Model• In the ancient Greeks’ geocentric model, the
moon, sun, and the known planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter—orbit Earth.
Heliocentric Model• In the heliocentric model, Earth and the other
planets orbit the sun.
Geocentric and Heliocentric Models
Stonehenge• A group of stones arranged in
a circle.• Lined up with the summer and
winter sunrises. • Used for ceremonies and
rituals
Babylonians
• Tracked the positions of the planets and moons
• Created first calendar
• Ptolemy: Geocentric model, including epicycles
1. Imperfect, changeable Earth,
2. Perfect Heavens (described by spheres)
Central guiding principles:
Epicycles
The ptolemaic system was considered the “standard model” of the Universe
until the Copernican Revolution.
Introduced to explain retrograde (westward) motion of
planets
Epicycles
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy- Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus• Copernicus concluded
that Earth is a planet. Earth and all the other planets orbited the sun in perfect circles.
He proposed a model of the solar system with the sun at the center.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy- Brahe
Tycho Brahe• Tycho Brahe designed and built instruments to
measure the locations of the heavenly bodies. Brahe’s observations, especially of Mars, were far more precise than any made previously.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy- Kepler
Johannes Kepler• Kepler discovered three laws of planetary motion:
1. Orbits of the planets are elliptical.
2. Planets revolve around the sun at varying speed.
3. There is a proportional relationship between a planet’s orbital period and its distance to the sun.
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy
Johannes Kepler• An ellipse is an oval-shaped path.• An astronomical unit (AU) is the average
distance between Earth and the sun; it is about 150 million kilometers.
Planet Revolution
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy
Galileo Galilei• Galileo’s most important contributions were his
descriptions of the behavior of moving objects.• He developed his own telescope and made
important discoveries: 1. Four satellites, or moons, orbit Jupiter.
2. Planets are circular disks, not just points of light.
3. Venus has phases just like the moon.
4. The moon’s surface is not smooth.
5. The sun has sunspots, or dark regions.
The Solar System Model Evolves
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy
Sir Isaac Newton• Although others had theorized the existence of
gravitational force, Newton was the first to formulate and test the law of universal gravitation.
Universal Gravitation• Gravitational force decreases with distance.• The greater the mass of an object, the greater is
its gravitational force.
Gravity’s Influence on Orbits
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
Early Astronomy- Herschel
Herschel Developed the first powerful telescope Saw fuzzy spots beyond our galaxy Didn’t know what they were
Modern Astronomy- WWII
World War II
1st solid -fuel rockets where developed for airplanes to provide a boost
Modern Astronomy-Russia
Visualization
Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky imagined how to use rocket to voyage into space
Modern Astronomy-Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble
Used improved telescope devices and found the fuzzy things Herschel did not understand
Fuzzy things were other galaxies Expanded our idea of space
Satellite Launch
1st Satellite Launched
Soviets launched Sputnik 1 in 1957
1st Astronaut
1st Space Traveler
A dog named Laika, survived several days on Sputnik 2 - 1957
Died of heat exhaustion after temperatures rose
Explorer 1
1st US Satellite
Noticed radiation bands across the earth 1958
Explorer 6- United States
1st Photo of Earth
1959 Most famous picture of all time
US Tiros 1
1st Weather Satellite
1960
Corona
1st Spy Satellite
US sent Corona to spy on the Soviet missile base- 1960
Soviet- Uri Gagarin
1st Human Astronaut
1961
Apollo 11- 1969
MAN ON THE MOON
Crew of Neil A. Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins
Armstrong and Aldrin collected rocks and set up a lab on the moon
Man on the Moon footage
https://youtu.be/G6A72ufn3l4
Pioneer II- 1974
Off to Jupiter
Left to inspect Jupiter but got pulled in by its gravity and was sent off toward Saturn.
It left the Solar System and in 1995, the power supply finally ran out and we lost contact
Sally K. Ride
1st Woman Astronaut
Rode on the Challenger from the US in 1983
Space Disasters• Top Five Worst Space Disasters
• https://youtu.be/dmlM9zBadX8
Cassini: 2000-2004
Cassini
Left to pass Jupiter and to land a probe on Saturn’s moon Titan
Final Space Shuttle?•July 2011- IS IT OVER?
End of an Era
Motions of Earth
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
The two main motions of Earth are rotation and revolution. Precession is a third and very slow motion of Earth’s axis.
Motions of Earth
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Rotation• Rotation is the turning, or spinning, of a body on
its axis.
• Two measurements for rotation:1. Mean solar day is the time interval from one
noon to the next, about 24 hours.
2. Sidereal day is the time it takes for Earth to make one complete rotation (360º) with respect to a star other than the sun—23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds.
Sidereal Day
Motions of Earth
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Revolution• Revolution is the motion of a body, such as a
planet or moon, along a path around some point in space.
• Perihelion is the time in January when Earth is closest to the sun.
• Aphelion is the time in July when Earth is farthest from the sun.
Motions of Earth
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Earth’s Axis and Seasons
• Because of the inclination of Earth’s axis to the plane of the ecliptic, Earth has its yearly cycle of seasons.
• The plane of the ecliptic is an imaginary plane that connects Earth’s orbit with the celestial sphere.
The Ecliptic
Motions of Earth
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Precession• Precession traces out a cone over a period of
26,000 years.
Earth–Sun Motion• The solar system speeds in the direction of the
star Vega.
• The sun revolves around the galaxy.
• Earth is presently approaching one of its nearest galactic neighbors, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda.
Precession
Motions of the Earth–Moon System
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Perigee is the point at which the moon is closest to Earth.
Apogee is the point at which the moon is farthest from Earth.
Motions of the Earth–Moon System
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Phases of the Moon• The phases of the moon are the progression of
changes in the moon’s appearance during the month.
• Lunar phases are a result of the motion of the moon and the sunlight that is reflected from its surface.
Phases of the Moon
Motions of the Earth–Moon System
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Lunar Motions• The synodic month is based on the cycle of the
moon’s phases. It lasts 29 1/2 days.
• The sidereal month is the true period of the moon’s revolution around Earth. It lasts 27 1/3 days.
Motions of the Earth–Moon System
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
• The difference of two days between the synodic and sidereal cycles is due to the Earth–moon system also moving in an orbit around the sun.
Lunar Motions
• The moon’s period of rotation about its axis and its revolution around Earth are the same, 27 1/3 days. It causes the same lunar hemisphere to always face Earth.
Eclipses
The Earth–Moon–Sun System
Solar eclipses occur when the moon moves in a line directly between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on Earth.
During a new-moon or full-moon phase, the moon’s orbit must cross the plane of the ecliptic for an eclipse to take place.
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes through Earth’s shadow.
Solar Eclipse
Lunar Eclipse
The Lunar Surface
Earth’s Moon
• A crater is the depression at the summit of a volcano or a depression produced by a meteorite impact.
Craters
• Most craters were produced by the impact of rapidly moving debris.
• Rays are any of a system of bright, elongated streaks, sometimes associated with a crater on the moon.
The Moon’s Surface
Mare Tranquillitatus(Sea of Tranquility)
Mare Imbrium(Sea of Rains)
KeplerCrater
CopernicusCrater
Formation of a Crater
The Lunar Surface
Earth’s Moon
• Most of the lunar surface is made up of densely pitted, light-colored areas known as highlands.
Highlands
• Maria, ancient beds of basaltic lava, originated when asteroids punctured the lunar surface, letting magma bleed out.
Maria
• A rille is a long channel associated with lunar maria. A rille looks similar to a valley or a trench.
The Lunar Surface
Earth’s Moon
• The lunar regolith is a thin, gray layer on the surface of the moon, consisting of loosely compacted, fragmented material believed to have been formed by repeated impacts of meteorites.
Regolith
Major Topographic Features of the Moon
Lunar History
Earth’s Moon
The most widely accepted model for the origin of the moon is that when the solar system was forming, a body the size of Mars impacted Earth. The resulting debris was ejected into space, began orbiting around Earth, and eventually united to form the moon.
Formation of Earth’s Moon
What were the epicycles in Ptolemy’s model supposed to explain?
1. The fact that planets are moving against the background of the stars.
2. The fact that the sun is moving against the background of the stars.
3. The fact that planets are moving eastward for a short amount of time, while they are usually moving westward.
4. The fact that planets are moving westward for a short amount of time, while they are usually moving eastward.
5. The fact that planets seem to remain stationary for substantial amounts of time.
In the Copernican “Universe”, the orbits of planets and moons were …
1. Perfect Circles
2. Ellipses
3. Spirals
4. Epicycles
5. None of the above.
How did William Herschel contribute to the astronomy community?
• Created the most powerful telescope to date
What was the first satellite launched into space?• Sputnik I
How Long is a Sidereal Day?
• 24 Hours
• 23 Hours 56 Minutes
• 24 Hours 50 Minutes
Why is the summer longer than winter?
1. Because of the precession of the Earth’s axis of rotation.
2. Because of the moon’s 5o inclination with respect to the Ecliptic.
3. Because the Earth is rotating around its axis more slowly in the summer (→ longer days!).
4. Because the Earth is closest to the sun in January and most distant from the sun in July.
5. Because the Earth is closest to the sun in July and most distant from the sun in January.
What is the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse?
Do you agree with the Impact Theory as the theory for the creation of the Moon?