History Greek Astronomy (600 BC–200

AD)
With no man made sources of light pollution, the earli-
est cultures had a magnificent view of the night sky. For A seafaring culture from Crete. Most influential in terms
the most part, no written records of prehistoric peoples of ideas Laid the foundations of modern astronomy. Sev-
thoughts and knowledge of astronomy exist. Develop- eral notable achievements.
ments in astronomical knowledge occurred in several parts
of the world – Asia, India, Americas. It is the develop-
ments in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions that Thales (627–547 BC)
are of particular importance.
A pioneer mathematician and observer. He was among
the first known to suggest that one should observe the
Megalithic Rings (4000–1500 BC)
material world to find out how it works. Very beginnings
The Stone circles in the British Isles pre-date other of “scientific method”.
recorded astronomical achievements in the rest of the
world. The best known is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain.
It is large and complex and laid out according to astro- Anaximander (611–546 BC)
nomical principles. Possibly used for predicting eclipses?
Had the idea of a universal medium, of unknown proper-
Prediction (origin of Astrology) equals power.
ties, from which all material substance was made.
He believed that the Earth was a cylinder, suspended
Babylonian Astronomy freely in the centre of a spherical universe. The firma-
ment was filled with flame, contained in rotating tubes
Planets were of great significance for astrological purposes. with holes that allowed the light within to be seen.
They knew a great deal about the various cyclical mo-
tions of the heavens. They recognized that the Sun moves
through the sky and divided the Zodiac into twelve parts. Pythagoras (570–500 BC)
Their year was twelve lunar months of 30 days. They
knew the length of the year to within 4 minutes accuracy. He laid the foundation for geometry and trigonometry.
They year was 360 days, so they added an extra month (30 First to assert that the Earth was round and that all heav-
days) every few years to compensate for the discrepancy enly bodies move in circles.
from 365 41 days.
Accurate solar, lunar and planetary tables. Predicted
planetary motions and occurrences of eclipses. Philolaus (500–400 BC)
Added the idea that the Earth moves about a central fire
Egyptian Astronomy (4000 BC–200 AD) (not the Sun), always hidden on the far side of the Earth.
Both he and Pythagoras believed the planetary distances
Used sundials to record local solar time. Their main pur- to correspond to the lengths of vibrating strings that pro-
pose in studying astronomy was practical and religious, duced harmonious musical notes. The concept of celestial
such as anticipating the seasons and other events of im- harmony. A philosophical idea.
portance to agriculture and commerce.
They paid great attention to Sirius (Sothis), because its
‘heliacal rising’ or date when it could be seen in the dawn Anaxagoras (500–428 BC)
sky, gave a reliable clue to the time of the annual flooding
of the Nile. Realized that the Moon shines by reflected sunlight, rather
The pyramids are astronomically aligned: mapping Orion than by its own power. Correctly attributed solar and
and the Milky Way (the Nile). Sizes of pyramids related lunar eclipses to the passage of the Moon in front of the
to brightness of the principal stars in Orion. Sun and through the Earth’s shadow, respectively.

Plato (428–347 BC)

Thought that the material world is only an imperfect rep-
resentation of ideal creation. Can learn more about the
universe by reason than by observation, which gives us
only an incomplete picture. Said that all motions in the
universe were perfectly circular and all astronomical bod-
ies spherical.
He adopted the Pythagorean view of the motions of the
Sun, Moon and planets, various combination of circular
motion about the Earth, fixed to clear, ethereal spheres.

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Eudoxus (408–356 BC) in turn orbits the Earth following a larger circle called a
deferent. Allows a combination of motions, adjusted to
Attempted to put Plato’s ideas on a mathematical foot- match observations. Enabled an explanation of the retro-
ing. Constructed a series of concentric spheres on which grade motions of the superior planets.
the Sun, Moon and planets moved in perfect circular mo-
tion. Each body required three or four spheres, each with
its own rotation rate, to produce the composite motion Hipparchus (190–120 BC)
necessary to duplicate the overall motion. Total of 27
Had an observatory on Rhodes. Use an Astrolabe, which
spheres were needed for all the known heavenly bodies.
is a sighting device, to make observations. Possibly the
greatest astronomer of antiquity?
Aristotle (384–322 BC)
1. First use of trigonometry in astronomical work.
First to adopt physical laws and then to show why, in
the context of those laws, the universe works as it does. 2. Refinement of instruments for measuring star posi-
He taught that circular motions are the only natural mo- tions, used a celestial coordinate system. Catalogue
tions. The centre of the Earth the centre of the universe. of 1080 stars.
The world composed of four elements: earth, air, fire and 3. Invention of the stellar magnitude scale - still in
water. He showed that the universe and the Earth are use today. Brightness ranging from 1st magnitude
spherical: (bright) to 6th magnitude (faintest with naked eye)
1. Only at the surface of a sphere do all falling objects 4. Refined the methods of Aristarchus for measuring the
seek the centre by falling straight down. relative sizes of the Earth, Moon and Sun.
2. The view of the constellations changes as you move 5. Discovery of the precession of star positions. Using
north or south. observations made by him and those 160 years earlier.
3. During lunar eclipses it can be seen that the shadow He also introduced a refinement of the epicycle theory –
of the Earth is curved. the Earth was off-centre in the large circle on which the
Sun moved. This eccentric (off-centre) orbit accounted
Concluded that the universe is finite in size - circular mo- for the observed variations of the speed of the Sun in its
tion, because otherwise objects might encounter the edge annual motion. Favoured the Earth-centred view.
of the universe. Said that heavenly bodies were made of a
5th fundamental substance - the aether.
Had great influence in Medieval Times. Ptolemy (120–180 AD)
Wrote the great summary; the Almagest (13 books). Con-
Aristarchus (310–230 BC) tains observed motions of planets, Sun and Moon. De-
scription of the workings of astronomical instruments. Re-
First to adopt the idea that the Sun, not the Earth, is at production of Hipparchus’ star catalogue. Greatest im-
the centre of the universe. Failed to attract many follow- portance was the detailed planetary models – predicted
ers. By geometrical means, deduced the relative sizes and positions that were used for the next 1000 years.
distances of the Moon and the Sun. Not very accurate, Extended idea from Hipparchus. To agree with observa-
but concluded that the Sun was far larger than the Moon tions, had the centre of deferent off-centre from Earth’s
and the Earth. Hence, he found it difficult to imagine that position. This meant that the planet would move faster
the Sun should orbit the lesser Earth, so he adopted the when on one side of its deferent than when on the other.
contrary point of view.
Each planet had own deferent and epicycle, adjusted to
reproduce observations.
Eratosthenes (276–196 BC) This system could explain all the observed motions, except
the size of the Moon. This problem seems to have been
Greatest achievement was the determination of the size of
ignored!
the Earth, using a simple method. On a certain summer
day, sunlight falls straight down a deep well in Syene ,
while at Alexandria the Sun made an angle 7o south of the
zenith. Distance between the two was 5000 stadia (about
500 miles). His circumference was just under 25 000 miles,
within 2% of the correct value.

Apollonius (265–190 BC)

Put Aristotle’s idea of the epicycle on a firm geometric
footing. Alternative to the spheres of Eudoxus. An epicy-
cle is a small circle on which a planet moves, whose centre

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The Renaissance concept of celestial harmony; spacing between planets de-
termined by the spacing of nested geometric solids. Was
The re-awakening of intellectual spirit in Europe began in chief assistant to Tycho and inherited all his data.
the 15th Century. Maritime exploration demanded better Mapped path Mars followed around the Sun, realized the
celestial navigation. Printing was developed, leading to Sun played a central role in making the planets move.
the widespread dissemination of information. But, the Sun was not at the centre of the planet’s orbit.
Orbit of Mars is some kind of oval, eventually found it
was a simple ellipse with Sun at one focus. Also, found
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
that Mars moves fastest when nearest the Sun and slowest
His studies of planetary motions, lead him to doubt the when furthest away from the Sun.
validity of the accepted system. This was not because of
any serious inaccuracies, but from a philosophical view- Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion
point. He adopted a Sun-centred universe. His new model
was no-more accurate than the Ptolemaic system. He used 1st Law: The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the
perfect circles for the orbits and introduced small epicy- Sun at one focus.
cles to improve the accuracy. Hence, it was as complex as
the old system. His model had a profound impact: 2nd Law: For each planet, the area swept out in space
by a line connecting that planet to the Sun is equal
1. Rotation of the Earth, rather than rotation of the in equal intervals of time.
heavens. 3rd Law: The square of the period of a planet is propor-
2. Natural order of the planets. tional to the cube of the semimajor axis.

3. Relative distances of the planets, finding that the

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
spacings between them grew systematically with in-
creasing distance from the Sun. Used simple experiment and deduction in advancing the
perception of the universe. Often cited as the first truly
4. The further out a planet is, the more slowly it moves.
modern scientist. Learned of the invention of the telescope
5. Simple explanation for retrograde motion. and devised his own. Viewed the heavens. Important
discoveries:
6. Explanation of the seasons.
1. Moon not smooth sphere, but covered with craters
7. Explanation of the changes in planetary brightness. and mountains.
2. Milky Way not a cloud, but consisted of countless
Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) stars.
Of noble descent, well educated and became convinced of 3. Jupiter attended by four satellites.
need for precise observations.
4. Varying aspect of Venus, like the phases of the Moon
Had observatory on island of Hveen, with a variety of in-
1 – showed Venus shines by reflected Sunlight – Venus
struments; largest was a 31 2 -foot radius quadrant, with
must orbit Sun not Earth, since apparent size varies
improved angular scales and sighting design.
(smallest when full).
Made accurate observations of positions of planets to accu-
racy of about 1 minute of arc (about 10 times better than 5. Studied dark spots that occasionally appeared on face
before!). A great observational astronomer. Probably the of the Sun – some had thought they were small planets
best pre-telescopic observer. moving across the face – Galileo showed they were
In 1577 observed a bright comet, he showed that the comet actually on the surface of the Sun and moved due to
was very distant. rotation of the Sun.
He amassed a large body of data on planetary motion. His observations violated the ancient philosophies of an
Could not accept heliocentric view, because no evi- idealized universe with the Earth the centre of all motion.
dence for Earth moving and he was a strict Protestant. Heavy criticism from the Church.
But, Copernican system was mathematically simpler than
Ptolematic model, so developed model with Earth fixed,
Sun orbiting it, while all other planets orbit Sun! Mathe-
matically equivalent for Earth-based observer. Idea never
caught on!

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630)

Became interested in the Copernican System – its math-
ematical simplicity. He also had a fascination with the