History of Astronomy

1. Origins
a. Astronomy as a Science
i. Origins of astronomical writings in Mesopotamia 1200 BC
b. Mythology
i. explain how Greek Mythology of constellations originated with shepherds
ii. Stories of the kids Zodiac signs, as well as a couple of other basic stories
c. Relationship to Astrology
i. How and why the field of Astronomy/Astrology developed
2. Astronomy and Mythology in Non-Western cultures
a. Talk about some of the beliefs of cultures such as the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians,
Australian Aborigines, Native Americans, and Aztecs
b. Short synopses of major mythologies and scientific observations
3. Medieval Times
a. Europe
i. Decline in advancements and teaching of Astronomy. The stars were used
for practical purposes, such as knowing when to pray and when Easter was
b. Islam
i. Translation and preservation of Greek texts and Astronomical writings in
Arabic
ii. Advances in Astronomy, in particular the Astrolabe, and other new ideas
4. The Renaissance
a. Qualitative Astronomy
i. Copernicus proposes the heliocentric model and changes how we see the
universe
ii. Galileo is the first to point a telescope into the sky; notices the moons of
Jupiter and finds first evidence that not everything orbits the Earth or Sun
b. Applying Physics to Astronomy (Quantitative Astronomy)
i. Kepler uses observations of planetary motion to create his three laws
ii. Newton comes up with Universal Gravitation and explains how all
celestial bodies obey the law
5. Modern Astronomy
a. Discoveries of new planets and their significance
b. Edmund Haley predicted the return of a comet which had been noticed through all
of human history, Haleys Comet; significance
c. Composition of the Sun is mostly hydrogen; significance
d. Big Bang Theory
6. Recent Astronomy

a. Size of the Universe and Cosmology

b. Black holes: their discovery by Stephen Hawkins and problems in the Theory
c. Future of the Solar System and Universe
Facts about Astronomy
1. Ancient Observations
a. Planetai
b. Sun and Moon
2. Moon
a. Phase
b. Eclipses
c. Tides
d. Formation and appearance
3. Sun
a. Age
b. Composition
c. Fuel Source
d. Future
e. Solar winds and Aurorae
4. Mars and Venus (Rocky and Jovian planets)
a. How similar to Earth
b. Atmospheres
5. Gas Giants
a. Jupiters moon
b. Great Red Spot
c. Saturns Rings
6. Pluto
a. Discovery
b. Declassification
c. Harvard/Smithsonian voting
7. Orbits
a. Comets
b. How ellipses work
8. Other Stars
a. Closest
b. Some famous ones
c. Large ones
d. Super Novae
9. Black holes
a. Structure: singularity and event horizon
b. Spaghettification
10. Galaxies
a. Structure and size
b. Galactic neighborhood

11. Universe beginning and end

a. Dark matter and energy
Facts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Saturns Density
Star named Lucy in Centaurus is a huge diamond of trillions of carats
Rogue planets
Black hole in Sagittarius
Distant stars and Galaxies take thousands to millions of years to reach us and vice versa.
Dinosaur