AST 0112

roberto.puddu@uc.cl
Theme
COSMOLOGY
geocentric and heliocentric

• Greek Astronomy
• Ptolemy
• Copernicus
• Brahe
• Galileo
• Kepler
• Kepler's laws
• Newton
• Newton's Laws
• Orbits, satellites
 Greek Astronomy

School in Alexandría
literature, philosophy, medicine, and sciences 
(post Aristoteles)

• Aristarco de Samos (310-230 BC):

✔ Explained why Moon has phases
✔ Tried to measure the distance to the Sun and Moon
✔ Believed that the Sun was the center of the Universe
• Eratóstenes (276-196 BC):
✔ Measured the circumference of the Earth using the Sun’s
shadow as seen from Alejandría y Asuán (length of Egypt).
• Hiparco (Hipparchus)...
 Greek Astronomy
• Hiparco (190?-120? BC):
✔ considered greatest astronomer of antiquity (but all original work lost)
✔built an astronomical observatory on Rhodes (Greek Island)
✔made a star catalog, assigning coordinates to each star and defining their
magnitudes
✔deduced that the celestial pole moves slowly (precession)
✔measured the distance to the Moon to be 59 times the Earth radius (60 is
the correct value)
✔determined length of the year to ~6 minutes of accuracy
✔carefully measured the movement of the Sun, Moon and planets, which
allowed him to predict eclipses
✔postulated that the Sun's orbit is eccentric
✔discovered that perihelion was in December (it's now early January)
✔thought to be first to postulate a full-scale heliocentric system, but theory
was abandoned because orbits were not perfectly circular (a mandatory
condition of the time).
Theory of Geocentrism
 Theory of Geocentrism
• Ptolemy (140 BC??) presented a Geocentric Theory in his Almagest,
wherein the Earth was the center of the universe. His theory retained the
idea of circular orbits, which was very compelling to the Greek populace.
✔Ptolemy convincingly explained that the Sun, Moon, planets and the heavens
rotate around the Earth.
✔In addition to the Moon and the Sun, five planets were known in antiquity:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
✔Careful observers of antiquity realized that the planets move with respect to the
fixed stars in the sky.
✔This movement is made along the ecliptic plane.
✔Planet = “Wandering Star”
✔Their movements on the ecliptic are not uniform:
➔Normal/direct movement: eastward
➔Retrograde motion: westward
 Retrograde Motion
• The planets move eastward around the Sun in nearly circular orbits in the plane of
the ecliptic. However, sometimes their apparent movement slows and changes
direction, making a loop to the west. This is called retrograde motion.
• Example: the loop of Mars with respect to distant stars below
 Theory of Geocentrism
• Ptolemy (140 BC??) presented
Geocentric cosmology in the
Almagest, with his theory of
“deferents” and “epicycles” to
explain the motions of the planets.
• Ptolemy postulated that each
planet moved in a larger circle
around the earth (deferent), but
describing a small orbit (epicycle)
as shown in the diagram.
• This would explain retrograde
motion.
 Theory of Geocentrism
• Since the movements did not appear to be circular/uniform, Ptolemy proposed
that deferents were eccentric, and that the epicycles moved around equants.
• The system was very complex, but could explain the observations. The
success in explaining the retrograde motion earned this theory acceptance
until the seventeenth century.
• Note the order of the planets.
Renaissance Astronomers
 Theory of Heliocentrism: Copérnicus
Nicolás Copérnicus studied law and medicine, but dabbled in math and astronomy.
In De Revolutionibus proposed that the Sun is the center of the system, and that the
Earth was just one of the 6 planets revolving around the Sun
•   This theory also explains the retrograde motion.
•   In addition, calculated the distances of planets from the Sun
•   His ideas were only accepted a hundred years after his death.

PLANET COPERNICUS TODAY

Mercurio 0.38 AU 0.387 AU
Venus 0.72 AU 0.723 AU
Tierra 1.00 AU 1.00 AU
Marte 1.52 AU 1.52 AU
Júpiter 5.22 AU 5.20 AU
Saturno 9.18 AU 9.54 AU (Mikolaj Kopernik, 1473-1543)
Retrograde Motion
 Theory of Heliocentrism
• Copernicus also recognized the difference between the synodic periods
(seen from Earth) and sidereal periods (real) of the planets.
• He realized which planets are closer to the Sun, and which are farther away
(e.g. Mercury and Venus are always close to Sun.)
• Configurations of the planets:
• Superior planets:
➔  Conjunction
➔  Opposition
•   Inferior planets:
➔ superior conjunction
➔ inferior conjunction
• Problem: orbits assumed circular,
not elliptical.
 Theory of Heliocentrism
Philosophically, the theory of Copernicus revolutionized the
world of science: Earth is nothing special, it's just one of the
planets.

That's the Copernican cosmological principle.

  We are not the

center of the universe!
Galileo, The Scientist
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) studied medicine, but
chose mathematics and astronomy.
• His astronomical discoveries were published in the
Star Nuncius (Sidereal Messenger) and the Dialogo
dei Due Massimi Sistemi.
• The dialogue was written in Italian, with 3 characters
discussing the celestial movements.
• Galileo profoundly influenced science. He was the Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
father of mechanics, doing experiments on the
movements of bodies (inclined plane, pendulum, etc.
30x
magnification

Salviati,
Sagredo y
Simplicio
Galileo was one of the most prolific scientists of human history,
with important legacies:
• His comments defended the heliocentric theory, which lead to being
persecuted by the Church and condemned by the Inquisition.
• Contributions to mechanics (e.g. Law of inertia).
• He built his own refractor telescopes, the best was 3 and 30x lenses, and
made numerous discoveries.
• Discovered spots on the Sun, and concluded that Sun rotates.
• Discovered seas, craters and mountains on the Moon.
• Discovered 4 moons of Jupiter: a mini-solar system.
• Discovered the phases of Venus.
• Found that nearby “fuzzy clusters” are composed of stars.
• Discovered stars in the Milky Way.
• Saturn was discovered to be “strange”
(1695 Huygens discovered the rings).
• He was eventually exonerated in 1992 by Pope John Paul II.
Seasons
Sunspots and solar rotation
Phases of
Venus
The
Imperfect
Moon
Since Venus is in various orientations (during its orbit) with respect to the Sun, we see it in
various phases. What phases will Venus have?

A. Crescent only
B. Gibbous only
C. Full and New only
D. New and Crescent only
E. All phases
Jupiter and
its satellites:
a mini-solar
system
12

10

Column 1
6
Column 2
Column 3

Heliocentric Theory
2

0
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4
 Tycho Brahe
Nobleman Tycho Brahe made careful measurements of
the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets for ~40 years.
• Using only his eyes as instruments, he measured sky positions with
an accuracy of 1' (arcminute).
• Determined the length of the year to ~1 second precision.
• Although he did not believe his observations, they eventually proved
that the heliocentric theory is correct.
• Also observed several comets, and determined that they were more Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
distant than the Moon and orbiting around the Sun
• In addition, observed a supernova (Tycho’s SN) in 1572.
• Incorrectly measured the sizes of stars.
Observatory of
Tycho Brahe
 Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was an assistant of Tycho
Brahe (was employed 1 yr before Tycho’s
sudden death)
• He worked for 20 years studying the observations of
Tycho Brahe.
• Investigated the motions of Mars in great detail to
understand planetary orbits.
• Came up with the 3 fundamental laws that
determine the planetary orbits.
• Found a supernova in 1604 which carries his name;
he realized that the supernova had no parallax and
therefore must have been farther than planets.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

 Kepler’s Laws
Note: astronomers use sometimes ellipticity ε=1-(b/a) for galaxy morphology measurements

1st Law: All of the planets move on elliptical orbits, with the
Sun at one of the foci.
Planetary orbit eccentricities (e):
• Mercury 0.2056
• Venus 0.0068
• Earth 0.0167
• Mars 0.0934
• Jupiter 0.0485
• Saturn 0.0541
• Uranus 0.0472
• Neptune 0.0086
• Pluto 0.2488 The eccentricity may take the following values:
• circular orbit: e = 0
regular
semi-minor • elliptic orbit: 0 < e < 1
• parabolic trajectory: e = 1
semi-major
• hyperbolic trajectory: e > 1
• linear trajectory: e = ∞

hyperbolic
 Kepler’s Laws
How do you draw an ellipse?

How would the ellipse look if one focus point goes to infinity?
How would the rays leave the one focus point?
Can you imagine a good application for such a surface?
 Kepler’s Laws

For more on conic section, see: https://goo.gl/NM6h8b

Circular and elliptical orbits are not the only ones realized in
nature. The other two types can be realized by Conic Sections.

parallel

The balance between kinetic energy (T) of the planet and its potential energy (U) in the
gravitational field of a massive body, determines the orbit shape:
• For balanced energetics at a finite aphelion, the planet will be on a circular or elliptical orbit
• For balanced energetics at an infinite aphelion, the planet will be on a parabolic orbit
• For unbalanced energetics (2T>U) the planet will be on a hyperbolic orbit
 Kepler’s Laws
2nd Law: The line that connects the Sun and a planet
sweeps out equal areas in equal times: dA/dt = constant

A1

Perihelion
A2 Aphelion

A3

Because of conservation of angular momentum the planets move faster near

perihelion and slower near aphelion. The angular momentum of the system is
the same at every point along the orbital path. Therefore, A1=A2=A3.
 Kepler’s Laws
3rd Law: The square of the periods of revolution (P) of the planets
around the Sun are proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of
the orbit (a):

Semi-major axis a P 2/ a 3
Planet (1010 m)
a (AU) Period P (yr)
(1034 yr2 / m3)

Mercury 5.79 0.39 0.241 2.99

Venus 10.8 0.72 0.615 3

Earth 15 1 1 2.96

Mars 22.8 1.52 1.88 2.98

Jupiter 77.8 5.2 11.9 3.01

Saturn 143 9.5 29.5 2.98

Uranus 287 19.2 84 2.98

Neptune 450 30 165 2.99

Pluto 590 39.5 248 2.99

P2 / a3 = 4π2 / GM = constant
 Kepler’s Laws
3rd Law: This law comes from the force of gravitation, which falls off
with distance as 1/r2. Newton developed his theory of gravitation based
on Kepler’s 3rd Law.

P2 / a3 = 4π2 / GMsun = constant

 Planet
Kepler’s Laws A
Δtt

lion
he
Ap
A
Δtt
n

F2
elio

Sun=F1
rih

2nd Law
Pe

1st Law Equal

Orbits are Surfaces Law

Planets move on elliptical

ellipses
orbits with the sun at one The radial lines connecting
of the focus points. the Sun and planet sweeps
equal surfaces in equal time.

3rd Law

Orbit Harmonics

The square of the orbital

period is proportional to
the cube of the semi-
major axis of the orbit.
Earth is closer to the Sun in January than in July. Therefore, in accord with
Kepler’s 2nd Law

A. Earth travels faster in its orbit around the Sun in July vs. January
B. Earth travels faster in its orbit around the Sun in January vs. July
C. It is summer in January and winter in July
D. None of the above
 Isaac Newton
• Kepler deduced that the planets orbit around
the Sun caught by a force, but he could not
explain the nature of this force.
• Galileo made experiments with falling
bodies, etc., describing their acceleration
toward the Earth, but he could not measure it
• Sir Isaac Newton unified these thoughts by
showing that the force that made apples fall Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
from trees is the same that captures the
Moon in orbit around Earth.
• Newton gave us the principles of mechanics
and the universal law of gravitation.

His book: Principios Matemáticos de la Filosofía

Natural, or “Principia”, was published in 1687.
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