Anc ient A stronomy

Quarter 2
Learning
Objectives
1. Explain how the Greeks knew
that the Earth is spherical.
 Key terms

OBLATE SPHEROID
SOLSTICE
ECLIPSE
HELIOCENTRISM
GEOCENTRISM
 OBLATE SPHEROID

It is a sphere that is wider at its

horizontal axis than its vertical
axis.

Earth is not a perfect sphere.

Meaning, it has bulging equator
and squeezed poles.
EY TERMS
 Solstice

Either of the two times in

the year, the summer
solstice and the winter
solstice.
EY TERMS
 Summer solstice
Northern hemisphere: Light>Dark
EY TERMS
 Winter solstice
Northern hemisphere: Light<Dark
EY TERMS
 Eclipse
In astronomy, complete or
partial obscuring of a
celestial body by another.
An eclipse occurs when
three celestial objects
become aligned.
EY TERMS
 Geocentrism
Any theory of the structure of the solar
system (or the universe) in which Earth is
assumed to be at the center of it all.
EY TERMS
Heliocentrism
Astronomical model in which the
Earth and planets revolve around the
Sun.
NORTH STAR
Polaris
Polaris
The North Star or Polaris was believed to
be at a fixed position in the sky. However,
when the Greeks traveled to places
nearer the equator, like Egypt, they
noticed that the North Star is closer to
the Horizon.

The North Star ( Polaris )

 A legendary philosopher known for mathematics,
also contributed to the knowledge of the Greek
philosophers by postulating that the earth was
spherical.

Famously, he proposed this idea because he

noticed that ships disappear below the horizon
when the sail away, implying that the surface of the
Pythagoras

earth is curved
 Disappearing ships
Pythagoras

If the earth was flat, then a ship travelling away from an observer should
become smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
However, the Greeks observed that the ship became smaller and then its hull disappeared first
before the sail as if it was being enveloped by the water until it completely disappeared.
 A Greek philosopher of nature remembered for his
cosmology and for his discovery of the true cause of
eclipses. He further supported Pythagoras’s of a
spherical Earth.
Anaxagoras

During the lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow was

reflected on the moon’s surface. The shadow reflected
was circular.
 Is the Father of Natural Science Because, after He
died, his methods formed the basis of the scientific
method.

Most people in Aristotle’s time believed that the

earth was flat, but he did not agree.

He considered the position of the North Star. If

someone were to travel south of what we now call
the equator, the North Star could not be seen at all.

Aristotle’s Conclusion He also watched ships sailing into port.

Aristotle

And lastly, he observed the shadow cast during

eclipses.
THE SIZE OF THE SPERICAL EARTH
It was Eratosthenes who gave the most accurate size during their time.

While he was working at the library of Alexandria in

Northern Egypt, He received correspondence from
Syene in southern Egypt which stated that a vertical
object did not cast any shadow at noontime during
summer solstice.

But this was not the case in Alexandria where at

noon time, during the summer solstice a vertical
object still cast a shadow. These observations could
only mean that the Sun, during this time in
Alexandria, was not directly overhead.
 5000 STADIA

50 X 5,000 STADIA = 250,000 STADIA

50 X 800KM = 40 000KM
 Aristotle

Anaxagoras

Aristarchus

Eudoxus

Eratosthenes

Hipparchus

Claudius
Ptolemy
Our understanding about the different
heavenly bodies can be credited to the
important findings of the Greek astronomers
 Aristotle
Was a student of Plato. For him, the earth is
spherical shape since it always casts curved
shadow when it eclipses the moon. He also
believed that the earth was the center of the
universe.
Anaxagoras
Was able to explain what causes the phases of
the moon. According to him, the moon shone
only by reflected sunlight. Since it is a sphere,
only half of it illuminated part that is visible from
the Earth changes periodically.
Phases of Moon
 Aristarchus
Is the very first Greek to profess the
Heliocentric view. The word Helios means sun;
Centric means centered. He learned that the
sun was many time farther than the moon
and that it was much larger than the Earth.
Eudoxus
Proposed a system of fixed spheres. He believed that
the Sun, the Moon, the Five known planets and the
stars were attached to these spheres which carried the
heavenly bodies while they revolved around the
stationary earth.
 Eratosthenes
The first successful attempt to determine the
size of the earth was made by him. He did this
by applying geometric principles.
Hipparchus
Is considered as the greatest of the early
Greek astronomers. He observed and
compared the brightness of 850 stars and
arranged them into order of brightness or
magnitude.
He developed a method for predicting the
times of lunar eclipse to within a few hours.
Aside from this, He also measured the length
of the year to within minutes of the modern
value.
Hipparchus Claudius Ptolemy
He believed that the earth was the center of the
universe. His Ptolemic Model claimed that the planets
moved in a complicated system of circles.

The Ptolemic Model

 Ptolemic Model
Ptolemy improved on pre-existing
models by finding a way to explain
elusive phenomena.

At a certain point, the planet

appears to stop then moves in the
opposite direction for some time;
after which, it will resume its
eastward motion. This westward
drift of the planets is called
Retrograde motion.

Eventually it was realized that this model is simply incompatible with observation.