The Roots of Astronomy

• Already in the stone and bronze ages,

human cultures realized the cyclic
nature of motions in the sky.
• Monuments dating back to ~ 3000 B.C.
show alignments with astronomical
significance.
• Those monuments were probably used
as calendars or even to predict eclipses.
© Joseph Lertola

© Andrew Dunn
Other Examples All Over the World

Big Horn Medicine Wheel (Wyoming)

 Ancient Astronomers
• First preserved written documents
about ancient astronomy are from
ancient Greek philosophy.
• Greeks tried to understand the motions
of the sky and describe them in terms
of mathematical (not physical!) models.
 Other astronomy
• Maori astronomy – Active research group in NZ: Society
of Maori Astronomy Research and Traditions
www.maoriastronomy.co.nz
• Arabic Astronomy – . Al-Battani (CE 850-929, Baghdad/
Cordoba) made 4% error in measuring orbit of Earth
around the Sun. Also made very accurate measurement
of circumference of Earth.
• Indian Astronomy – considerable expertise in
observational astronomy. Most records lost in regligious
wars.
• Chinese Astronomy – very useful catalog of supernovae.
• Polynesia – navigation by stars well known.
 Māori astronomy
• There is clear evidence that the Māori had extensive
knowledge of the night sky. Well before the arrival of the
Pākehā. Including details of the seasons and using the
stars for naviagtion.
• A lot of this knowledge and understanding has been
mixed with colonial knowledge and was lost over the
past two centuries but is now being rediscovered.
• Time keeping based on lunar calendar and which stars
rise before the Sun through the year.
• Towards the late 2000's, the Society for Māori
Astronomy Research and Traditions (SMART) was
formed, and dedicated itself to the preservation and
revitalization of Māori astronomical knowledge.
Harris et al. (2013)
http://www.narit.or.th/en/files/2013JAHHvol16/2013JAHH...16..325H.pdf
https://theconversation.com/how-far-theyll-go-moana-shows-the-power-of-polynesian-celestial-navigation-72375
Australian Aboriginal astronomy

Norris (2016) https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.02215

Chinese astronomy
SN1006
 Part of a page from the Songshi Astronomical
Treatise containing the record of SN 1006. This
text is taken from a 19th-century block print of
theSongshi.
“Kanko reign period of Emperor Ichijo In, third
year, fourth lunar month, second day, guiyou [1
May 1006]. After night had fallen, there was a
large guest star in Qiguan. It was like Mars, and
it was bright and scintillating. For successive
nights it was seen clearly at the southern
direction. Some (people) suggested that it was
a change in Qichen Jiangjun (κ Lup) itself”
(Meigetsuki, volume 12).

Part of a page from the Xu Zizhi Tongjian

Changbian containing the latest known record of
SN 1006: 9 October 1009.
“Dazhong Xiangfu reign period, second year,
ninth lunar month, (day) gengwu [9 October
1009]. (The Emperor) issued a command that
from this day the ‘Suburban Sacrifice’ should
be offered to both the Zhoubo star at Dilunar
lodge and Shouxing (Canopus), and that this
arrangement should be maintained for ever.
This met with the approval of the Hanlin
academicians and the astronomers” (Xu Zizhi
Tongjian Changbian, chapter 72).

Stephenson (2010) Astronomy & Geophysics,

Vol 51, Issue 5, page 27
 Neuhauser et al. (2016) Astronomical Notes, in press
An Arabic report about supernova SN 1006 by Ibn Sına (Avicenna)
Constellations

In ancient times, constellations only referred to

the brightest stars that appeared to form
groups, representing mythological figures.
 Stars are named by a
Greek letter ()
α
according to their relative
brightness within a given
γ constellation + the
possessive form of the
name of the
constellation:
δ

ζ ε

M42 Betelgeuse =  Orionis

Rigel =  Orionis

κ β

From wikipedia
 427 l.y.
The stars of a
constellation only
243 l.y. appear to be close to
one another
Usually, this is only a
projection effect.
2000 l.y.
The stars of a
1300 l.y. constellation may be
820 l.y.
located at very
different distances
1500 l.y. (20 l.y. across)
from us.

722 l.y. 773 l.y.

From wikipedia
 The Magnitude Scale
Putara (Betelgeuse) (Example)
m = 0.0-1.3 mag Magn. Intensity Ratio
Diff.
1.6
1 2.512

2 2.512×2.512 =
(2.512)2 = 6.31

2.2 3 (2.512)3 = 15.85

1.7 4 (2.512)4 = 39.82

1.7
5 (2.512)5 = 100
4

Puanga(Rigel)
2.1
m = 0.2 mag
The Sky and its Motion
 Motion of Sky
• During day/night on pole & equator?
• Over a year, where is the Sun?
• How does Sun rise vary over the year?
• What are the phases of the Moon about?
• Solar & lunar eclipses?
• How do the planets move on the sky?
 How do stars move on the sky?

In the Northern Hemisphere?

STELLARIUM
DEMO

From astronomynotes.com
 Due to Earth’s orbit
around the Sun, the Sun
appears to move through
the zodiacal
constellations.
The Sun’s apparent
path on the sky is called
the ecliptic.
Equivalent: The ecliptic is
the projection of Earth’s
orbit onto the celestial
sphere.

STELLARIUM
DEMO
From astronomynotes.com
 STELLARIUM
DEMO
From astronomynotes.com
 Motion of Sky
• During day/night on pole & equator?
• Over a year, where is the Sun?
• How does Sun rise vary over the year?
• What are the phases of the Moon
about?
• Solar & lunar eclipses?
• How do the planets move on the sky?
From astronomynotes.com
 Motion of Sky
• During day/night on pole & equator?
• Over a year, where is the Sun?
• How does Sun rise vary over the year?
• What are the phases of the Moon about?
• Solar & lunar eclipses?
• How do the planets move on the sky?
From wikipedia
 A Total Lunar Eclipse

Penumbra Umbra

© Letian Wang
From wikipedia
A Total Solar Eclipse

© Viatour Luc / www.lucnix.be

© CNES – Taken by Mir 27 Crew
© Miloslav Druckmuller, Peter Aniol, Vojtech Rusin – taken from APotD
 Motion of Sky
• During day/night on pole & equator?
• Over a year, where is the Sun?
• How does Sun rise vary over the year?
• What are the phases of the Moon about?
• Solar & lunar eclipses?
• How do the planets move on the sky?
 STELLARIUM
DEMO

From astronomynotes.com
 Summary
• All cultures understood how to use the stars for
time keeping and navigation.
• Written records useful for transient events.
• Constellations are just chance alignments, stars
are not physically related.
• Motion of stars and Sun, where they rise and
set allows you to tell the time of year and
location on the Earth.
• Sun, Earth and Moon can lead to eclipses.
• Planets are wanders on the sky.