First Nation People Astronomy

The Milky Way

The Milky Way is a spectacular sight in the night sky, with it’s many stars and dust
lanes, stretching across the sky from horizon to horizon. It is, of course, our own
Milky Way galaxy, seen from inside, and looking towards the centre, where it is
brightest. It is believed to be a spiral galaxy like this picture above.

The Kamilaroi called the Milky Way Warambul, which was translated to English as
“stream”.
The Emu in the Sky
The Coal Sack is a dark cloud just below the Southern Cross. For many Aboriginal
people across Australia, this is the head of the Emu in the Sky, which stretches from
the Southern Cross along the dust lanes of the Milky Way to the constellation
Scorpius. Unlike non- Aboriginal people, the Kamilaroi and their neighbours see the
dark spaces of the Milky Way, rather than the stars, as important, because this is
where the Emu in the Sky is seen. The Kamilaroi call the Emu Gawarrgay.

The Guringai people of Sydney saw the Emu like this, with the legs stretched
out behind:
The Emu first becomes visible as the Milky Way rises in the evening in April and May,
and at this time the Emu appears to be running. The Kamilaroi see this as
the breeding season for Emu's, and the female is chasing the male. This also means
that the female emu will be laying eggs, so it is time to start collecting emu eggs for
food.

In June and July the male Emu is sitting on the nest, brooding the chicks, so it is still
time to collect eggs.

The Southern Cross and the Pointers

The Southern Cross in most stories is connected with a story of the first man to die
on Earth.
The common theme of stories from all the Kamilaroi and their neighbours is during
the Creation time, two men and a women came from the red country, and had been
shown which plants they could eat. There was a big drought, and becoming hungry,
one man killed a wallaby. The other man said he should not do that, as he didn’t
know the law of the wallaby totem.
That man left the man and woman, who ate the wallaby. The one who didn’t, came
to a big yarran (gum) tree, where he lay down and died. A spirit saw that he didn’t
break the law, and put him in the hollow of the tree, and then lifted the tree into the
sky, followed by two cockatoos (who were roosting in the tree). The tree was placed
in the Southern Cross, where it faded so that only the eyes of the man and the spirit
can be seen. The two cockatoos still fly after the Southern Cross, and are the two
Pointer stars.

The Clouds of Magellan

Close to the Milky Way, to the southeast and lower in the sky, are the Magellanic
Clouds, two dwarf galaxies orbiting our galaxy. On a clear night, they look like cotton
balls, but are made up of millions of stars. There are a number of different stories
about the Clouds, including one that they are burraalga, brolga birds, which were
originally a mother and daughter who were captured by Wilbaarr, the whirly wind
spirit, turned into brolgas, and when they died, went into the sky and became the
Clouds.

The Pleiades
The Pleiades are an open star cluster of seven objects which can be seen in the low
sky to the north during summer. They seem to be a very special object in the sky
around the world, as many cultures, including the ancient Greeks, knew them as
young women, and in particular, Seven Sisters.

The Pleiades, or miyay miyay (which means “several girls”) were young women who
lived on Earth, and were exceptionally beautiful. Orion (the constellation), which is
known as the birray birray (which means “several boys”, not initiated) were chasing
them, and they prayed for protection from Baiame, who lifted them into the sky.
One of the girls is not as beautiful as the rest, and hides, which is why we only see six
stars. The birray birray, for chasing the girls, were put into Orion as the Belt of Orion,
where they still try and chase them. An old man was placed in the sky between Orion
and the Pleiades (the star Aldebaran) to keep the birray birray from the Pleiades, and
the upside down “V” of stars next to him (the horns of Taurus the bull) are
his gunya (hut). The star Rigel is the fire of the birray birray, and the Sword of Orion
is their fire poker.

Orion the Hunter

The constellation Orion, as we know from the story of the Pleiades, was the home of
the birray birray, the young men chasing the Pleiades. It also has a connection
to Baiame. Most Kamilaroi culture men will say that you can’t see Baiame in the
night sky, but during the bora ceremony, in the early part of the year, Orion will, as
the night progresses, go down in the west. The Greeks called Orion the Hunter, and
saw him as a figure with two legs and two arms, a belt, and a sword. Of course, here
in Australia, the Greek figure is upside down, so that figure is not usually seen the
way the Greeks did. However, as Orion is dipping down to the western horizon, this
can be seen as a figure of Baiame, upside down, with his arms reaching down to the
Earth, so it is said that “Baiame is coming to the ground”.
The Canoe in Orion
The image above shows the constellation Orion, which is also known in Australia as
"The saucepan". The Yolngu people of the Northern territory know it as Djulpan.
Notice the three stars in a row above, which in classical Greek mythology represent
Orion's belt. Above them is the famous Orion nebula, only 1000 light-years away
from us, where new stars are being born. Greek mythology says this is Orion's sword,
which is above his belt because he is standing on his head when seen from Australia!
To the bottom right (the bow of the canoe) is the red giant star Betelgeuse, and to
the top left (the stern of the canoe) is the star Rigel. these are Orion's hand and feet
respectively.
A traditional Yolngu story tells how three brothers of the King-fish (Nulkal) clan went
fishing, but all they could catch were king-fish. Because they were in the king-fish
clan, traditonal lore forbade them to eat these fish, and so they had to throw them
back into the water. Eventually, one of the brothers became so hungry that he
decided to break the law, and caught and ate a king-fish. The Sun-woman (Walu) saw
this, and was so angry at him for breaking the law that she created a waterspout that
lifted them right up into the sky, where you can still see them. The three brothers are
the three stars across the centre of the canoe, and the Orion nebula is the fish
trailing on its line in the water. Thus this constellation is a reminder that you'd better
not break the law!
The Kuwema people, near Katherine in the Northern territory, knew that when Orion
rose in the early morning in winter, then the Dingoes would start mating, producing
puppies which were an important source of livelihood for the Kuwema people.
 Scale of the solar system

Our solar system is so big it is almost impossible to imagine its size if you use
ordinary units like kilometres. The distance from Earth to the Sun is 149 million
kilometers, but the distance to the farthest planet Neptune is nearly 4.5 billion
kilometers. Compare this to the farthest distance you can walk in one full day,
110km, or that the International Space Station travels in 24 hours (more than
500,000 km).
The best way to appreciate the size of our solar system is by creating a scaled model
of it that shows how far from the sun the eight planets are located. Astronomers use
the distance between Earth and sun, which is 149 million kilometers, as a new unit of
measure called the Astronomical Unit. It is defined to be exactly 1.00 for the Earth-
Sun orbit distance, and we call this distance 1.00 AU.
Problem 1 - The table below gives the distance from the Sun of the eight planets in
our solar system. By setting up a simple proportion, convert the stated distances,
which are given in millions of kilometers, into their equivalent AUs, and fill-in the last
column of the table.
Problem 2 – Suppose you wanted to build a scale model of our solar system so that
the orbit of Neptune was located 10 feet from the yellow ball that represents the
sun. How far from the yellow ball, in inches, would you place the orbit of Jupiter

Practical Activity: A Scale Model of the Solar System using toilet roll.Links to an
external site.

Video of a scale model of the solar system Links to an external site.

The Sun, Earth and Moon

1. Please read pages 244-248 and answer the questions.

SF1_SB.pdfDownload SF1_SB.pdf

2. Follow the link and play with the app to see how Night and day works.
https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/L696/index.html Links to an external site.
3. Follow the link and play with the app Seasons

Phases of Moon Activity

 Measuring your latitude using the Night Sky

Measuring your latitude using hand spans

Background information
Latitude is the angular distance of a location north or south of the equator. The
latitude of Sydney is about 34 degrees south of the equator. The latitude of a
location can be determined using the stars, by measuring the height of one of the
celestial poles above the horizon. In the Southern Hemisphere, we use the South
Celestial Pole. If you are unfamiliar with using the Southern Cross to find the South
Celestial Pole.

The south celestial pole is circled

In the Northern Hemisphere, the North Celestial Pole is used to measure latitude.
The North Celestial Pole is marked by the star Polaris. The angle measured between
the horizon and Polaris in degrees at a location in the Northern Hemisphere is equal
to the latitude of that location.
You can make approximate angular measurements using your fingers and hands at
arm’s length. This helps you to measure your latitude, and to find the positions of
particular stars and constellations.
Measuring large angles
Outstretch one arm so that it is parallel with the horizon. This are will act as your
baseline. Hold your other arm straight up beside your head. Both arms are now at
right angles. A 45 degree angle can be made by moving your upright arm to half
the 90 degree angle. With practice you can even divide the 90 degree angle into
thirds and measure a 30 degree angle.

Measuring smaller angles

One finger width at arms length covers about two degrees of sky and can be used
to measure small distances between stars.
Half a hand-span (at arms length) is the distance across the knuckles of one hand. It
covers about 10 degrees across the sky.
A whole hand-span is an outstretched open hand. It measures 20 degrees across
the sky.
Australian latitudes
Melbourne ~ 38 degrees
Sydney ~ 34 degrees = 3 knuckles and 2 fingers above the horizon looking south
Brisbane ~ 27 degrees
Adelaide ~ 35 degrees
Perth ~ 32 degrees
Hobart ~ 43 degrees
Darwin ~ 12 degrees
Canberra ~ 35 degrees

Star Maps link Links to an external site.

Go outside and find a tall tree about 30 metres away. Measure the angle from the
bottom to the top. Measure the length of one of your strides and then count how
many strides to the tree. Multiply the number of strides by stride length to find the
distance to the tree.
Here is the maths using trigonometry.

Estimate the height of the tree using this method.

How the sky works

How the sky works_ A beginner's guide to finding stars and planets - ABC
News.pdfDownload How the sky works_ A beginner's guide to finding stars and
planets - ABC News.pdf
Stellarium: a tool for finding stars planets and galaxies

Geo centric and Heliocentric models of Solar System

SUMMARY OF THE CHANGING MODEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Babylonians Collected observations and invented methods of recording data. Named
the Constellations. Discovered cycles for the movement of heavenly bodies in their
observations.
Early models A flat or cylindrical Earth floated in space or in water with a celestial
sphere moving round it.
Other celestial objects moved on paths at the same distance from the central Earth.
Celestial sphere was established with the 7 moving objects attached to its inside
surface.

Pythagoras A spherical Earth and a geocentric model. Ordered the positions of the
planets around the central Earth: moon, sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn. Established the obliquity of the ecliptic which was the path of the
planets through the constellations.
Plato Set the problem for astronomers to describe the circular paths of the planets.

Eratosthenes Made measurements and calculated the circumference of the Earth.

Ptolemy: Geocentric Model. Combined eccentricities, deferens, epicycles and his

own invention, ecentres to more accurately describe the movements of the planets
through the constellations and to predict positions. He presented his model as a
method of calculating positions, not as a model of reality.
Copernicus Heliocentric model with the planets orbiting the sun on circular orbits.
Defined the configurations of the planets. Calculated their orbital
periods and relative distances. Required eccentricities and epicycles for the outer
planets to match the model to observations.

Tycho Brahe Most accurate measurements of the positions of the planets.

Geocentric model but with minor concessions. The inner planets, Mer
cury and Venus orbited the sun which, with the other planets, orbited the Earth.
Johannes Kepler Discovered the laws that describe the motions of the planets using
Brahe’s observations. Heliocentric model with the planets orbiting the sun with
changing distances on elliptical orbits. Found an empirical relationship between the
orbital period and the distance of the planets from the sun.
Galileo Described the way objects move on Earth. Gave some proof for the
heliocentric model in discovering the phases of Venus and the moons of Jupiter with
his improved telescope. Proposed the method of parallax to measure the distance to
the nearest stars.
Newton Established the laws of motion for objects on Earth from Galileo’s work.
Invented the reflecting telescope. Recognised the importance of Keplers three laws
that described the motion of the planets and derived them mathematically by
applying his law of universal gravity to the
motion. This gave dynamics to the known universe that proved the heliocentric
model.
Questions from the video.

As each new character is presented, write some notes on two things:

a. How they changed the view that was previously held.
b. How others criticised their new view.

1. Why is Aristotle’s view of the heavens called the “common-sense” view?

2. Why did Plato assume that the movement of the planets were along circles?
3. Why did Eudoxus have to use several spheres for each of the planets instead of
just one?
4. List some of the objections that were raised on Aristarchus’s suggestion that the
sun was the centre and the Earth orbited the sun.
5. What was the most important outcome of using Ptolemy’s model of the planets?
6. Copernicus found that it was much easier to describe the retrograde motion of the
outer planets by placing the sun at the centre. What is retrograde motion and how
did this model help in explaining it?
7. Why was Tycho Brahe interested in accurate measurements? What measurements
did he make and how did he accomplish this?
8. Kepler used Brahe’s measurements to work out something about the orbit of
Mars. What did he find after 20 years of searching?
9. When Galileo pointed his improved telescope to the heavens he found several
things never seen before. What were they and how did they support the heliocentric
model?
10. To understand the motion of the planets Newton had to first understand how
things went round in circles. What were the important things he was able to say
about the
paths of the planets from his knowledge of circular motion? Where did gravity fit into
this picture?

History of Astronomy with Prof Dave

History of astronomy part 1 Links to an external site.

History of Astronomy Part 2 Links to an external site.
History of Astronomy Part 3 Links to an external site.

Advanced
History of Astronomy Part 4 Kepler's Laws

P7 Text Book Chapter 8

pp 8.1 astronomy.pdfDownload pp 8.1 astronomy.pdf

pp 8.2 The solar system and star patterns.pdf Download pp 8.2 The solar system and
star patterns.pdf
pp 8.3 Gravity and Tides.pdf Download pp 8.3 Gravity and Tides.pdf
pp 8.4 Earth.pdf Download pp 8.4 Earth.pdf

use the resources to answer these headline questions.

1. How did ancient cultures use the sky to help them organise their life around night
and day, moon cycles and the seasons.
2. How did ancient cultures use the stars as gods and for telling stories.
3. The european and Native australian people had different interpretations of star
signs. Compare Orion v the canoe.
4. Why is the southern cross star sign useful?
5. Compare the geocentric and helio centric models of the sky.
6. Recall the planets , asteroid belt and comets of the solar system
7. Understand the concepts of: Night and day, a moon cycle, a year and the seasons.
8. What is gravity and how does gravity keep the planets revolving around the sun
9 Galileo made the first telescope to see the moons of jupiter. Now we have space
telescopes that can see far into the Universe. What are the names of some of the
most powerful telescopes used by astronomers.