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Physical Science
Q4 Week1: Modern Astronomy & Examples of Astronomical
Phenomena Before the Advent of the Telescope and Modern
Astronomy
 Quarter 4 Week 1
At the end of the session, you will be able to;
• Explain how the Greeks knew that the
Earth is spherical (S11/12PS-IVa-38)
 Quarter 4 Week 1
At the end of the session, you will be able to;
• Cite examples of astronomical phenomena
known to astronomers before the advent of
telescopes (S11/12PS-IVa-41)
 Quarter 4 Week 1
At the end of the session, you will be able to;
• Explain how Brahe’s innovations and
extensive collection of data in observational
astronomy paved the way for Kepler’s
discovery of his laws of planetary motion
(S11/12PS-IVb-44)
ANCIENT ASTRONOMY
What is it
• As early as 500 B.C., Greeks
already believed that the
Earth’s shape was round,
not flat.
• Pythagoras first proposed
the spherical earth
What is it
• Earth’s true shape –
OBLATE SPHEROID
(bulging at the
equator and
squeezed poles.)
What is it
• Pythagoras, a Greek
philosopher viewed
heaven as perfect and
that a circle is
a perfect polygon.
What is it
•Retrograde
motion -
apparent
backward
motion
What is it
• Anaxagoras (500 to 430 B.C),
supported the spherical earth idea
of Pythagoras
• Anaxagoras observed that the
shadow of the Earth cast on the
moon during a lunar eclipse was
circular.
What is it
• Aristotle (around 340 B.C.)
included the following in
his argument supporting a
Spherical Earth:
What is it
• Position of the North star
• The shape of the moon and
the Sun
• Ships disappearing over the
horizon
What is it
• How did the ancient
Greeks come up with the
measurement of
spherical Earth?
What is it
• Eratosthenes measured the
Earth’s circumference with a
stick, a knowledge of the
distance from Alexandria to
Syene and geometry
What is it
• Eratosthenes measured the
Earth’s circumference with a
stick, a knowledge of the
distance from Alexandria to
Syene and geometry
What is it
• The angle of a shadow casted by a stick at noon on the
summer solstice in Alexandria was about 7.2 degrees
(1/50 of a complete circle)
• Distance of Alexandria to Syene is 500 miles
• He computed the circumference of the Earth to be
approximately 40,000 kilometers
Greek Astronomers
•Anaxagoras
explained the causes
of the phases of the
moon
Greek Astronomers
• Aristarchus proposed
that the Sun was the
center of the universe
(Heliocentric)
Greek Astronomers
• Hipparchus made a
compilation of 850 stars
and developed a method
of predicting lunar
eclipses.
Greek Astronomers
• Claudius Ptolemy proposed
the geocentric model
(Ptolemic system)that says the
Sun, moon and other planets
move in circular orbits around
the Earth.
Astronomical Phenomena Before the
Advent of Telescopes
Rising and Setting of the Sun

• Babylonian and
Egyptians used a
gnomon in systematically
observing the motion of
the sun.
Rising and Setting of the Sun

•Gnomon in
primitive version
of a sundial.
Phases of the Moon
Lunar Eclipse
Solar Eclipse
Difference between Lunar and Solar
Eclipses
•Motion passes
LUNAR BOTH SOLAR
through the Earth’s •Sun’s light is
• Occurs
Shadow blocked by the
•Happens during when one moon
space object •Happens
a full moon
moves into during a new moon
•Occurs about
the •Occurs about twice every
twice every one (1)
year shadow of three (3) years
•Lasts for about another •Lasts for a few
minutes
an hour
DAILY and ANNUAL MOTION OF
STARS
• DIURNAL MOTION is
the daily motion of the
sun, moon, stars and
planets that appear to
move across the sky.
DAILY and ANNUAL MOTION OF
STARS
• ANNUAL MOTION is
the apparent yearly
movement of stars as a
direct effect of the Earth’s
revolution around the sun
DAILY and ANNUAL MOTION OF
STARS
• PRECESSION of the
equinoxes refers to the
observable phenomena of the
rotation of the heavens which
spans a period of 25,920
years.
Planets discovered before the telescopes

• Mercury, Venus, Mars,

Jupiter and Saturn are
the planets discovered
before the invention of the
telescope.
MODERN ASTRONOMY

• Tycho Brahe was a Danish

astronomer and nobleman who
made accurate observations of
the movement of celestial
bodies.
MODERN ASTRONOMY

•Brahe and Kepler

had an unsteady
working relationship
 KEPLER’S LAW OF
PLANETARY MOTION
  They were derived by the
German astronomer
Johannes Kepler, whose
analysis of the observations of
the 16th-century Danish
astronomer Tycho Brahe
enabled him to announce his
first two laws in the year 1609
and a third law nearly a decade
later, in 1618.
3 LAWS OF PLANETARY
MOTION
1. The Law of Ellipses
- The path of the planets about
the sun is elliptical in shape,
with the center of the sun being
located at one focus.
 2. The Law of Equal
3 LAWS OF Areas - The path of the planets about
PLANETARY the sun is elliptical in shape, with the
MOTION center of the sun being located at one
focus.
3 LAWS OF PLANETARY
MOTION
3. The Law of
Harmonies
- The ratio of the squares of the
periods of any two planets is equal
to the ratio of the cubes of their
average distances from the sun.