INTRODUCTORY

COSMOLOGY
Lesson 1: 4th Quarter
01
ANCIENT GREEK
VIEW OF THE
COSMOS
COSMOLOGY
is the branch of astronomy involving
the origin and evolution of the
universe. According to NASA, the
definition of cosmology is “the
scientific study of the large-scale
properties of the universe as a whole”.
IONIAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
● founded by Thales of Miletus
attempted to ask questions about
the universe and answered them
through reason, observation and
application of geometry
● ideas of Thales were refined by
Anaximander when he proposed
that a cylindrical earth is at rest in
the center of the universe,
surrounded by air, and by one or
more spherical shells with holes in
them
Ionian SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY

● Anaximenes suggested that the stars were

fixed onto a solid transparent crystalline sphere
that rotated about the earth.
● Anaxagoras stated that the moon shine by
reflected sunlight had mountains and was
inhabited and the sun was not a god but a
large fiery stone much larger than Greece and a
large distance from earth
● Empedocles said that light travel fast but not
at infinite speed.
● Democritus proposed that the Milky Way was
composed of thousands of unresolved stars.
OTHER GREEK VIEWS ABOUT THE EARTH & UNIVERSE
● Phythagoras (570-495 BC) the universe in
mathematical – mathematics is the best
way to express truth about the Universe
(Sun, Moon, Earth are spherical, Earth is
the center of the Universe)
● Plato (427-347 BC) viewed the universe
as perfect and unchanging; perceived on
the attainment of perfection as absence
of change mathematical symmetries to
demonstrate perfect shapes (sphere and
circle), celestial spheres being crystalline
and containing the Moon, sun and stars
THREE TYPES OF TERRESTRIAL MOTION

DIURNAL MOTION ANNUAL MOTION PRECESSION OF

THE EQUINOXES
DIURNAL MOTION
● the apparent daily motion of the sky from east to west in which celestial
objects are seen to rise and set
● a result of the earth’s rotation on the axis from west to east
● it refers to the apparent movement of stars and other celestial bodies
around Earth
● the circular path that the celestial bodies take to complete the diurnal
motion is called diurnal circle
● If you observe the night sky, the stars seem to move in a counter-clockwise
direction (from east to west) with respect to Polaris or North Star.
● Similarly, the apparent daily motion of the sun, which is the closest star to
Earth, is counter-clockwise. You can observe that the sun rises in the east
and sets in the west.
ANNUAL MOTION
● carries the sun eastward in the sky over the course of an entire
year
● is the apparent yearly movement of the stars as observed from
Earth as a direct effect of the Earth’s revolution around the
sun
● The sun revolves 360 degrees a year around a path on the
celestial sphere called the ecliptic.
● brings new constellation as the year progresses
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES
● is the apparent motion of the equinoxes
along the ecliptic as Earth ‘wobbles,’ and
this motion happens about every 26 000
years, which is due to the gravitational pull
of both Sun and Moon on the planet
● At present, Earth’s North Pole points to
Polaris. However, it will eventually point to
another star, Vega, because of precession.
● Celestial poles are the two imaginary points
in the sky where the Earth’s axis of rotation
intersects the celestial sphere.
SPHERICAL EARTH
● various shapes were used to describe the Earth during the early times. It
was only during the time of Pythagoras that it was first thought of to be
spherical in shape
● “Perfect Heavens”: Sphere is considered the perfect geometric shape and
the Greeks believed that the most important objects in the universe –
Earth and the universe according to Plato – are appropriately described as
spherical.
SPHERICAL EARTH
● The following widely accepted
observations supported this notion:
● When ships sail in and out from the
harbor, the mast of the ship is the
first to appear and last to
disappear.
● As you travel north or south, the
altitude of the celestial pole
changes.
● During a lunar eclipse, the shadow
of Earth is always round, a shadow
that only a sphere can produce
MODELS OF THE
UNIVERSE
Geocentric – Earth is the center of the universe
● Thales of Miletus – asserted that the Earth is flat like a disk
● Anaximander of Miletus – asserted that the earth is shaped like a cylinder
● Pythagoras of Samos – alluded to a spherical earth though with some
ambiguity
● Claudius Ptolemy – most famous supporter of the geocentric model; equant
– a point placed directly opposite to earth from the deferent’s center
● Anaxagoras of Clazomenae – determined the positions of the sun, moon,
and Earth during solar and lunar eclipses
● Plato – “Saving the Appearances” – a challenge to explain the irregular
motion of the heavenly bodies which are perfect
● Aristotle – added the sphere of the “prime mover”
● Hipparchus of Nicaea – put the earth slightly off-centered in his model
Heliocentric – the Sun is the center of the Universe
● Philolaus of Croton – pyrocentricity – a great “central fire” is at the middle of
the universe
● Aristarchus of Samos – considered to be the founder of heliocentricity
● Nicolaus Copernicus – a renaissance-era mathematician and philosopher who
formulated the heliocentric model 18 centuries after aristarchus
● Tycho Brahe – attempted to combine the Copernican model with the benefits
of the ptolemaic system using his own: the Tychonic Model
● Galileo Galilei – the first person to use the telescope for scientific
observation; a strong supporter of heliocentricity despite persecution by the
catholic church
● Johannes Kepler – adopted Copernicus’ heliocentric approach and developed
three laws which explain the motion of the planets around the sun
EUDOXUS (408-355 BC)
● The model used three concentric
spheres arranged in such a way that
a planet attached to one of the
spheres, travels around a common
center making periodic retrograde
motions.
● He believed that the Sun, moon, and
five known planets and the stars
were attached to these spheres
which carried the heavenly bodies
while they revolved around the
stationary Earth.
Aristotle (384-322 BC)

● The spherical earth was

at the center of the
universe where the sun,
moon, and planets all
revolve around it.
Aristarchus (240 BC)

● The sun which is much bigger

than the earth is at the center of
the universe. All the planets
orbit the sun along circular
paths. The moon orbits the earth
which in turn spins on its axis.
Ptolemy (AD 140)
● All celestial objects including the
planets, sun, moon, and stars orbited in
epicycles around. the stationary earth
which is at the center. The deferent is
the circular path that point x takes
around the center of motion, C, which is
not the same point as the location of
the earth. The offset is called the
eccentric. Different planets have
different eccentrics, deferents and
epicycles.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1433-1542)

● The sun is at rest at the

center of the universe and
all other heavenly bodies
revolve around it in circular
paths.
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)

● Earth is at the center of the

universe with the sun and
the moon orbiting it. The
other planets are orbiting
the sun in the system.
JOHANNES KEPLER
AND THE LAWS OF
PLANETARY MOTION
Johannes kepler
● originally believed in the
Copernican system
● developed Three laws which
explain the motion of the planets
around The Sun.
● Kepler was able to summarize
the carefully collected data of his
mentor - Tycho Brahe - with three
statements that described the
motion of planets in a sun-
centered solar system.
LAW OF ELLIPSES

● “all planets move in

elliptical orbits with the
Sun as one of the focal
points”
LAW OF EQUAL AREAS
● “a line joining the Sun and a planet
sweeps out equal areas at equal
length of time”
● The speed at which any planet moves
through space is constantly changing.
A planet moves fastest when it is
closest to the sun and slowest when it
is furthest from the sun. Nonetheless,
the imaginary line joining the center
of the planet to the center of the sun
sweeps out the same amount of area
in each equal interval of time.
LAW OF PERIODS

● The square of the period of

revolution (time for one
complete orbit) of a planet
around the Sun is
proportional to the cube of
the average distance of the
planet from the Sun.
In summary, Kepler’s law of planetary motion show…

1. Orbits of the planets are elliptical

2. Planets move faster when closer to the sun and
slower when further from the sun
3. The period for a planet to orbit the sun increases
rapidly with the radius of the orbit
Thanks for Listening!
Any questions?