Corsci 2

Physical science

Submitted to:
Mrs. Ma Theresa s. abaya
Submitted by:
Andrea Jessica j. de jesus

March 13, 2020

Three Types of Terrestrial Motion

 DIURNAL MOTION
Diurnal motion is the daily
motion of stars and
other celestial bodies across the
sky. This motion is due to the
Earth’s rotation from west to
east, which causes celestial
bodies to have an apparent
motion from east to west. A long-
exposure photograph of the night
sky shows the diurnal motion as
star trails – circular orbits (or
arcs) centred on the north and
south celestial poles.

 Annual Motion
Annual motion 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. The sun
 moves eastward with respect to the stars on the
celestial sphere.

 Precession of the Equinoxes

The precession of the equinoxes refers to the

observable
phenomena of the
rotation of the
heavens, a cycle
which spans a
period of
(approximately)
25,920 years, over
which time the
constellations
appear to slowly
rotate around the
earth, taking turns at
rising behind the
rising sun on the
vernal equinox.
 
Models of the Universe
A geocentric universe
1. Exodus and a geocentric universe
The ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras
suggested that the Earth is spherical in about 500 BCE,
and this was accepted by most ancient Greek
philosophers at the time. Exodus of Cnidus, a student of
 ancient Greek philosopher Plato presented the first
mathematical theory of the universe about a hundred
years later.
Exodus model placed a spherical Earth at the centre of
the universe. The Sun, planets, and stars were then
placed in giant transparent spheres surrounding it. A
model of the universe that has the Earth at the centre is
known as a geocentric model of the universe.

2. Aristotle and a finite, eternal, and geocentric

universe
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle extended
Eudoxus’ model of the universe in the 4th century
all orbiting the Earth inside of Eudoxus’ spheres. Aristotle
believed the universe is finite in space but exists eternally in
time.
Aristotle believed that space is fundamentally different
from the Earth because he thought that objects in space
are unchanging and move in perfect circles, which he
considered to be the perfect shape. In contrast to this, the
Earth is imperfect and constantly changing. Aristotle
thought that comets must exist inside of the Earth’s
sphere, as it was obvious that they didn’t move in perfect
circles.

1. Aristarchus and the distance to the Sun and

Moon

Aristarchus attempted to calculate the relative distance

between the Earth and the Sun in the 3rd century BCE.
He did this by measuring the angle between the Moon and
the Sun during a half moon and using trigonometry.
Aristarchus concluded that the Sun is about 20 times
 further away than the Moon and must be about 20 times
larger. This is because the Moon and Sun appear to be
the same size. This is most evident during solar eclipses
when the Moon blocks out the Sun completely. We now
know that the Sun is almost 400 times further away than
the Moon and it is about 400 hundred times larger.
Ptolemy and epicycles
Ptolemy developed Aristotle’s geocentric theory of
the universe in about 150 CE. Ptolemy knew that
the planets don’t appear to orbit in perfect circles
around the Earth. Some planets, like Mars, even
appear to move backwards before moving
forwards again in large loops. Ptolemy suggested
that planets like Mars move in circles as they orbit
the Earth, where the circles are called epicycles.

A heliocentric universe

Copernicus and a heliocentric universe

The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus reintroduced the
idea of a heliocentric universe in On the Revolutions of the
Celestial Spheres, first published in 1543. Like Ptolemy,
Copernicus believed that the planets only travel in perfect
circles, and so his heliocentric model needed a similar
amount of epicycles to explain their observed motions. The
Catholic Church would not have accepted a realist
heliocentric model, and so Copernicus presented his idea
as a mathematical model. It provided an easier
mathematical system for calculating where planets would
be, but it was not to be taken literally.
Tycho and a changing universe
The Danish astronomer tycho brahe made some of the most
accurate ever observations with the naked eye in the late 16 th
century. He disproved aristotle’s concept of an unchanging
universe when he saw a new star in the constellation of
Cassiopeia in 1572. This was later identified as a supernova.
Tycho also proved that aristotle’s transparent spheres do not
exist by showing that comets would have to travel through
them.

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

Tycho’s student, German astronomer Johannes Kepler, first

extended Aristotle’s theory of spheres by arguing that they
are separated by five polyhedrons. Polyhedrons are three-
dimensional objects with sides that are all the same shape,
like a cube, or a pyramid made of equilateral triangles. All of
these shapes can be placed inside of a sphere so that the
edges just touch the surface.

"Save the Appearances"
When Plato speaks of "saving the appearances" he means to
understand our perceptions of reality by somehow
transforming it into what we know to be true without violating
any known principles. So the job of the philosopher is
to save the appearances by logically connecting reality with
truth. Before he posed his question, Plato first cited his
observations about the stars and the planets. He explained
that the stars appear to move around the earth in a 'perfect'
path. However, he described that some of the ‘stars’ appear
to 'wander' across the sky, giving irregular figures throughout
the year. He accounted the 'wandering stars' as planets and
that they move in a uniform and orderly manner in circles or
in combinations of circles. Finally, he asked his students on
how can they explain all these observations about the
planetary motion and ‘save the appearances’ (in today's term,
'fit the observations with the data').
He posed the question because the observations about the
planetary motion and the apparent motions of the planets did
not seem to coincide with each other. Given that the planets
move in a perfect path or in a uniform circular motion, there
were still apparent irregular motions of the planets or planets
that still 'wander' across the sky.
References

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/D/Diurnal+Motion

http://www.astronomy.ohiostate.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit2/motions.ht
ml

http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/precession.htm

http://www.thestargarden.co.uk/Heliocentric-models-of-the-Solar-
System.html

https://www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/instruct/natsci/science/brill/sci122/Pr
ograms/p7/p7.html