Chapter 2: The Rise of Astronomy

8/29/21
Our understanding of the Universe has been assembled bit by bit from many separate discoveries—
discoveries made by scientists from many parts of the world, at many times in the past, and in many
disciplines. How those discoveries led to our current knowledge is the subject of this chapter.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Astronomy 8/29/21
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this chapter you should be able to:
Explain the different lines of simple observational evidence that prove Earth is round.
Carry out the kind of calculation that Eratosthenes used to measure the size of Earth. Show how the
relative distances and sizes of the Moon and Sun can be estimated from basic observations.
Explain why ancient astronomers thought Earth was at the center of the Universe, and describe what they
thought planets were and how they explained planets’ motions.
Explain Copernicus’s arguments that Earth is a planet orbiting the Sun, and explain how his reasoning
accounts for planets’ retrograde motion.
Describe the characteristics of planetary orbits discovered by Kepler as given by his three laws. Calculate
the period of a planet’s orbit from its semimajor axis, or calculate its semimajor axis from its period.
Describe Galileo’s telescopic observations, and discuss why these were so upsetting to ancient beliefs
about the nature of the Universe.
Describe the general trends in the development of astrophysics in the centuries after Kepler and Galileo.
Page 37
Our understanding of the Universe has been assembled bit by bit from many separate discoveries—
discoveries made by scientists from many parts of the world, at many times in the past, and in many
disciplines. How those discoveries led to our current knowledge is the subject of this chapter.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Astronomy 8/29/21
Much of what we know about the Universe can be shown by carrying out simple observations and making
a few logical deductions. For example, by observing the shape of Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, it
is possible to deduce the shape of Earth and its size relative to the Moon. This was understood by ancient
Greek philosophers more than 2000 years ago. It is only a myth that Earth was widely thought to be flat
until recent times.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Astronomy 8/29/21
Astronomers of classical times determined a remarkable amount about the Moon, Sun, Earth, and stars.
However, they struggled to understand the motions of the planets. The puzzling motions of these objects
in the sky finally forced humans to consider the possibility that they did not live at the center of the
Universe. This revolution of thinking during the Renaissance led to the development of new mathematical
and scientific ideas and the birth of astrophysics.
Chapter 2: The Rise of Astronomy 8/29/21
The astronomical phenomena that we discussed in chapter 1 (the rising and setting of Sun,
Moon, and stars; the constellations; annual motion of the Sun; phases of the Moon and eclipses) were the
basis of ancient knowledge of the heavens. With these observations, we can now describe people’s early
attempts to explain the heavens. We will see that some of their conclusions were incorrect, just as we
today are probably in error about some aspects of modern astronomy. We study ancient ideas of the
heavens not so much for what they tell us about the heavens but to learn how observation and reasoning
can lead us to an understanding of the Universe.
2.1: Early Ideas of the Heavens: Classical Astronomy 8/29/21

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The ancient Greek astronomers of classical times were some of the first to try to explain the workings of
the heavens in a careful, systematic manner, using observations and models. Given the limitations of
naked-eye observation, these astronomers were extraordinarily successful, and their use of logic,
mathematics, and geometry as tools of inquiry created a method for studying the world around us that we
continue to use even today. This method is in many ways as important as the discoveries themselves.
2.1: Early Ideas of the Heavens: Classical Astronomy 8/29/21
Earth’s Shape
The ancient Greeks knew that Earth is round. As long ago as about 500 b.c ., the mathematician
Pythagoras (about 560–480 b.c. ) was teaching that Earth is spherical, but the reason for his belief was as
much mystical as rational. He, like many of the ancient philosophers, believed that the sphere was the
perfect shape and that the gods would therefore have utilized that perfect form in the creation of Earth.
By the fourth century b.c. , however, Aristotle (384–322 b.c. ) was presenting arguments for Earth’s
spherical shape that were based on simple naked-eye observations that anyone could make. Such reliance
on careful, firsthand observation was the first step toward acquiring scientifically valid knowledge of the
contents and workings Page 38 of the Universe. For instance, Aristotle noted that if you look at a lunar
eclipse, when Earth’s shadow falls upon the Moon, the shadow can be clearly seen as curved, as figure
2.1A shows. He wrote in his treatise “On the Heavens”:
The shapes that the Moon itself each month shows are of every kind—straight, gibbous, and concave—
but in eclipses the outline is always curved: and, since it is the interposition of Earth that makes the
eclipse, the form of this line will be caused by the form of Earth’s surface, which is therefore spherical.
Figure 2.1 (A) A sequence of photographs during a lunar eclipse. The edge of Earth’s shadow on the
Moon is always a portion of a circle, showing that Earth must be round. (B) As a traveler moves from
north to south on Earth, different stars become visible. Some stars that were previously hidden become
visible above the southern horizon. This variation would not occur on a flat Earth.
a: ©Stephan Hoerold/Getty Images; Arrangement by S. E. Schneider What’s
Over the Horizon?
Another of Aristotle’s arguments that Earth is spherical was based on the observation that a traveler who
moves south will see stars that were previously hidden below the southern horizon, as illustrated in figure
2.1B . For example, the bright star Canopus is easily seen in Miami but is invisible in Boston. This could
not happen on a flat Earth.
It was also observed that as ships sailed away from port, the lower parts of the ships would disappear
below the horizon while the sails remained visible. Today you can see this phenomenon moving away
from a city on the ocean: the bottoms of skyscrapers disappear below the horizon, while the tops remain
visible ( fig. 2.2 ). If the surface of the ocean were flat, the bottom of a building (or a ship) would remain
visible at any distance. Therefore, the surface of the ocean must be curved.
2.1: Early Ideas of the Heavens: Classical Astronomy 8/29/21
2.1 E arly I deas of the H eavens : C lassical A stronomy
The ancient Greek astronomers of classical times were some of the first to try to explain the workings of
the heavens in a careful, systematic manner, using observations and models. Given the limitations of
naked-eye observation, these astronomers were extraordinarily successful, and their use of logic,
mathematics, and geometry as tools of inquiry created a method for studying the world around us that we
continue to use even today. This method is in many ways as important as the discoveries themselves.
Earth’s Shape
The ancient Greeks knew that Earth is round. As long ago as about 500 b.c ., the mathematician
Pythagoras (about 560–480 b.c. ) was teaching that Earth is spherical, but the reason for his belief was as

2 of 10 8/29/21
much mystical as rational. He, like many of the ancient philosophers, believed that the sphere was the
perfect shape and that the gods would therefore have utilized that perfect form in the creation of Earth.
By the fourth century b.c. , however, Aristotle (384–322 b.c. ) was presenting arguments for Earth’s
spherical shape that were based on simple naked-eye observations that anyone could make. Such reliance
on careful, firsthand observation was the first step toward acquiring scientifically valid knowledge of the
contents and workings Page 38 of the Universe. For instance, Aristotle noted that if you look at a lunar
eclipse, when Earth’s shadow falls upon the Moon, the shadow can be clearly seen as curved, as figure
2.1A shows. He wrote in his treatise “On the Heavens”:
The shapes that the Moon itself each month shows are of every kind—straight, gibbous, and concave—
but in eclipses the outline is always curved: and, since it is the interposition of E...
..., imagine we are at the center of a circle passing through the object, as illustrated in figure 2.10 . Let ℓ
be the diameter of the body and d the distance to the body, which is the radius of the circle in the figure.
Next draw lines from the center to each end of ℓ ; the angle between the lines is α , the object’s angular
diameter.
Figure 2.10 How to determine linear size from angular size.
We now determine the object’s true size, ℓ , by forming the following proportion: ℓ is to the
circumference of the circle as α is to the total number of degrees around the circle, which is 360°. Thus,
Object ’ s diameter Circumference = Angle between lines 360 ° ℓ Circumference = α 360 ° We know
from geometry that the circle’s circumference is 2 π d (note that d here is the radius of the circle), so ℓ
2 π d = α 360 °
Multiplying both sides of the equation by (360° d / α ), we can now solve for d , and find that d = 360
°ℓ2πα
Thus, given a body’s actual and angular diameters, we can calculate its distance. For example, suppose we
apply this method to measure the Moon’s distance from the ancient Greek measurements. We stated
previously that the Moon’s angular diameter is about 1/2°, while its diameter is 0.27 Earth’s, or about
2100 miles . Therefore, its distance is about d = ( 360 ° ) ( 2100 miles ) 2 π ( 0.5 ° ) = about 240,000
miles or about 380,000 kilometers .
We can work another example to find a diameter from a distance. We know the angular diameter of the
Sun is also about 1/2°, and the Sun’s distance is today known to be about 150 million kilometers. The
Sun’s diameter must therefore be
ℓ = 2 π d α 360 ° = 2 π ( 150,000,000 km) ( 0.5 ° ) 360 ° = about 1,300,000 km The Sun
is more than a million kilometers across!
2.2: The Planets 8/29/21
2.2 T he P lanets
Many ancient cultures noted that there are five bright “stars” visible in the night sky that do not stay fixed
relative to the rest of the stars in the sky. The Greeks called them plane t ai, meaning “wanderers,” from
which our word planet comes.
The Wandering Stars
Because these wandering stars seemed to have a will of their own, many cultures named the planets after
divine beings. The names we use for them today come from Greco-Roman mythology. Mercury, named
for the fleet-footed messenger god, is seen always near the Sun, switching back and forth between the
evening and morning skies half a dozen times each year. Venus, named for the goddess of love and
beauty, spends about 9 months as the brightest star gracing the evening sky, then 9 months in the predawn
sky, then back again. Mars is probably named for the god of war because of its blood-red color. Jupiter,
named for the king of the gods, shines steadily as one of the brightest stars, moving at a stately pace

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among the stars. Saturn, usually the faintest and slowest-moving of the planets, was Jupiter’s father in
mythology, cast into the deepest recesses when his son overthrew him.
Mercury and Venus as morning and evening stars
Today we know that the planets move across the background stars because of a combination of Earth’s
and their own orbital motion around the Sun. One of the more striking features of this motion is that the
planets always remain close to the ecliptic, within the constellations of the zodiac. The motion of the
planets lies in the same narrow zone as the Sun because their orbits, like that of Earth, all lie in nearly the
same plane, as illustrated in figure 2.11 . Thus, like the path of the Sun through the stars, the paths of t...
...he southern edge of the Mediterranean from about 700 to 1200. Islamic scholars preserved, studied, and
expanded upon ancient texts while most of Europe struggled through the Middle Ages.
Islamic civilization, like so many others, relied on celestial phenomena to set its religious calendar, and
Islamic astronomers made many detailed studies of the sky and the motions of Sun, Moon, and planets.
Islam’s influence is very evident in astronomy through Arabic words such as zenith and the names of
nearly all the bright stars—Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, and so on. In addition, Islamic scholars revolutionized
mathematical techniques through innovations such as algebra (another Arabic word) and Arabic numerals.
Asian Astronomy
The early people of Asia, like their contemporaries to the west, studied the heavens. They too devised
constellations, but based on their own mythologies, and they too made maps of the sky. Although the
ancient astronomers of East Asia did not devise elaborate geometric models of the heavens, their careful
observations of celestial events nevertheless prove useful to astronomers even today. For example,
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean astronomers kept detailed records of unusual celestial events, such as
eclipses, comets, and exploding stars.
Based on their records, Chinese astronomers devised ways to predict eclipses. They even noted dark spots
on the Sun (sunspots) that they could occasionally see with the naked eye when the Sun was low in the
sky and its glare was dimmed by dust or haze. These records have allowed astronomers to discover
ancient patterns of variation in the Sun’s behavior. Their records of exploding stars also allow today’s
astronomers to determine the dates of many of these celestial outbursts.
2.3: Astronomy in the Renaissance 8/29/21
The person who began the demolition of the geocentric model and the revolution in astronomical ideas
that continues to this day was a Polish physician and lawyer by the name of Nicolaus Copernicus ( fig.
2.16 ). During the early 1500s Copernicus made many attempts to reconcile Ptolemy’s geocentric model
with the centuries of data on planetary positions that had been collected, but all such attempts failed.
Thus, he was led to reconsider Aristarchus’s ancient idea that Earth moves around the Sun. Figure 2.16
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
©Imagno/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A heliocentric model in which the Sun ( helios, in Greek) is the center of the planets’ motion had been
proposed nearly 2000 years earlier by Aristarchus, but it had been rejected partly because the
observational tools available at that time were inadequate to detect stellar parallax. Nevertheless, such a
model offers an enormously simpler explanation of retrograde motion. In fact, if the planets orbit the Sun,
retrograde motion becomes a simple consequence of one planet overtaking and passing another, as
Copernicus showed.
To see why retrograde motion occurs, examine figure 2.17 . Here we see Earth and Mars moving around
the Sun. Earth completes its orbit around the Sun in 1 year, whereas Mars takes 1.88 years to complete an
orbit, with Earth overtaking and passing Mars every 780 days . If we draw lines from Earth through Mars,
we see that Mars appears to change its direction of motion against the background stars as Earth overtakes
and passes it. A similar phenomenon occurs when you drive on a highway and pass a slower car. Both

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cars are moving in the same direction, but as you pass the slower car, it looks as if it shifts backward
relative to stati...
...pler’s third law evolved from his attempts to link planetary motion to music, using the mathematical
relations known to exist between different notes of the musical scale. Kepler even attempted to compose
“music of the spheres” based upon such a supposed link. Nevertheless, despite such excursions into these
nonastronomical matters, Kepler’s discoveries remain the foundation for our understanding of how
planets move. The work of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler was the pinnacle of pre-telescopic
astronomy. However, even as Kepler was developing his geometric and mathematical laws describing the
motion of the planets, the nature of astronomy was about to change dramatically.
Astronomy by the numbers
Using Kepler’s Third Law for Orbit Calculations
Kepler’s third law can be used to calculate the period or size of orbits around the Sun. Here are two
examples:
Example 1 – The period of Pluto’s orbit. To find how long Pluto takes to orbit, we use its distance from
the Sun, which is about 39.5 AU . Putting this into Kepler’s third law, we have P 2 = a 3 = 39.5 3 = 61630.
Taking the square root of both sides, we have P =
61630 = 248 yrs .
So, since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has completed only about 1/3rd of an orbit.
Example 2 – Asteroids in resonance with Jupiter. An asteroid with an orbital period half as long as
Jupiter’s ( 11.86 years ) will suffer repeated gravitational deflections that might send it into a collision
course with Earth. At what distance would such an asteroid orbit? Using Kepler’s third law, we solve for
the semimajor axis of an orbit with P = 5.93 years. We set a 3 = P 2 = 5.93 3 = 35.2. Taking the cube
root of each side a =
35.2 3 = 3.28.
So these dangerous asteroids orbit at 3.28 AU ( chapter 11 ).
2.4: The Birth of Astrophysics 8/29/21
2.4 T he B irth of A strophysics Galileo
Galilei
At about the same time that Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler were striving to understand the motion of
heavenly bodies, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei ( fig. 2.25 ) was also trying to understand the heavens.
However, his approach was entirely different.
Figure 2.25 Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Source: Le opere di Galileo Galilei: Opere astronomiche. 1842-1853
Galileo was interested not just in celestial motion but in all aspects of motion. He studied falling bodies
and swinging weights hung on strings, and tried to find universal laws of motion. In addition, he used the
newly invented telescope to study astronomical objects. Galileo did not invent the telescope himself. That
invention seems to have been the work of the Dutch spectacle-maker Johannes (Hans) Lippershey.
However, Galileo was the first person we know of who used the telescope to study the heavens and
published his interpretations of his findings. * His book Starry Messenger was published in 1610. What he
found was astonishing.
In looking at the Moon ( fig. 2.26A ), Galileo saw that its surface had mountains and was in that sense
similar to the surface of the Earth. Therefore, he concluded that the Moon was not some mysterious
ethereal body but a ball of rock. He looked (without taking adequate precaution) at the Sun and saw dark
spots (now known as sunspots) on its surface. He noticed that the position of the spots changed from day
to day, showing not only that the Sun had blemishes and was not a perfect celestial orb but that it also

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changed. Both these observations were in disagreement with previously held conceptions of the heavens
as perfect and unchangeable. In fact, by observing the changing positio...
... the Milky Way; others turned out to be external star systems similar to the Milky Way.
Figure 2.30 Sketches of nebulae as seen by Sir John Herschel in the early 1800s.
©Science Museum/SSPL/Getty Images
Another important technological advance was the application of photography to astronomy, starting in the
middle of the nineteenth century. Photographic film gave astronomers permanent records of what they
saw, and because film could store light during long exposures, astronomers were now able to detect
objects much fainter than the eye could see in a single moment.
The scientific and technical advances described here have a direct bearing on astronomy, but scientific
discoveries often influence totally unconnected areas. For example, during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, many scientists were studying the nature of matter and heat. The study of heat was prompted, at
least in part, by a desire to improve the newly invented steam engine. Understanding the generation of
heat and energy in turn gave new insights into how stars work, but it also presented a mystery—stars were
generating far more power than could be explained by any known source of energy. This conundrum was
finally resolved with the discovery of nuclear energy in the twentieth century.
It was also not until the twentieth century that the discovery of a tiny discrepancy in the motion of
Mercury, as calculated using Newton’s work, showed scientists that Newton’s laws were not the last word
on planetary motion. His descriptions of motion require modification if we are to correctly describe
motion at high speeds or where gravitational fields are very intense. These modifications are incorporated
in Einstein’s theories of relativity, described in essay 2 .
Chapter 2 Review 8/29/21
Summary
Ancient peoples noted the basic patterns of the night sky, but the Greeks appear to have been the first to
give explanations of planetary motion based on a combination of observations and geometric analysis.
The Greeks pictured the planets, Sun, and Moon all orbiting Earth on crystalline spheres.
Through the work of Aristotle and Eratosthenes, respectively, the Greeks determined the shape and size of
Earth. Aristarchus measured the relative size and distance of the Moon and Sun and about 300 b.c.
proposed that Earth orbited the Sun. However, his model was rejected because the expected shift in star
positions (parallax) was undetectable at that time.
Planets look like bright stars that move with respect to the constellations, but always within the narrow
band of the zodiac, like the Sun and the Moon. The usual direction of planetary motion is from west to
east with respect to the stars, also like the Sun and the Moon. However, during several months of each
orbit, planets shifts in the other direction, undergoing apparent retrograde motion.
Based on earlier Greek models, Ptolemy (about a.d. 150) developed a complex model of planetary
motion with Earth at the center (geocentric) and with retrograde motion explained by planets moving on
epicycles. This model was widely used for more than a millennium. Belief in the geocentric model
began to crumble in the 1500s with Copernicus’s revival of the heliocentric model. Better observations
by Tycho Brahe and detailed mathematical models by Kepler based on those observations placed the
heliocentric model on a firmer basis. Galileo’s observations with the recently invented telescope helped
prove the heliocentric model. Newton’s discovery in the 1600s of the law of gravity and...
...s
16 years
( 2.3 ) Kepler’s third law Answer relates a planet’s orbital period to the size
of its orbit around the Sun. relates a body’s mass to its gravitational
attraction.

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allowed him to predict when eclipses would occur. allowed him
to measure the distance to nearby stars. showed that the Sun is
much farther away than the Moon.
( 2.4 ) Galileo used his observations of the changing phases of Venus to demonstrate that
Answer the Sun moves around
Earth. the Universe is infinite in
size.
Earth is a sphere.
the Moon orbits Earth.
Venus orbits the Sun.
( 2.4 ) A major objection to the heliocentric model not resolved until the development of highquality
telescopes was that Answer the speed of light had been thought to be infinite. the Moon was believed
to shine by its own light, not reflected light from the Sun. the stars did not exhibit parallax.
Jupiter did not show a crescent phase.
Earth’s gravitational pull was originally estimated to be stronger than the Sun’s.
Key Terms
angular size , 2.1 ellipse ,
2.3 epicycle , 2.2 focus ,
2.3 geocentric model ,
2.2 heliocentric model ,
2.3 Kepler’s three laws ,
2.3 Moon illusion , 2.1
parallax , 2.1 period , 2.3
retrograde motion , 2.2
satellite , 2.4 semimajor
axis , 2.3 Figure Question
Answers
What Is This? (chapter opening): Photograph of a partial lunar eclipse. The person in the photo is holding
up a hoop, which has about the same angular diameter as the shadow of Earth as seen by the
photographer. Early astronomers recognized that the shape of Earth’s shadow is always part of a circle, so
they realized that Earth must be spherical.
Figure 2.13: Mars appears to move backward when Earth is passing it at the same time as Earth is closest
to Mars, so Mars appears its brightest.
Chapter 2 Review 8/29/21
Summary
Ancient peoples noted the basic patterns of the night sky, but the Greeks appear to have been the first to
give explanations of planetary motion based on a combination of observations and geometric analysis.
The Greeks pictured the planets, Sun, and Moon all orbiting Earth on crystalline spheres.
Through the work of Aristotle and Eratosthenes, respectively, the Greeks determined the shape and size of
Earth. Aristarchus measured the relative size and distance of the Moon and Sun and about 300 b.c.
proposed that Earth orbited the Sun. However, his model was rejected because the expected shift in star
positions (parallax) was undetectable at that time.
Planets look like bright stars that move with respect to the constellations, but always within the narrow
band of the zodiac, like the Sun and the Moon. The usual direction of planetary motion is from west to
east with respect to the stars, also like the Sun and the Moon. However, during several months of each
orbit, planets shifts in the other direction, undergoing apparent retrograde motion.

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Based on earlier Greek models, Ptolemy (about a.d. 150) developed a complex model of planetary
motion with Earth at the center (geocentric) and with retrograde motion explained by planets moving on
epicycles. This model was widely used for more than a millennium. Belief in the geocentric model
began to crumble in the 1500s with Copernicus’s revival of the heliocentric model. Better observations
by Tycho Brahe and detailed mathematical models by Kepler based on those observations placed the
heliocentric model on a firmer basis. Galileo’s observations with the recently invented telescope helped
prove the heliocentric model. Newton’s discovery in the 1600s of the law of gravity and...
...s
16 years
( 2.3 ) Kepler’s third law Answer relates a planet’s orbital period to the size
of its orbit around the Sun. relates a body’s mass to its gravitational
attraction. allowed him to predict when eclipses would occur. allowed him
to measure the distance to nearby stars. showed that the Sun is much farther
away than the Moon.
( 2.4 ) Galileo used his observations of the changing phases of Venus to demonstrate that
Answer the Sun moves around
Earth. the Universe is infinite in
size.
Earth is a sphere.
the Moon orbits Earth.
Venus orbits the Sun.
( 2.4 ) A major objection to the heliocentric model not resolved until the development of highquality
telescopes was that Answer the speed of light had been thought to be infinite. the Moon was believed
to shine by its own light, not reflected light from the Sun. the stars did not exhibit parallax.
Jupiter did not show a crescent phase.
Earth’s gravitational pull was originally estimated to be stronger than the Sun’s.
Key Terms
angular size , 2.1 ellipse ,
2.3 epicycle , 2.2 focus ,
2.3 geocentric model ,
2.2 heliocentric model ,
2.3 Kepler’s three laws ,
2.3 Moon illusion , 2.1
parallax , 2.1 period , 2.3
retrograde motion , 2.2
satellite , 2.4 semimajor
axis , 2.3 Figure Question
Answers
What Is This? (chapter opening): Photograph of a partial lunar eclipse. The person in the photo is holding
up a hoop, which has about the same angular diameter as the shadow of Earth as seen by the
photographer. Early astronomers recognized that the shape of Earth’s shadow is always part of a circle, so
they realized that Earth must be spherical.
Figure 2.13: Mars appears to move backward when Earth is passing it at the same time as Earth is closest
to Mars, so Mars appears its brightest.
Chapter 2 Review 8/29/21

8 of 10 8/29/21
Ancient peoples noted the basic patterns of the night sky, but the Greeks appear to have been the first to
give explanations of planetary motion based on a combination of observations and geometric analysis.
The Greeks pictured the planets, Sun, an d Moon all orbiting Earth on crystalline spheres.
Through the work of Aristotle and Eratosthenes, respectively, the Greeks determined the shape and size of
Earth. Aristarchus measured the relative size and distance of the Moon and Sun and about 300 b.c.
proposed that Earth orbited the Sun. However, his model was rejected because the expected shift in star
positions (parallax) was undetectable at that time.
Planets look like bright stars that move with respect to the constellations, but always within the narrow
band of the zodiac, like the Sun and the Moon. The usual direction of planetary motion is from west to
east with respect to the stars, also like the Sun and the Moon. However, during several months of each
orbit, planets shifts in the other direction, undergoing apparent retrograde motion.
Based on earlier Greek models, Ptolemy (about a.d. 150) developed a complex model of planetary
motion with Earth at the center (geocentric) and with retrograde motion explained by planets moving on
epicycles. This model was widely used for more than a millennium. Belief in the geocentric model
began to crumble in the 1500s with Copernicus’s revival of the heliocentric model. Better observations
by Tycho Brahe and detailed mathematical models by Kepler based on those observations placed the
heliocentric model on a firmer basis. Galileo’s observations with the recently invented telescope helped
prove the heliocentric model. Newton’s discovery in the 1600s of the law of gravity and the la...
...erhead no matter where you are on Earth. ( 2.2 ) “Ockham’s razor” refers to Answer a device
used by the ancient Greeks to measure the angle between the Sun and planets. a metaphor for the
process of discriminating between models based on their simplicity. another term to describe the
heliocentric model.
a method used to execute heretics. a description
of retrograde motion of planets.
( 2.3 ) If an asteroid has an average distance from the Sun of 4 AU, what is its orbital period?
Answer
1 year
2 years
4 years
8 years
16 years
( 2.3 ) Kepler’s third law Answer relates a planet’s orbital period to the size
of its orbit around the Sun. relates a body’s mass to its gravitational
attraction. allowed him to predict when eclipses would occur. allowed him
to measure the distance to nearby stars. showed that the Sun is much farther
away than the Moon.
( 2.4 ) Galileo used his observations of the changing phases of Venus to demonstrate that
Answer the Sun moves around
Earth. the Universe is infinite in
size.
Earth is a sphere.
the Moon orbits Earth.
Venus orbits the Sun.
( 2.4 ) A major objection to the heliocentric model not resolved until the development of highquality
telescopes was that Answer the speed of light had been thought to be infinite. the Moon was believed
to shine by its own light, not reflected light from the Sun. the stars did not exhibit parallax.

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Jupiter did not show a crescent phase.
Earth’s gravitational pull was originally estimated to be stronger than the Sun’s.
Key Terms
angular size , 2.1 ellipse ,
2.3 epicycle , 2.2 focus ,
2.3 geocentric model ,
2.2 heliocentric model ,
2.3 Kepler’s three laws ,
2.3 Moon illusion , 2.1
parallax , 2.1 period , 2.3
retrograde motion , 2.2
satellite , 2.4 semimajor
axis , 2

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