ASTRONOMY

CHAPTER 1
OBSERVING THE SKY: THE BIRTH OF ASTRONOMY

The Sky Above

I. INTRODUCTION
Is the Earth flat or round? What are the pieces of evidence that prove this two-
contrasting idea and theory? Flat earth is a perception that Earth exists as a flat disk, either
in a circular or squared-shape (Baugh, 2023). However, this idea has been scientifically
discredited as it does not provide scientific evidence that will support the said conspiracy. On
the other hand, our home, Earth, is actually a sphere due to empirical evidence such as the
Earth’s curvature through satellites, lunar eclipses that show the Earth’s shadow is round,
the manner in which receding ships disappear and many more. It also implies to us that
Earth is the center of the cosmos and that the heavens revolve around it. Up until the
European Renaissance, practically everyone held to this geocentric viewpoint. Furthermore,
the geocentric perspective reinforced those philosophical and religious systems that taught
the unique role of human beings as the central focus of the cosmos. However, the
geocentric view happens to be wrong. One of the great themes of our intellectual history is
the overthrow of the geocentric perspective. In this module, you will learn about the cosmic
order, the motion of the stars, size of the Earth, and many more concepts and arguments
related to astronomy.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to:

a. Define the main features of the celestial sphere.

b. Explain the system astronomers use to describe the sky.
c. Describe how motions of the stars appear to us on Earth.
d. Describe how motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to us on Earth.
e. Determine the modern meaning of the term constellation.

II.PRE-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST
List down some astronomers you are familiar with and cite their significant contributions to
the understanding of astronomy.

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III.Learning Resources/Materials
Baugh, L. S. (2023). Flat Earth. Britannica. Retrieved from Flat Earth.
Franknoi, A., Morrison, D., & Wolff, S. (2017). Astronomy. Rice University.
Palen, S. (n.d.). physics.weber.edu/palen/Phys1040. Retrieved from Elementary Astronomy:
https://physics.weber.edu/palen/phsx1040/Lectures/Lnightsky.html
Encyclopedia, N. W. (n.d.). Celestial Sphere. Retrieved from
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Celestial_sphere
Holtzman, J. (2008). Motions in the Sky. Retrieved from New Mexico State University:
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/holtz/a110.fall08/a110notes/node2.html#:~:text=Stars%20appear%20to
%20travel%20in,on%20their%20latitude%20on%20Earth.
Institute, L. a. (2023). The Myths, the Magic and the Mysteries of the Universe. Retrieved from LPI
Learning: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/constellations/
The Celestial sphere is an
imaginary sphere with the earth at its center.
The sky overhead is the half of the sphere we
see from earth, appearing as a dome. The
other half of the sphere is below the circle of
the horizon. The zenith is the point directly
over your head. Celestial equator is the line
in the sky directly over the Earth's equator.
North celestial pole is the point in the sky
directly over the Earth's North pole while
south celestial pole is the point in the sky
directly over the Earth's South pole. Early
astronomers used celestial sphere to
Figure1-1 Circles on the Celestial Sphere

describe and project the position of

celestial objects in the sky in which Earth
is the center of this sphere. Watching the
sky turn like this night after night, you
might eventually get the idea that the
dome of the sky is really part of a great
sphere that is turning around you,
bringing different stars into view as it
turns. The early Greeks regarded the sky
Figure1-2 Zenith and Horizon of Celestial Sphere as just such a celestial sphere. However,
today, we know that it is not the celestial
sphere that turns as night and day proceed, but rather the planet on which we live. We can
put an imaginary stick through Earth’s North and South Poles, representing our planet’s axis.
It is because Earth turns on this axis every 24 hours that we see the Sun, Moon, and stars
rise and set with clockwork regularity. Today, we know that these celestial objects are not
really on a dome, but at greatly varying distances from us in space.

The rotation of the Earth from west to east on its axis causes all celestial objects
to appear to move around the sky once each day from east to west. The apparent motion of
a star to an observer which arises from the Earth's rotation depends on the location of the
observer on Earth, and the location of the star relative to Earth's rotation axis. Stars appear
to travel in circles around the celestial sphere. Objects near the poles travel in small circles;
far from the poles, they travel in large circles. The orientation of the circles as seen by

Figure1-3 Motion of the stars depending on the observer’s location

 observers depends on their latitude on Earth. Depending on your location, some stars are
visible all of the time, others rise and set, and some are never visible.

The stars continue to circle during the day, but the brilliance of the sun makes them
difficult to see. On a given day, the sun is located at some position on the hypothetical
celestial sphere. When the sun rises, sunlight is scattered by the molecules of our
atmosphere, filling our sky with light and hiding the stars above the horizon. The path the
sun appears to take around the celestial sphere each year is called the ecliptic. The time it
takes Earth to complete one full rotation on its axis with respect to distant stars is actually 23
hours, 56 minutes, and 4.091 seconds, known as a sidereal day. The ecliptic does not lie
along the celestial equator but is inclined to it at an angle of about 23.5°. Therefore, the
Sun’s annual path in the sky is not linked with Earth’s equator. This is because our planet’s
axis of rotation is tilted by about 23.5° from a vertical line sticking out of the plane of the
ecliptic. The inclination of the ecliptic is the reason why the Sun moves north and south in
the sky as the seasons change.

The Sun is not the only object that moves among the fixed stars. Fixed stars are
those that maintain fixed patterns among themselves through many generations. They are
so distant that its movement and position relative to others appears not to change over time.
The Sun, Moon, and planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus) which are
visible to our unaided eye for some times, appear to move across the sky much like the
stars. They were referred to as the “wandering stars” (asteres planetai – ancient Greek)
because they change their positions slowly from day to day and they wander across the sky
relative to the fixed stars. The planets, the Sun, and the Moon are found in the sky within a
narrow 18-degree-wide belt, centered on the ecliptic, called the zodiac. How the planets
appear to move in the sky as the months pass is a combination of their actual motions and
the motion of Earth about the Sun.

You may be familiar with some old star patterns such as big dipper and little dipper –
they are referred to as asterisms. Asterisms are patterns of stars with shapes and sizes
which can be part of a constellation. On the other hand, constellations are patterns of
stars visible to the unaided eye, or regions of space seen from Earth that are bounded by
borders designated by the International Astronomical Union. In 1930, the International
Astronomical Union officially listed 88 modern and ancient constellations and drew a
boundary around each. The boundary edges meet, dividing the imaginary sphere (celestial
sphere) surrounding Earth into 88 pieces. Most of the constellation names we know came
from the ancient Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman cultures. They identified clusters of
stars as gods, goddesses, animals, and objects of their stories. The list of IAU identified
constellations and asterisms can be accessed using this link
https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/#n2 and https://www.constellation-
guide.com/category/asterism/

Explore
Group the following according to what group of stars they belong to: asterisms or
constellations. Use a table to group your answers.

Diamond cross Summer Triangle Northern Cross Ursa Major

Sagittarius Keystone Ophiuchus Camelopardalis
Aries Kemble’s Cascade Volans Auriga’s Hexagon
Perseus Orion’s belt Andromeda Taurus
Winter Triangle Aquarius Canis Minor Centaurus
 The Ancient Astronomy

I. INTRODUCTION

Every night, as the stars move across the sky, people from all over the world look up
and ponder their place in the cosmos. Civilizations have created distinctive systems for
categorizing and comprehending the skies throughout history. Much of modern Western
civilization is derived in one way or another from the ideas of the ancient Greeks and
Romans, and this is true in astronomy as well. Many ancient cultures also developed
sophisticated systems for observing and interpreting the sky. Let's now take a quick trip
down memory lane.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to:

a. Describe early examples of astronomy around the world.

b. Explain how Greek astronomers were able to deduce that Earth is spherical.
c. Explain how Greek astronomers were able to calculate Earth’s size.
d. Describe the motion of Earth called precession.
e. Describe Ptolemy’s geocentric system of planetary motion.

II.PRE-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST
Create a table and list down the contributions of ancient Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian,
Greek, Roman, Chinese, Mayan culture, in the field of astronomy.

III.Learning Resources/Materials
Congress, L. o. (n.d.). Ancient Greek Astronomy and Cosmology. Retrieved from Finding Our Place in
the Cosmos: From Galileo to Sagan and Beyond: https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-
the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/modeling-the-cosmos/ancient-greek-astronomy-and-
cosmology
Franknoi, A., Morrison, D., & Wolff, S. (2017). Astronomy. Rice University

Astronomy around the World

The ancient Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian astronomers knew the approximate
length of the year. The Egyptians of 3000 years ago, for example, adopted a calendar based
on a 365-day year. They kept careful track of the rising time of the bright star basph in the
predawn sky, which has a yearly cycle that corresponded with the flooding of the Nile River.
Almost 2,700 years ago, a Babylonian astronomer wrote on a clay tablet the observations he
had just made from the top of the ziggurat where the Sun and Moon were in opposition at
sunset, Mercury had its last appearance in Pisces (before disappearing behind the Sun),
and Saturn also had its last appearance in Pisces. This observation was made despite the
cloudiness during that day. The Assyrians therefore studied the motions of the Sun, Moon
and planets very carefully, looking for warnings, good or bad. They regarded the heavenly
objects as gods. The Assyrians believed that eclipses were important omens. They
predicted lunar eclipses with reasonable accuracy and in their predictions accounted for
effects like the invisibility of a lunar eclipse occurring in daylight. The Chinese also had a
working calendar; they determined the length of the year at about the same time as the
Egyptians. The Chinese also recorded comets, bright meteors, and dark spots on the Sun.
Later, Chinese astronomers kept careful records of “guest stars”—those that are normally
too faint to see but suddenly flare up to become visible to the unaided eye for a few weeks
or months. We still use some of these records in studying stars that exploded a long time
ago. The Mayan culture in Mexico and Central America developed a sophisticated calendar
based on the planet Venus, and they made astronomical observations from sites dedicated
to this purpose a thousand years ago. The Polynesians learned to navigate by the stars over
hundreds of kilometers of open ocean—a skill that enabled them to colonize new islands far
away from where they began. In Britain, before the widespread use of writing, ancient
people used stones to keep track of the motions of the Sun and Moon.

Early Greek and Roman Cosmology

Cosmology comes from the ancient Greek word "kosmos" meaning world. It is a
branch of astronomy that involves the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang
to today and on into the future.

At least 2000 years before Columbus, educated people in the eastern Mediterranean
region knew Earth was round. Belief in a spherical Earth may have stemmed from the time
of Pythagoras, a philosopher and mathematician who lived 2500 years ago. He was the first
to believed circles and spheres to be “perfect forms” and suggested that Earth should
therefore be a sphere. The writings of Aristotle (384–322 BCE), the tutor of Alexander the
Great, summarize many of the ideas of his day. They describe how the progression of the
Moon’s phases results from our seeing different portions of the Moon’s sunlit hemisphere as
the month goes by. Aristotle also knew that the Sun has to be farther away from Earth than
is the Moon because occasionally the Moon passed exactly between Earth and the Sun and
hid the Sun temporarily from view and this event is known as the solar eclipse.

Aristotle cited convincing arguments that Earth must be round.

 As the Moon enters or emerges from Earth’s shadow during an eclipse of the Moon,
the shape of the shadow seen on the Moon is always round.
 Travelers who go south a significant distance are able to observe stars that are not
visible farther north.
Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BCE), suggested first that the Earth was moving
around the Sun, but Aristotle and most of the ancient Greek scholars rejected this idea. One
of the reasons for their conclusion was the thought that if Earth moved about the Sun, they
would be observing the stars from different places along Earth’s orbit. As Earth moved
along, nearby stars should shift their positions in the sky relative to more distant stars. The
apparent shift in the direction of an object as a result of the motion of the observer is called
parallax. We call the shift in the apparent direction of a star due to Earth’s orbital motion
stellar parallax. The Greeks made dedicated efforts to observe stellar parallax but the
brighter stars just did not seem to shift as the Greeks observed them in the spring and then
again in the fall. This meant either that the Earth was not moving or that the stars had to be
so tremendously far away that the parallax shift was immeasurably small. A cosmos of such
enormous extent required a leap of imagination that most ancient philosophers were not
prepared to make, so they retreated to the safety of the Earth-centered view.

Measurement of Earth by Eratosthenes

 The Greeks not only knew Earth was round, but also, they were able to measure its
size. The first fairly accurate determination of Earth’s diameter was made in about 200 BCE
by Eratosthenes (276–194 BCE), a Greek living in Alexandria, Egypt. His method was a
geometric one, based on observations of the Sun. Alexandria, suggest that Earth’s
circumference must be 1/50 of north of Syene. Alexandria had been measured to be 5000
stadia north of Syene. (The stadium was a Greek unit of length, derived from the length of
the racetrack in a stadium.) Eratosthenes thus found that Earth’s circumference must be 50
× 5000, or 250,000 stadia. Even if his measurement was not exact, his success at
measuring the size of our planet by using only shadows, sunlight, and the power of human
thought was one of the greatest intellectual achievements in history.

Hipparchus and Precession

The direction in which Earth’s axis points does indeed change slowly but regularly—a
motion we call precession. Ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 166–125 BC)
discovered precession when he compared positions of stars for his epoch with observations
made 150 years earlier by ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Timocharis of
Alexandria (c. 320–260 BC). Because our planet is not an exact sphere, but bulges a bit at
the equator, the pulls of the Sun and Moon cause it to wobble like a top. It takes about
26,000 years for Earth’s axis to complete one circle of precession.

Ptolemy’s Model of the Solar System

Ptolemy’s most important contribution was a geometric
representation of the solar system that predicted the positions of
the planets. Ptolemy supplemented this material with new
observations of his own and produced a cosmological model
that endured more than a thousand years since Hipparchus
does not have enough data to support his idea that stationary
Earth is at the center of the universe. Ptolemy solved the
problem of explaining the observed motions of planets by having
each planet revolve in a small orbit called an epicycle. Epicycle
is a small circle, around which a planet was thought to revolve.
Figure1-4 Ptolemy’s Deferent is the center of which revolves around Earth along a
Cosmological System larger circular path. The equant was a point near the center of a
planet's orbit where there is a uniform circular motion takes
place. It is a tribute to Ptolemy as a mathematician that he was able to develop such a
complex system to account successfully for the observations of planets.