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Here and Now
Cha pter
User’s Guide to the Sky:

Patterns and Cycles
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SEEDS/BACKMAN
ASTRO
3 BRIEF CONTENTS
PART 1 EXPLORING THE SKY

1 Here and Now 2
2 User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns and Cycles 12
3 The Origin of Modern Astronomy 36
4 Light and Telescopes 60
PART 2 THE SOLAR SYSTEM

5 Sun Light and Sun Atoms 80
6 The Terrestrial Planets 108
7 The Outer Solar System 136
8 Origin of the Solar System and Extrasolar Planets 160
PART 3 THE STARS

9 The Family of Stars 188
10 Structure and Formation of Stars 212
11 The Deaths of Stars 238
PART 4 THE UNIVERSE OF GALAXIES

12 The Milky Way Galaxy 272
13 Galaxies: Normal and Active 296
14 Modern Cosmology 322
PART 5 LIFE
15 Life on Other Worlds 348
Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data 368

Appendix B: Observing the Sky 373
Appendix C: Celestial Profiles 376
Science Photo Library - VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/Getty Images
Index 382
BRIEF CONTENTS iii
CONTENTS
3-3 Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and
Part 1 Planetary Motion 44

3-4 Galileo Galilei 47
EXPLORING THE SKY 3-5 Isaac Newton, Gravity, and Orbits 52
4 Light and Telescopes 60

4-1 Radiation: Information from Space 61
4-2 Telescopes 64
shooarts/Shutterstock.com
4-3 Observatories on Earth—Optical and Radio 68

4-4 Astronomical Instruments and Techniques 72
4-5 Airborne and Space Observatories 74
1 Here and Now 2

Part 2
1-1 Where Is Here? 2 THE SOLAR SYSTEM
1-2 When Is Now? 8
2 User’s Guide to the Sky:

Patterns and Cycles 12
Natali26/Shutterstock.com
2-1 The Stars 12
2-2 The Sky and Its Motions 16
2-3 The Cycle of the Sun 20
2-4 Cycles of the Moon 24
3 The Origin of Modern

Astronomy 36
5 Sun Light and Sun
Atoms 80
3-1 Astronomy Before Copernicus 36 5-1 The Sun: Basic Characteristics 81
3-2 Nicolaus Copernicus 38 5-2 The Origin of Sunlight 82
iv CONTENTS
5-3 The Sun’s Surface 84
5-4 Light, Matter, and Motion 85 Part 3
5-5 The Sun’s Atmosphere 90
5-6 Solar Activity 96
THE STARS
6 The Terrestrial Planets 108

6-1 A Travel Guide to the Terrestrial Planets 108
© Ann Muse/Shutterstock.com
6-2 Earth: The Active Planet 111
6-3 The Moon 117
6-4 Mercury 120
6-5 Venus 122
6-6 Mars 125
7 The Outer Solar System 136 9 The Family of Stars 188

7-1 A Travel Guide to the Outer Solar System 136 9-1 Star Distances 189
7-2 Jupiter 138 9-2 Apparent Brightness, Intrinsic Brightness,
and Luminosity 191
7-3 Saturn 144
7-4 Uranus 149 9-3 Star Temperatures 192
7-5 Neptune 151 9-4 Star Sizes 196
7-6 Pluto: Planet No More 153 9-5 Star Masses—Binary Stars 199
9-6 Typical Stars 204
8 Origin of the Solar System and

Extrasolar Planets 160 10 ofStructure and Formation
Stars 212
8-1 Solar System Overview 160
8-2 Space Debris: Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites 162 10-1 Stellar Structure 212
8-3 The Origin of the Solar System 168 10-2 Nuclear Fusion in the Sun and Stars 217
8-4 The Story of Planet Building 174 10-3 Main-Sequence Stars 221
8-5 Planets Around Other Stars 180 10-4 The Birth of Stars 223
CONTENTS v
11 The Deaths of Stars 238
13-3 The Evolution of Galaxies 305
13-4 Active Galaxies and Quasars 311
11-1 Giant Stars 239
11-2 Deaths of Low-Mass Stars 242
11-3 The Evolution of Binary Systems 247 14 Modern Cosmology 322
11-4 The Deaths of Massive Stars 249 14-1 Introduction to the Universe 322
11-5 Neutron Stars 254 14-2 The Big Bang 325
11-6 Black Holes 262 14-3 Space and Time, Matter and Energy 332
14-4 Twenty-First-Century Cosmology 337
Part 4
THE UNIVERSE Part 5
OF GALAXIES LIFE
Suppakij1017/Shutterstock.com
creativemarc/Shutterstock.com
12 The Milky Way Galaxy 272

12-1 Discovery of the Galaxy 272 15 Life on Other Worlds 348
12-2 Spiral Arms and Star Formation 281 15-1 The Nature of Life 349
12-3 Origin and History of the Galaxy 284 15-2 Life in the Universe 351
12-4 The Nucleus of the Galaxy 292 15-3 Intelligent Life in the Universe 361
13 Galaxies: Normal
and Active 296
Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data 368
Appendix B: Observing the Sky 373
13-1 The Family of Galaxies 296 Appendix C: Celestial Profiles 376
13-2 Measuring the Properties of Galaxies 297 Index 382
vi CONTENTS
SEEDS + BACKMAN
ASTRO
INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY
3
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Part 1
1 Here and Now
The longest journey begins with a single step.

Laozi
NOA A /NASA GOES Project

After finishing this chapter go to PAGE 9 for STUDY TOOLS.
GUIDEPOST provide more specific insights into how scientists study

and understand nature.
As you study astronomy, you learn about yourself. You are
a planet-walker, and this chapter gives you a preview of
what that means. The planet you live on whirls around a
1-1 WHERE IS HERE?
star that moves through a Universe filled with stars and
galaxies. (See CO 1 for a view of Earth from space.) You You should begin with something familiar, like the size
owe it to yourself to know where you are located in the of yourself and your surroundings. Figure 1-1 shows a
Universe and when you are living in its history because region about 16 meters (52 feet) across occupied by a
those are important steps to knowing what you are. human being, a sidewalk, and a few trees—all objects
In this chapter, you will consider three important with sizes you can relate to. Each picture in the following
questions about astronomy: sequence shows you a frame with a field of view that is
100 times wider than the preceding picture.
• Where is Earth in the Universe? In Figure 1-2, your field of view has increased in size
• How does human history fit into the history of the by a factor of 100, and you can now see an area about
Universe?
• Why study astronomy? 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) in diameter. The 16-meter area
of Figure 1-1 is quite small from this view. Now you can
This chapter is a jumping-off point for your explo- see an entire college campus and the surrounding streets
ration of deep space and deep time. The next chapter and houses. This is still the world you know and can relate
continues your journey by looking at the night sky as to the scale of your body.
seen from Earth. As you Figure 1-3 has a span of 160 km (100 mi). Take a
study astronomy, you will look at the picture and notice the red color. This is an
field of view The area visible
in an image. Usually given as the
see how science gives you infrared photograph, in which healthy green leaves and
diameter of the region. a way to know how nature crops show up as red. Your eyes are sensitive to only a
works. Later chapters will narrow range of colors. As you explore the Universe, you
2 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky
Visual
CO 1 Image of Earth from the GOES

(Geostationary Operational Environment
Satellite) East weather satellite stationed
over the central Atlantic Ocean. This
image, which was made during the month
of January, shows a coating of snow over
Canada and the northern part of the
United States, as well as lush vegetation in
the Amazon Basin of South America.
© shooarts/Shutterstock.com
FIGURE 1-1 FIGURE 1-2
16 meters
Michael A. Seeds
Visual
USGS
Visual
This box ■ represents the relative size of the
previous frame.
will need to learn to use a wide range of “colors,” from you can see natural features of Earth’s surface: the
X-rays to radio waves, revealing sights invisible to your Allegheny Mountains of southern Pennsylvania crossing
unaided eyes. Photographs in this book generally have the picture at the upper left, and the Susquehanna River
labels noting which color or type of light was used to flowing southeast into Chesapeake Bay. What look like
make the image. white bumps are actually puffs of clouds. Mountains and
The college campus is now invisible, and the patches valleys are only temporary features on Earth that are slowly,
of gray are towns and cities, including Wilmington, but constantly, changing. As you explore the Universe, you
Delaware, visible in the lower right corner. At this scale, will come to see that it is also always evolving.
CHAPTER 1: Here and Now 3
In the next step of the journey, you will see the entire
planet Earth (Figure 1-4), which is about 13,000 km (8000
FIGURE 1-3
mi) in diameter. This picture shows most of the daylight
side of the planet; however, the blurriness at the extreme
right contains the sunset line. The rotation of Earth on its
axis each 24 hours carries you eastward, and as you cross
the sunset line into darkness you say that the Sun has set.
At the scale of this figure, the atmosphere on which your
© NASA, Landsat infrared photograph

life depends is thinner than a strand of thread.
Enlarge your field of view again by a factor of 100,
and you see a region 1,600,000 km (1 million mi) wide
(Figure 1-5). Earth is the small blue dot in the center,
and the Moon, with a diameter of only about one-fourth
that of Earth’s, is an even smaller dot along its orbit. The Infrared
relative sizes of Earth and Moon are shown in the inset

at the bottom right of Figure 1-5. If you’ve had a high- This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous frame.
mileage car, it may have traveled the equivalent of a trip
to the Moon, which has an average distance from Earth
of 380,000 km (240,000 mi). These numbers are so large FIGURE 1-4
that it is inconvenient to write them out. Astronomy is the
science of big numbers, and you will use numbers much
larger than these to describe the Universe.
Rather than writing out numbers, such as those in
the previous paragraph, it is more convenient to write
them in scientific notation. This is nothing more than
a simple way to express numbers without writing a great
many zeros. For example, in scientific notation, you can
write 380,000 as 3.8 3 10 5 .
When you once again enlarge your view by a factor
of 100 (Figure 1-6), Earth, its Moon, and the Moon’s
orbit all lie in the small red box at lower left. This fig- Visual
NASA
ure has a diameter of 1.6 3 10 8 km. Now you see the
Sun and two other plan- This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous frame.
ets that are part of our
scientific notation A Solar System. The Solar
method for expressing very large System consists of the FIGURE 1-5
or very small numbers by using Sun, its family of planets,
powers of 10.
and some smaller bodies,
Solar System The Sun and all such as moons, asteroids,
the objects gravitationally bound and comets.
to it, including Earth, the other
planets plus their moons, asteroids,
Like Earth, Venus and
comets, and so on. Mercury are planets ,
small, nonluminous bod-
planets A nonluminous body in Earth Moon
orbit around a star, massive enough ies that shine by reflecting
to be spherical and to have cleared sunlight. Venus is about the Enlarged to show
its orbital zone of other objects. size of Earth, and Mercury relative sizes
star A globe of gas, held is a bit larger than Earth’s

together by its own gravity and Moon. In this figure, they
NASA
supported by the internal pressure are both too small to be Earth Moon
of its hot gases, which generates
energy by nuclear fusion.
seen as anything but tiny
This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous frame.
dots. The Sun is a star, a
self-luminous ball of hot gas that generates its own energy. view now is 1 trillion (1012 ) times wider than in the first
The Sun is about 100 times larger in diameter than Earth figure. The details of the previous figure are lost in the
(inset), but it too is nothing more than a dot in this view. red square at the center of this figure. You see only the
Earth orbits the Sun once a year. brighter, more widely separated objects as you back away.
Another way astronomers simplify descriptions and The Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth are so close together
calculations using large numbers is to define new units. that you cannot separate them at this scale.
The average distance from Earth to the Sun is called the Mars, the next outward planet, lies only 1.5 AU
astronomical unit (AU), a distance of 1.5 3 10 8 km from the Sun. In contrast, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
(93 million mi). Using that unit you can then say, for Neptune are so far from the Sun that they are easy to
example, that the average distance from Venus to the Sun find in this figure. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in
is about 0.7 AU. only 8 minutes, but it takes more than 4 hours to reach
Your first field of view was only about 16 m (52 ft) in Neptune. Pluto orbits mostly outside Neptune’s orbit, but
width. After just six steps, each enlarging by a factor of it is no longer considered a major planet.
100, you now see the entire Solar System, all the major When you again enlarge your view by a factor of 100,
planets, and their slightly elliptical orbits (Figure 1-7). Your the Solar System becomes invisibly small (Figure 1-8).
The Sun is only a point of light, and all the planets and
their slightly elliptical orbits are now crowded into the
FIGURE 1-6
small red square at the center. The planets are too small
and reflect too little light to be visible so near the bril-
liance of the Sun.
Sun
Venus Notice that no stars are visible in Figure 1-8 except
for the Sun. The Sun is a fairly typical star, a bit larger
than average, and it is located in a fairly normal neigh-
AU
borhood in the Universe. Although there are many bil-
1
Mercury lions of stars like the Sun, none is close enough to be
visible in this figure. The stars are separated by average
Enlarged to show
relative sizes distances about 30 times larger than this view, which has
Earth a diameter of 11,000 AU. It is difficult to grasp the isola-
Earth tion of the stars. If the Sun were represented by a golf
NASA
Sun ball in New York City, the nearest star would be another
golf ball in Chicago.
The small red box around Earth at lower left contains
the entire field of view of Figure 1-5. In Figure 1-9, your view has expanded to a diameter
a bit over 1.1 million AU. The Sun is at the center, and
you see a few of the nearest stars. These stars are so dis-
tant that it is not reasonable to give their distances in AU.
FIGURE 1-7 Astronomers have defined a new larger unit of distance,
the light-year. One light-year (ly) is the distance that
light travels in 1 year, roughly 1013 km or 63,000 AU. The
diameter of your view in Figure 1-9 is 17 ly. The near-
est star to the Sun, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 ly away. In
other words, light from Proxima Centauri takes 4.2 years
to reach Earth.
Mars Although these stars
Jupiter are roughly the same size
Saturn
as the Sun, they are so far astronomical unit
Uranus (AU) Average distance from
away that you cannot see
Neptune Earth to the Sun; 1.5 3 108 km
them as anything but points
(93 million mi).
of light. Even with the larg-
est telescopes on Earth, you light-year (ly) Unit of distance
equal to the distance light travels
The small red box around the Sun at center contains still see only points of light in 1 year.
the entire field of view of Figure 1-6. when you look at stars, and
In Figure 1-10, you expand your field of view by
FIGURE 1-8 another factor of 100, and the Sun and its neighboring
stars vanish into the background of thousands of stars.
This figure is 1700 ly in diameter. Of course, no one has
ever journeyed thousands of light-years from Earth to
look back and photograph the Sun’s neighborhood, so this
is a representative picture from Earth of a portion of the
sky that can be used as a reasonable simulation. The Sun
Sun and Planets is faint enough that it would not be easily located in a
picture at this scale.
Some things that are invisible in this figure are actu-
ally critically important. You do not see the thin gas that
fills the spaces between the stars. Although those clouds
of gas are thinner than the best vacuum produced in labo-
ratories on Earth, it is those clouds that give birth to new
The small red box at the center contains the entire field stars. The Sun formed from such a cloud about 5 billion
of view of Figure 1-7. years ago. You will see more star formation in the next
figure.
If you expand your view again by a factor of 100,
FIGURE 1-9 you see our Galaxy (Figure 1-11). A galaxy is a great
cloud of stars, gas, and dust bound together by the
combined gravity of all the matter. In the night sky, you
see our Galaxy from the inside as a great, cloudy band
of stars ringing the sky as the Milky Way , and our
Galaxy is called the Milky Way Galaxy. How does
anyone know what the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy
Sun and would look like from a vantage point tens of thou-
Planets
sands of light years away? Astronomers use evidence
to guide their explanations as they envision what our
Galaxy looks like. Artists can then use those scientific
descriptions to create a painting. Our Sun would be
invisible in such a picture, but if you could see it, you
This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous

frame.
FIGURE 1-10
any planets that might circle those stars are much too
small and faint to be visible. In Figure 1-9 the sizes of
the dots represent not the sizes of the stars but their
brightness. This is stan-
dard practice in astronomi-
galaxy A large system of stars,
star clusters, gas, dust, and nebulae cal diagrams, and it is also
orbiting a common center of mass. how starlight is recorded.
Milky Way The hazy band of Bright stars make larger
light that circles our sky, produced spots in a photograph or
NASA
by the glow of the stars and Visual

electronic picture than
nebulae in our Galaxy.
faint stars. The size of a
Milky Way Galaxy The spiral star image in a photograph This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous
galaxy containing our Sun, visible
in the night sky as the Milky Way.
tells you only how bright frame.
the star is, not how big it is.
How Do We Know? 1-1
The Scientific Method
How do scientists learn about nature? You have more than 28,000 pea plants, noting which produced
probably heard of the scientific method as the process smooth peas and which produced wrinkled peas, and
by which scientists form hypotheses and test them how that trait—and others—were inherited by succes-
against evidence gathered by experiment and observa- sive generations. His studies confirmed his hypothesis
tion. Scientists use the scientific method all the time and allowed the development of a series of laws of
and it is critically important, but they rarely think of it. It inheritance. Although the importance of his work was
is such an ingrained way of thinking and understanding not recognized in his lifetime, Mendel is now called the
nature that it is almost invisible to “father of modern genetics”.
the people who use it most. The scientific method is not a
A hypothesis is a suggestion simple, mechanical way of grind-
NSphotostudio/Shutterstock.com
about how nature works, and the ing facts into understanding. It is
evidence is reality. If a hypothesis actually a combination of many
is compared to the evidence and ways of analyzing information,
confirmed, it must be tested fur- finding relationships, and creat-
ther; if it is contradicted, it must be ing new ideas. A scientist needs
discarded or revised. In that way, insight and ingenuity to form and
ideas get tested and refined to bet- test a good hypothesis. Scientists
ter describe how nature works. Whether peas are wrinkled or use the scientific method almost
For example, Gregor Mendel smooth is an inherited trait. automatically, forming, testing,
(1822–1884) was an Austrian abbot revising, and discarding hypothe-
who liked gardening. He formed ses sometimes minute-by-minute
a hypothesis that offspring usually inherit traits from as they discuss new ideas. The scientific method is a way
their parents not as a smooth blend, as most scientists of thinking and a way of knowing about nature. The
of the time believed, but as discrete units according to “How Do We Know?” essays in this book will introduce
strict mathematical rules. Mendel cultivated and tested you to some of the methods scientists use.
FIGURE 1-11 would find it about two-thirds of the way from the cen-
ter to the edge, at about the location of the marker dot
indicated in the figure. Our Galaxy contains more than
100 billion stars, and, like many others, has graceful
spiral arms winding outward through the disk. You
will discover in a later chapter that stars are born in
great clouds of gas and dust as they pass through the
spiral arms.
The visible portion of our Galaxy's disk is 80,000 ly
Mark A. Garlick/space-art.co.uk
in diameter. Only a century ago astronomers thought it

was the entire Universe—
• Location of Sun an island Universe of stars
in an otherwise empty vast-
Artist’s conception
ness. Now, the Milky Way spiral arms Long spiral pattern
of bright stars, star clusters, gas,
This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous
Galaxy is known to be not and dust. Spiral arms extend across
frame. unique; it is a typical Galaxy the disks of spiral galaxies.
in many respects, although
larger than most. In fact, our Galaxy is only one of many over the origin of these structures, you are at the frontier
billions of galaxies scattered throughout the Universe. of human knowledge. The sequence of figures ends here
As you expand your field of view by another fac- because it has reached the limits of the best telescopes.
tor of 100, our Galaxy appears as a tiny luminous speck Humanity’s view does not extend as far as the region
surrounded by other specks (Figure 1-12). This figure that would be covered by a figure 100 times larger than
includes a region 17 million ly in diameter, and with each Figure 1-13.
dot representing a galaxy. Notice that our Galaxy is part of
a cluster of a few dozen galaxies. You will find that galax-
ies are commonly grouped together in clusters. Some of 1-2 WHEN IS NOW?
these galaxies have beautiful spiral patterns like our own
Galaxy, but others do not. One of the questions you will In later chapters, you will learn that the Universe began
investigate in a later chapter is what produces these dif- about 14 billion years ago. Since that time, galaxies have
ferences among the galaxies. formed, and generation after generation of stars have
Figure 1-13 represents a view with a diameter of 1.7 formed and died. Our Sun and its planets formed only
billion ly. It was made by combining observations with about 4.6 billion years ago. Humans have existed on
theoretical calculations. The figure shows clusters of gal- Earth for only about 4 million years. That is only 0.004
axies connected in a vast network. Clusters are grouped billion years. Human civilization has existed for only
into superclusters— clusters of clusters— and the 10,000 years (0.00001 billion years). Humanity is very
superclusters are linked to form long filaments and walls new to the Universe.
outlining voids that seem nearly empty of galaxies. These How could anyone possibly know these secrets of
filaments and walls appear to be the largest structures in nature? Science gives us a way to know how nature works.
the Universe. Throughout this book, you will find short essays titled
Were you to expand “How Do We Know?”; these essays are designed to help
your field of view one more you think not about what is known, but how it is known.
time, you would probably see To do that, they will explain a variety of scientific thought
superclusters A cluster of
galaxy clusters.
a uniform fog of filaments processes and procedures to help you understand how
and voids. When you puzzle scientists know about the natural world.

Australian Astronomical Observatory/David Malin Images
M. Seldner, B. L. Siebers, E. J. Groth, and P.J. E. Peebles,
Milky Way Galaxy

Astronomical Journal 82 (1977)
This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous
frame. frame.
What Are We? Participants
Astronomy will give you perspective on what it means Not only does astronomy locate you in space
to be here on Earth. This chapter has helped you and time, it places you in the physical processes that
locate yourself in space and time. Once you realize govern the Universe. Gravity and atoms work together
how vast our Universe is, Earth seems quite small, to make stars, light the Universe, generate energy,
and people on the other side of the world seem and create the chemical elements in your body. The
like neighbors. Furthermore, in the entire history chapters that follow will show you how you fit into
of the Universe, the human story is only a flicker of those cosmic processes.
an eye blink. This may seem humbling at first, but Although you are very small and your kind have
you can be proud of how much we humans have existed in the Universe for only a short time, you are an
understood in such a short time. important part of something very large and very beautiful.
STUDY
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Questions and 1
Problems
REVIEW QUESTIONS PROBLEMS
1. What is the largest dimension of which you have 1. The diameter of Earth across the equator is 7926 mi.
personal knowledge? Have you run a mile? Hiked Given that a mile equals 1.609 km, what is Earth’s
10 mi? Run a marathon? diameter in kilometers? In centimeters?
2. What is the difference between our Solar System and 2. The diameter of the Moon across its equator is
our Galaxy? Between our Galaxy and the Universe? 3476 km. Given that a kilometer equals 0.6214 mi,
3. Why are light-years more convenient than miles, what is the Moon’s diameter in miles?
kilometers, or astronomical units for measuring certain 3. One astronomical unit is about 1.50 3 10 8 km . Explain
distances? why this is the same as 150 3 10 6 km.
4. Why is it difficult to detect planets orbiting other stars? 4. Venus orbits 0.72 AU from the Sun. What is that
5. What does the size of the star image in a photograph distance in kilometers? (Hint: See Problem 3.)
tell you? 5. Light from the Sun takes 8 minutes to reach Earth.
6. What is the difference between the Milky Way and the How long does it take to reach Mars?
Milky Way Galaxy? 6. The Sun is almost 400 times farther from Earth than is
7. What are the largest known structures in the Universe? the Moon. How long does light from the Moon take to
8. How does astronomy help answer the question “What reach Earth?
are we?” 7. If the speed of light is 3.0 3 105 km/s, how many
9. How Do We Know? How does the scientific method kilometers is 1 light-year? How many meters?
give scientists a way to know about nature? (Note: One year contains 3.2 3 107 s .)
8. How long does it take light to cross the diameter of
our Milky Way Galaxy?
9. The nearest large galaxy to our own is about 2.5 million
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ly away. How many meters is that? (Hint: See Problem 7.)
1. You and three of your friends have won an all- 10. How many galaxies like our own would it take laid edge-
expenses paid one-time-only round-trip first-class to-edge to reach the nearest galaxy? (Hint: See Problem 9.)
vacation to anywhere in the Universe, but only if
the choice of destination is unanimous. Where do
you want to go, and how do you convince your
LEARNING TO LOOK
friends to agree? 1. In Figure 1-4, the division between daylight and
2. Think back to the last time you got a new phone and darkness is at the right on the globe of Earth. How do
had to figure out how it worked. In what way did you you know this is the sunset line and not the sunrise line?
employ the scientific method, maybe without even 2. Look at Figure 1-6. How can you tell that Mercury does
realizing that you did? not follow a circular orbit?
3. Of the objects listed here, which would be contained 4. In Figure 1-15 which stars are brightest, and which are
inside the object shown in Figure 1-14? faintest? How can you tell? Why can’t you tell which
• Stars stars in this photograph are biggest or which have
planets?
• Planets
• Galaxy
• Clusters
FIGURE 1-15
• Spiral arms
FIGURE 1-14
Bill Schoening/NOAO/AURA/NSF
REU program/NOAO/AURA/NSF
2 User’s Guide to
the Sky: Patterns
and Cycles
The Southern Cross I saw every night abeam. The Sun every morning came up
astern; every evening it went down ahead. I wished for no other compass to guide
me, for these were true.
Captain Joshua Slocum Sailing Alone Around the World
Rami Daud/NASA
GUIDEPOST • How does the motion of the Moon produce phases

and eclipses?
The night sky is the rest of the Universe as seen from our As you study the sky and its motion, you will under-
planet. The previous chapter took you on a cosmic zoom stand that Earth is a planet rotating on its axis. The next
out into the sky through deep space and deep time, setting chapter will tell the story of how humans first understood
the stage for the drama to come. In this chapter, you will that Earth is a planet.
continue your explorations by viewing the sky from Earth
with your own unaided eyes. You will discover that the
turning of Earth on its axis and its orbital motion around
the Sun produce corresponding motions in the sky. You
2-1 THE STARS
will see how the Sun, Moon, and planets move against the
On a dark night far from city lights, you can see a few
background of stars. Some of those motions have direct
thousand stars in the sky. Your observations can be sum-
influences on your life and produce dramatic sights. (Look
marized by naming individual stars and groups of stars
at CO 2 for a sequence of images of a lunar eclipse). As you
and by specifying their relative brightness.
explore, you will find answers to five important questions:
• H ow are stars and 2-1a Constellations

constellations named?
constellation One of the • How are the brightnesses All around the world, ancient cultures celebrated heroes,
stellar patterns identified by name, of stars measured and gods, and mythical beasts by naming groups of stars,
usually of mythological gods, compared? called constellations, after them. You should not be
people, animals, or objects. Also, • How does the sky appear
to move as Earth rotates surprised that the star patterns generally do not look
the region of the sky containing
that star pattern. and revolves? like the creatures they are named after any more than
• What causes the seasons? Columbus, Ohio, looks like Christopher Columbus.
CO 2 A sequence of images spanning about 2 hours showing a lunar eclipse
visible from the United States in September 2015. From left to right, the full
moon is increasingly covered by Earth’s shadow. In the image at far right,
the Moon is shown fully shadowed, illuminated only by the orange glow of
sunlight refracted through Earth’s atmosphere. This was a rare “supermoon”
eclipse that occurred when the Moon was closest in its orbit to Earth, and near
the horizon for many observers, thereby appearing as large as possible.
The constellations named in Western culture origi- in any constellation. Regions of the southern sky not vis-
nated in ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Babylon, ible to observers living at northern latitudes also were not
Egypt, and Greece beginning as many as 5000 years ago. identified with any constellations. Constellation boundar-
Of those ancient constellations, 48 are still in use. In those ies, when they were defined at all, were only approximate,
former times, a constellation was simply a loose grouping of so a star like Alpheratz could be thought of as both a part of
bright stars, and many of the fainter stars were not included Pegasus and also a part of Andromeda (Figure 2-1).
FIGURE 2-1
(a) (b)
From Duncan Bradford, Wonders of the Heavens,
Alpheratz
Andromeda
Alpheratz
Boston, John B. Russell 1837
Old constellation boundaries,

represented by these lines, were Pegasus
approximate.
Great Square
of Pegasus
(a) In antiquity, constellation boundaries were poorly defined, as shown on this map by the curving d
otted lines
that separate Pegasus from Andromeda. (b) Modern constellation boundaries are precisely defined by international
scientific agreement.
CHAPTER 2: User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns and Cycles 13
In recent centuries, astronomers have added exceptions (Figure 2-3). A Greek-letter star name also
40 modern constellations to fill gaps, and in 1928 the includes the possessive form of the constellation name;
International Astronomical Union (IAU) established for example, the brightest star in the constellation Canis
a total of 88 official constellations with clearly defined Major is Alpha Canis Majoris. This name identifies the
permanent boundaries that together cover the entire star and the constellation and gives a clue to the relative
sky. Thus, a constellation now represents not a group brightness of the star. Compare this with the ancient indi-
of stars, but a section of the sky—a viewing direction— vidual name for that star, Sirius, which tells you nothing
and any star within the region belongs only to that one about its location or brightness.
constellation.
In addition to the 88 official constellations, the sky
contains a number of less formally defined groupings 2-1c Star Brightness
called asterisms. The Big Dipper, for example, is an Astronomers usually describe the brightness of stars
asterism you probably recognize; it is part of the con- using the magnitude scale. The ancient astronomers
stellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Another aster- originally divided the stars into six brightness groups. The
ism is the Great Square of Pegasus that includes three brightest were called first-magnitude stars. The scale
stars from Pegasus and the previously mentioned star continued downward to sixth-magnitude stars, the faint-
Alpheratz, now considered to be part of Andromeda only. est visible to the human eye. Thus, the larger the mag-
Although constellations and asterisms are named as nitude number, the fainter the star. This makes sense if
if they were real groupings, most are made up of stars
that are not physically associated with one another. Some
stars may be many times farther away than others in the FIGURE 2-2
same constellation and moving through space in different
directions. The only thing they have in common is that
they lie in approximately the same direction as viewed
sky
from Earth, as in Figure 2-2. ed on the
oject
rs pr
Sta
2-1b Star Names
In addition to naming groups of stars, ancient astrono-
mers named the brighter stars, and modern astronomers
still use many of those names. The names of the constel-
lations are in Latin or Greek, the languages of science
in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Most individual
star names derive from ancient Arabic, much altered
over centuries. For example, the name of Betelgeuse,
the bright red star in Orion, comes from the Arabic Nearest
phrase yad al-jawza, meaning “Hand of Jawza [Orion].” star
Farthest star
Aldebaran, the bright red eye of Taurus the bull, comes
from the Arabic al-dabar an, meaning “the follower [of
the Pleiades].” Actual distribution
Another way to identify stars is to assign Greek of stars in space
letters to the bright stars in a constellation in approxi-
mate order of brightness. Earth
Thus the brightest star is
asterism A named grouping usually designated alpha
The stars you see in the Big Dipper are not at the same dis-
of stars that is not one of the (a), the second brightest
recognized constellations. tance from Earth. You see the stars in a group in the sky
beta (b), and so on. For because they lie in the same general direction as seen from
magnitude scale The many constellations, the Earth, not because they are all actually near each other. The
astronomical brightness scale. letters follow the order of sizes of the star dots in the star chart represent the apparent
The larger the number, the fainter brightness of the stars.
the star.
brightness, but some con-
stellations, like Orion, are
measure of the light
FIGURE 2-3 energy from a star
that hits one square
meter in one second.
(See Magnitudes in
the Math Reference
Cards MR .) With
l
a
modern scientific
instruments, astrono-
g mers can measure
a Orionis is the flux of starlight
Orion
Orion also known as with high precision
Betelgeuse.
d and then use a simple
z e mathematical relation-
h
ship that relates light
i flux to apparent visual
t
magnitude. Instead
William K. Hartman/Planetary Science Institute
k b of saying that the star

known by the charm-
ing name Chort (Theta
b Orionis is also Leonis) is about third
known as Rigel. magnitude, you can
say its magnitude is
3.34. Thus, precise
Visual
Visual modern measure-
ments of the bright-
ness of stars are still
The stars in Orion do not quite follow the rule for assigning Greek letters in order of decreas- connected to obser-
ing brightness. For example, β (Beta) is brighter than α (Alpha), and κ (Kappa) is brighter than
η (Eta). Fainter stars do not have Greek letters or names, but if they are located inside the
vations of apparent
constellation boundaries, they are part of the constellation. The brighter stars in a constellation visual magnitude that
often also have individual names derived from Arabic. (The spikes on the star images in the go back to the time of
photograph were produced by an optical effect in the telescope.) Hipparchus.
Limitations of the
apparent visual magni-
you think of bright stars as first-class stars and the faintest tude system have motivated astronomers to supplement
stars visible as sixth-class stars. it in various ways:
The Greek astronomer Hipparchus (190–120 bce)
is believed to have compiled the first star catalog, and 1. Some stars are so bright the magnitude scale must
there is evidence he used the magnitude system in extend into negative numbers, as demonstrated in
the catalog. About 300 years later (around 140 ce) the Figure 2-4. On this scale, Sirius, the brightest star in
Egyptian-Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus (pro- the sky, has a magnitude of −1.46.
nounced TAHL-eh-MAY-us; also known as Ptolemy, 2. With a telescope you can find stars much fainter
pronounced TAHL-eh-mee) definitely used the magni- than the limit for your
tude system in his own catalog, and successive genera- unaided eyes. Thus the
tions of astronomers have continued to use the system. magnitude system has apparent visual
Star brightnesses expressed in this system are known as also been extended to magnitude ( mV ) A measure
apparent visual m agnitudes (mV ), describing how numbers larger than sixth of the brightness of a star as seen
magnitude to include by human eyes from Earth.
the stars look to human eyes observing from Earth.
Brightness is quite subjective, depending on both faint stars (Figure 2-4). flux A measure of the flow of
energy through a surface. Usually
the physiology of eyes and the psychology of perception. 3. Although some stars emit
applied to light.
To be scientifically accurate you should refer to flux—a large amounts of infrared
Earth with the stars stuck on the
FIGURE 2-4 inside like thumbtacks in a ceiling.
Modern astronomers know that the
Venus at Hubble
brightest Space stars are scattered through space at
Telescope different distances, but it is still use-
Sirius limit
ful in some contexts for you to think
Full
Sun moon Polaris of the sky as a great sphere enclosing
Naked Earth with stars all at one distance.
eye limit
The celestial sphere is an exam-
ple of a scientific model, a com-
mon feature of scientific thought
–30 –25 –20 –15 –10 –5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
(See How Do We Know? 2-1.). You
Apparent magnitude (mv)
can use the celestial sphere as a con-
Brighter Fainter venient model of the sky. You will
learn about more scientific models
The scale of apparent visual magnitudes extends into negative numbers
to represent the brightest objects and to positive numbers larger than 6 to in the chapters that follow.
represent objects fainter than the human eye can see. As you study Concept Art 2A,
“The Sky Around Us,” notice
three important points:
or ultraviolet light, those types of radiation (discussed 1. The sky appears to rotate westward around Earth each
further in Chapters 4 and 5) are invisible to human day, but that is a consequence of the eastward rotation
eyes. The subscript “V” in mV is a reminder that you of Earth. This produces day and night.
are including only light that is visible. Other magni- 2. What you can see in the sky depends on your lati-
tude systems have been invented to express the bright- tude. For example, Australians see many stars, constel-
ness of invisible light arriving at Earth from the stars. lations, and asterisms not visible from North America,
4. An apparent magnitude tells only how bright the star but they never see the Big Dipper.
is as seen from Earth but doesn’t tell anything about a 3. Astronomers measure distances across the sky as
star’s true power output because the star’s distance is angles expressed in units of degrees and subdivisions
not included. You can describe the true power output of degrees called arc minutes and arc seconds.
of stars with another magnitude system that will be
described in Chapter 9.
2-2b Precession
In addition to causing the obvious daily motion of
2-2 THE SKY AND ITS MOTIONS the sky, Earth’s rotation is connected with a very slow
celestial motion that can be detected only over centu-
ries. More than 2000 years ago, Hipparchus compared
The sky above you seems
positions of some stars with their positions recorded
to be a blue dome in the
nearly two c enturies previously and realized that
celestial sphere An daytime and a sparkling
the celestial poles and equator were slowly moving
imaginary sphere of very large ceiling at night. Learning
radius surrounding Earth to which across the sky. Later astronomers understood that this
to understand the sky
the planets, stars, Sun, and Moon motion is caused by a toplike motion of Earth known
requires that you first recall
seem to be attached. as precession.
the perspectives of people
scientific model A scientific If you have ever played with a gyroscope or top,
who observed the sky thou-
metaphor; a concept that you have seen how the spinning mass resists any sud-
organizes thought about an aspect
sands of years ago.
den change in the direction of its axis of rotation. The
of nature without necessarily being
2-2a The Celestial more massive the top and the more rapidly it spins,
literally true.
the more it resists your efforts to twist it out of posi-
precession The slow change Sphere tion. You may recall that even the most rapidly spin-
in orientation of the Earth’s axis
Ancient astronomers ning top slowly swings its axis around in a circle. The
of rotation. One cycle takes nearly
26,000 years. believed the sky was a weight of the top tends to make it tip over, and this
great sphere surrounding combines with its rapid rotation to make its axis sweep
How Do We Know? 2-1
Scientific Models
How can a scientific model be useful if it isn’t
entirely true? A scientific model is a carefully devised
conception of how something works, a framework that
helps scientists think about some aspect of nature. The
celestial sphere is a model that helps astronomers think
about the motions of the sky.
Chemists, for example, use colored balls to represent
atoms and sticks to represent the bonds between them,
almost like Tinkertoys. Using these molecular models,
chemists can see the three-dimensional shape of mol-
ecules and understand how the atoms interconnect.
The molecular model of DNA proposed by Watson
and Crick in 1953 led to our modern understanding of
the mechanisms of genetics. You have probably seen
elaborate ball-and-stick models of DNA, but does the
molecule really look like Tinkertoys? No, but the model
is both simple enough and accurate enough to help
scientists think about DNA.
A scientific model is not a statement of truth; it
John Harwood/Photodisc/Getty Images

does not have to be precisely true to be useful. In an
idealized model, some complex aspects of nature can
be simplified or omitted. The ball-and-stick model of
a molecule doesn’t show the relative strength of the
chemical bonds, for instance. A model gives scientists a
way to think about some aspect of nature, but need not
be true in every detail.
When you use a scientific model, it is important
A ball-and-stick model of a
to remember the limitations of that model. If you
short section of a DNA molecule.
begin to think of a model as true, it can be misleading
instead of helpful. The celestial sphere, for instance, can
help you think about the sky, but you must remember
that it is only a model. The Universe is much larger and
much more interesting than this ancient model of the
heavens.
out the shape of a cone. That motion is precession from vertical. Earth’s large mass and rapid rotation
(Figure 2-7a). In later c hapters, you will learn that keep its axis of rotation pointed toward a spot near
many celestial bodies precess. the star Polaris, and the axis would remain pointed
Earth spins like a giant top, but it does not spin constantly in that direction except for the effect of
upright in its orbit; its axis is tipped 23.4 degrees precession.
Concept Art 2A
THE SKY AROUND US
1
The eastward rotation of Earth causes the Sun, Moon, and Zenith
stars to move westward in the sky as if the celestial sphere
were rotating westward around Earth. From any location
on Earth you see only half of the celestial sphere, the half North
above the horizon. The zenith marks the top of the sky celestial
above your head, and the nadir marks the bottom of the West pole
sky directly under your feet. The drawing at right shows
Cel
the view for an observer in North America. An observer in
est
South America would have a dramatically different horizon, South North
ial
zenith, and nadir. Earth
eq
n
Horizo
ua
tor
The apparent pivot points are the north celestial pole East
and the south celestial pole located directly above Earth’s
north and south poles. Halfway between the celestial poles South
lies the celestial equator. Earth’s rotation defines the direc- celestial
pole
tions you use every day. The north point and south point
are the points on the horizon closest to the celestial poles. Nadir
The east point and the west point lie halfway between
the north and south points. The celestial equator always
touches the horizon at the east and west points.
North
celestial
1a
Ursa This time exposure of about 30 minutes shows stars as streaks,
pole
Major called star trails, rising behind an observatory dome. The
camera was facing n ortheast to take this photo. The motion
Ursa you see in the sky depends on which direction you look, as
Minor shown at right. Looking north, you see the star Polaris, the
North Star, located near the north celestial pole. As the sky
appears to rotate westward, Polaris hardly moves, but other
Looking north stars circle the celestial pole. Looking south from a location in
North America, you can see stars circling the south celestial
pole, which is invisible below the southern horizon.
Gemini Orion
Looking east
Canis
Major
P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA /NSF

Looking south
North celestial
Zenith pole a
Astronomers measure
distance across the
sky as angles.
Latitude 90°
North Angular distance

Zenith celestial
pole
W
Astronomers might say, “The star was two degrees
S
Latitude 60° E
N from the Moon.” Of course, the stars are much far-
ther away than the Moon, but when you think of
the celestial sphere, you can measure distance on
the sky as an angle. The angular distance between
2
North two objects is the angle between two lines extend-
Zenith celestial
pole
ing from your eye to the two objects. Astronomers
measure angles in degrees, arc minutes, 1/60th of
W a degree, and arc seconds, 1/60th of an arc minute.
L
Using the term arc avoids confusion with minutes
S N and seconds of time. The angular diameter of an
object is the angular distance from one edge to
Latitude 30° E the other. The Sun and Moon are each about half a
North
degree in diameter, and the bowl of the Big Dipper
Zenith celestial is about 10 degrees wide.
pole
W
What you see in the sky depends on your latitude as shown at left.
S
Latitude 0° E
N Imagine that you begin a journey in the ice and snow at Earth’s
North Pole with the north celestial pole directly overhead. As you
walk southward, the celestial pole moves toward the horizon, and
you can see farther into the southern sky. The angular distance from
3
South
celestial
the horizon to the north celestial pole always equals your latitude
Zenith
pole (L)—the basis for celestial navigation. As you cross Earth’s equator,
the celestial equator would pass through your zenith, and the north
W celestial pole would sink below your northern horizon.
S N
A few constellations Cassiopeia
Latitude –30° seen as circumpolar
E
from the U.S.
Cepheus Perseus
3a Circumpolar constellations are those

that never rise or set. From mid-northern
latitudes, as shown at right, you see a
Rotation Rotation
number of familiar constellations circling Polaris and Polaris
of sky of sky
never dipping below the horizon. As the sky rotates,
the pointer stars at the front of the Big Dipper always Ursa
point toward Polaris. Circumpolar constellations Minor
near the south celestial pole never rise when seen
from mid-northern latitudes. From a high latitude
such as Norway, you would have more circumpolar
constellations, and from Quito, Ecuador, located
Ursa
on Earth’s equator, you would have no circumpolar Major
constellations at all.
Earth has a slight bulge around its middle
because of its rotation. The gravity of the Sun and
FIGURE 2-5
Moon pull on the bulge, tending to twist Earth’s axis
“upright” relative to its orbit. If Earth were a per- To Polaris
fect sphere, it would not be subjected to this twisting
force. Notice that the analogy to a spinning top is not 23.5°
perfect; gravity tends to make a top fall over, but it Precession
tends to twist Earth upright. In both cases, the twist-

ing of the axis of rotation combined with the rotation Precession
of the object causes precession. The precession of n
atio
Earth’s axis takes about 26,000 years for completing Rot
one cycle (Figure 2-7b).
Because the celestial poles and equator are Earth’s
orbit
defined by Earth’s rotational axis, precession moves
these reference marks. Figure 2-5c shows the appar-
ent path followed by the north celestial pole over a b
thousands of years. You would notice no change at

all from night to night or year to year, but precise
Vega
measurements reveal their slow apparent motion.
Over centuries, precession has significant effects.
Egyptian records show that 4800 years ago the
north celestial pole was near the star Thuban (Alpha 14,000 CE
Draconis). The pole is now approaching Polaris
and will be closest to it in about the year 2100. In
another 12,000 years the pole will have moved to Thuban
Path of
the apparent vicinity of the very bright star Vega north
(Alpha Lyrae). celestial
3000 BCE pole
2-3 THE CYCLE OF THE SUN

The English language defines rotation as the turning
of a body on its axis. Revolution means the motion of Polaris
a body around a point outside the body. Earth rotates c
on its axis, and that produces day and night. Earth
Precession. (a) The rotation axis of a spinning top p recesses in a
also revolves around the Sun, and that produces the
conical motion around the perpendicular to the floor because
yearly cycle. its weight tends to make it fall over. (b) Earth’s axis precesses
around the perpendicular to its orbit because the gravity of
the Sun and Moon acting on Earth’s equatorial bulge tend to
2-3a Apparent Annual Motion of the Sun twist it “upright.” (c) Precession causes the north celestial pole
to move slowly among the stars, completing a circle in about
Even in the daytime the sky is actually filled with
26,000 years.
stars, but the glare of sunlight fills our atmosphere
with scattered
light and you can
see only the brilliant the Sun appears to be moving slowly eastward, rela-
rotation Motion around an axis
passing through the rotating body. blue sky. If the Sun tive to the background of the distant stars, as shown in
were fainter and you Figure 2-6. This apparent motion is caused by the real
revolution Orbital motion could see the stars orbital motion of Earth around the Sun. In early to mid-
about a point located outside the
orbiting body. in the daytime, you January, you would see the Sun in front of the constella-
would notice that tion Sagittarius. By the beginning of March, you would
FIGURE 2-6
Capricornus
Aquarius Sagittarius
Scorpius
Pisces
Libra
Earth’s orbit Sun
Aries
January 1 March 1 Virgo

Taurus
Leo Projection of Earth’s
Gemini Cancer orbit—the ecliptic
Sun
Sun
View from Earth View from Earth
on January 1 on March 1
The motion of Earth around the Sun makes the Sun appear to move against the background of the stars. The circular orbit of
Earth is thus projected on the sky as the ecliptic, the circular path of the Sun during the year as seen from Earth. If you could see
the stars in the daytime, you would notice the Sun crossing in front of the distant constellations as Earth moves along its orbit.
see the Sun in front of Aquarius. Note that your angle relative to its orbit. As you study Concept Art 2B,
of view in Figure 2-6 makes the Earth’s orbit seem very “The Cycle of the Seasons,” notice two important
elliptical when it is really almost a perfect circle. principles:
Through the year, the Sun moves eastward among
1. The seasons are not caused by variation in the distance
the stars following a line called the ecliptic, the appar-
between Earth and the Sun. Earth’s orbit is nearly
ent path of the Sun among the stars. Recall the concept
circular, so it is always about the same distance from
of the celestial sphere; if the sky were a great screen,
the Sun.
the ecliptic would be the shadow cast by the Earth’s
2. The seasons are caused by changes in the amount
orbit. In other words, you can describe the ecliptic
of solar energy that Earth’s Northern and Southern
as the projection of the Earth’s orbit on the celestial
Hemispheres receive at different times of the year,
sphere. Earth circles the Sun in 365.26 days, and, con-
resulting from the tip of the Earth’s equator and axis
sequently, the Sun appears to go around the sky once in
relative to its orbit.
the same period. You don’t notice this motion because
you cannot see the stars in the daytime, but the appar- The seasons are so important as a cycle of growth
ent motion of the Sun caused by a real motion of Earth and harvest that cultures around the world have attached
has an important consequence that you do notice—the great significance to the ecliptic. It marks the center
seasons. line of the zodiac (“circle of animals”), and the motion
of the Sun, Moon, and
the five visible planets
2-3b Seasons (Mercury, Venus, Mars,
ecliptic The apparent path of
the Sun around the sky.
The seasons are caused by the revolution of Earth around Jupiter, and Saturn) are
zodiac A band centered on the
the Sun combined with a simple fact you have already the basis of the ancient ecliptic and encircling the sky.
encountered: Earth’s equator is tipped 23.4 degrees superstition of astrology.
Concept Art 2B
THE CYCLE OF THE SEASONS
1 North celestial pole
You can use the celestial sphere to help you think about the sea-
sons. The celestial equator is the projection of Earth’s equator on Celestial
equator
the sky, and the ecliptic is the projection of Earth’s orbit on the sky.
Because Earth is tipped in its orbit, the ecliptic and equator are Autumnal equinox
inclined to each other by 23.48 as shown at right. As the Sun moves Winter
eastward around the sky, it spends half the year in the southern solstice
half of the sky and half the year in the northern half. That causes
the seasons.
Summer
Ecliptic solstice
The Sun crosses the celestial equator going northward at the 23.4°
point called the vernal equinox. The Sun is at its farthest north Vernal equinox
at the point called the summer solstice. It crosses the celestial
equator going southward at the autumnal equinox and reaches
its most southern point at the winter solstice.
1a
South celestial pole
Event Date* N. Hemisphere

The seasons are defined by the dates when the Sun crosses these Vernal equinox March 20 Spring begins
four points, as shown in the table at the right. Equinox comes from Summer solstice June 22 Summer begins
the word for “equal”; the day of an equinox has equal amounts of Autumnal equinox September 22 Autumn begins
daylight and darkness. Solstice comes from the words meaning Winter solstice December 21 Winter begins
“Sun” and “stationary.” Vernal comes from the word for “green.” The * Give or take a day due to leap years and other factors.
“green” equinox marks the beginning of spring in the Northern
Hemisphere.
risa
Pol
23.4°
To
1b 40°
N la
On the day of the summer sol- titu
de
stice in late June, Earth’s Northern
Hemisphere is inclined toward the
Sun, and sunlight shines almost
straight down at northern lati-
Sunlight nearly direct
tudes. At southern latitudes, sun- on northern latitudes
light strikes the ground at an angle
and spreads out. North America Equ
ato
r
has warm weather, and South To Sun
America has cool weather.
Earth’s axis of rotation points

toward Polaris, and, like a top,
the spinning Earth holds its axis
40°
fixed as it orbits the Sun. On one S la
titu
side of the Sun, Earth’s Northern de
Hemisphere leans toward the
Sun; on the other side of its orbit,
Sunlight spread out
it leans away. However, the direc- NASA
on southern latitudes
tion of the axis of rotation does
Earth at Northern Hemisphere
NASA
not change in the course of a year.

summer solstice
2
Noon sun
Summer solstice
light
West The two causes of the sea-

Sunset sons are shown at right for
C ele
someone in the Northern
s ti a
South North Hemisphere. First, the noon
le
summer Sun is higher in
qu
the sky and the winter Sun
ato
1c Light striking the ground
r
is lower, as shown by the
at a steep angle spreads East Sunrise longer winter shadows.
out less than light striking At summer solstice Thus winter sunlight is
the ground at a shallow angle. Light more spread out. Second,
from the summer solstice Sun strikes the summer Sun rises in the
northern latitudes from nearly over- northeast and sets in the
head and is concentrated. Noon sun northwest, spending more
Sunset West than 12 hours in the sky.
Winter solstice light The winter Sun rises in the
C ele
southeast and sets in the
s ti a
South North southwest, spending less
le
than 12 hours in the sky.
qu Both of these effects mean
ato
Sunrise r that northern latitudes
East receive more energy from
At winter solstice
the summer Sun, and sum-
Light from the winter solstice Sun mer days are warmer than
strikes northern latitudes at a much winter days.
steeper angle and spreads out. The
same amount of energy is spread over
a larger area, so the ground receives
less energy from the winter Sun.
ris
On the day of the

1d
a
Pol
23.4°
winter solstice in late
To
Sunlight spread out December, Ear th’s

on northern latitudes Northern Hemisphere is inclined
away from the Sun, and sunlight
40°
N la strikes the ground at an angle
titu
de and spreads out. At southern
latitudes, sunlight shines almost
straight down and does not
spread out. North America has
cool weather and South America
has warm weather.
Equ
To Sun ato
r Earth’s orbit is only very slightly
elliptical. About January 3, Earth is
Sunlight nearly direct
at perihelion, its closest point to
on southern latitudes the Sun, when it is only 1.7 percent
closer than average. About July 5,
Earth is at aphelion, its most dis-
40° tant point from the Sun, when it is
S la
titu
de
only 1.7 percent farther than aver-
age. This small variation does not
significantly affect the seasons.
Earth at Northern Hemisphere

NASA
winter solstice
any planet in the dawn sky is called a morning
FIGURE 2-7
star. Perhaps the most beautiful is Venus, which
Ec
can become as bright as magnitude −4.7. As Venus
Sunset, looking west
lip
tic
moves around its orbit, it can dominate the western
sky each evening for many weeks, but eventually
its orbit appears to carry it back toward the Sun
as seen from Earth, and it is lost in the haze near
Venus the horizon. A few weeks later you can see Venus
reappear in the dawn sky as a brilliant morning star.
Months later it will switch back to being an evening
star once again.
Mercury
Sun
2-4 C YCLES OF
a
THE MOON
Sunrise, looking east
tic
The Moon orbits eastward around Earth once a

lip
Ec
month. Starting this evening, look for the Moon in

the sky. If it is a cloudy night or if the Moon is in
the wrong part of its orbit, you may not see it; but
keep trying on successive evenings, and within a
week or two you will see the Moon. Then, watch
for the Moon on following evenings, and you will
Venus
see it move along its orbit around Earth, cycling
Mercury through its phases as it has done for billions
of years.
Sun
b 2-4a Motion of the Moon
If you watch the Moon night after night, you will
Mercury and Venus follow orbits that keep them near the Sun, so notice two things about its motion. First, you will
they are visible only soon after sunset or just before sunrise. Venus see it moving relative to the background of stars;
takes 584 days to move from morning sky to evening sky and back
second, you will notice that the markings on its face
again, but Mercury zips around in only 116 days.
don’t change. These two observations will help you
understand the motion of the Moon and the origin
of the Moon’s phases.
The Moon moves rapidly among the constellations.
(See How Do We Know 2-2.) The signs of the zodiac
If you watch the Moon for just an hour, you can see it
are no longer important in astronomy. You can look for
moving eastward against the background of stars by
the planets along the ecliptic appearing like bright stars.
slightly more than its own apparent diameter. Each night
Mars looks quite orange in color. Because Venus and
when you look at the Moon, you will see it is roughly half
Mercury orbit inside Earth’s orbit, they never get far
the width of a zodiac constellation (about 13 degrees) to
from the Sun and are visible in the west after sunset or
the east of its location the night before. This movement
in the east before sunrise, as you can see in Figure 2-7.
is the result of the motion of the Moon along its orbit
Venus can be very
around Earth.
bright, but Mercury
evening star Any planet
is difficult to see near
visible in the sky just after sunset.
the horizon. By tradi-
2-4b The Cycle of Moon Phases
morning star Any planet tion, any planet in the The changing shape of the illuminated part of the
visible in the sky just before
sunrise. sunset sky is called an Moon as it orbits Earth is one of the most easily
vening star , and
e observed phenomena in astronomy. You have surely
How Do We Know? 2-2
Pseudoscience
What is the difference between a science and a
pseudoscience? Astronomers have a low opinion
of beliefs such as astrology, not only because they
are groundless but also because they pretend to be
a science. They are pseudosciences, from the Greek
pseudo, meaning “false.”
A pseudoscience is a set of beliefs that appears
to include scientific ideas but fail to obey the most
basic rules of science. For example, some years ago a
claim was made that pyramidal shapes focus cosmic
forces on anything underneath and might have heal-
Astrology may be the
ing properties. Supposedly, a pyramid made of paper,
oldest pseudoscience.
plastic, or other materials would preserve fruit, sharpen
razor blades, and do other miraculous things. Many
books promoted the idea of the special power of pyra- but because people wanted and expected the claim
mids, and this idea led to a popular fad. to be true, they reported that they slept more soundly.
A key characteristic of science is that its claims can Vague claims based on personal testimony that
be tested and verified. In this case, simple experiments cannot be tested are another sign of a pseudoscience.
showed that any shape, not just a pyramid, protects a Astrology is probably the best-known pseudosci-
piece of fruit from airborne spores and allows it to dry ence. It has been tested over and over for centuries, and
without rotting. Likewise, any shape allows oxidation it doesn’t work. It has been proven beyond a reasonable
to improve the cutting edge of a razor blade. Because doubt that there is no connection between the positions
experimental evidence contradicted the claim and of the Sun, Moon, and planets and people’s personali-
because supporters of that hypothesis declined to aban- ties, or events in their lives. Nevertheless, many people
don or revise their claims, you can recognize pyramid believe in astrology despite contradictory evidence.
power as a pseudoscience. The disregard of contradic- Pseudosciences appeal to our need to understand
tory evidence and alternate explanations is a sure sign and control the world around us. Some such claims
of a pseudoscience. involve medical cures, ranging from using magnetic
Pseudoscientific claims can be self-fulfilling. bracelets and crystals to focus mystical power to aston-
For example, some believers slept under pyrami- ishingly expensive, illegal, and dangerous treatments
dal tents to improve their rest. There is no logical for cancer. Logic is a stranger to pseudoscience, but
mechanism by which such a tent could affect a sleeper, human fears and needs are not.
seen the full moon rising dramatically or a thin cres- 2. The changing shape of the Moon as it passes through
cent moon hanging in the evening sky. Study Concept its cycle of phases is produced by sunlight illuminat-
Art 2C, “The Phases of the Moon,” and notice three ing different parts of the side of the Moon you can
important points: see. You always see the same side of the Moon look-
ing down on you, but the shifting shadows make the
1. The Moon always keeps the same side facing Earth,
“man in the Moon” change moods as the Moon cycles
and you never see the far side of the Moon. “The man
through its phases (see also Figure 2-8).
in the Moon” (some cultures see “the rabbit in the
3. The orbital period of the Moon around the Earth is
Moon” instead) is produced by familiar features on
not the same as the length of a Moon phase cycle.
the Moon’s near side.
Concept Art 2C
THE PHASES OF THE MOON
1
As the Moon orbits Earth, it rotates to keep the same side facing
Earth as shown at right. Consequently you always see the same
features on the Moon, and you never see the far side of the Moon.
A mountain on the Moon that points at Earth will always point at
Earth as the Moon revolves and rotates.
(Not to scale)
First quarter
As seen at left, sunlight always illu-
2 minates half of the Moon. Because

you see different amounts of this
sunlit side, you see the Moon cycle
through phases. At the phase called
Waxing
gibbous Waxing
crescent
“new moon,” sunlight illuminates the far side of the Sunset

Moon, and the side you see is in darkness. At new North
Pole
moon, you can’t see the Moon at all. At full moon,
the side you see is fully lit, and the far side is in Full Midnight Noon New
darkness. How much you see depends on where
Earth’s Sunlight
the Moon is in its orbit.
rotation
Notice that there is no such thing as the “dark side Sunrise
of the Moon.” All parts of the Moon experience day
and night in a monthlong cycle. Waning
crescent
In the diagram at the left, you see that the new Waning
gibbous
moon is close to the Sun in the sky, and the
full moon is opposite the Sun. The time of day
Third quarter
depends on the observer’s location on Earth.
2a The first two weeks of

the cycle of the Moon are
shown below according to
The first quarter moon
is one week through
its position at sunset on 14 successive
Gibbous comes its 4-week cycle. evenings. As the Moon grows fatter
from the Latin word from new to full, it is said to wax
for humpbacked.
Wax
ous ing
g gibb cre
sc e
xin
Wa nt
The full moon is 8 7 6 New moon
2 weeks through 9 5 is invisible
its 4-week cycle. 10 4 near the
11 3 Sun
THE SKY AT SUNSET
12 Days since 2
Full moon new moon
rises at 13 1
sunset 14
East South West
The Moon orbits
3
New moon Sun eastward around
Ecliptic Earth in 27.32 days,
New its sidereal period
moon (pronounced si-
DARE-ee-al). This is how long the
Sagittarius
Scorpius Moon takes to circle the sky once
The Sun and Moon are near
each other at new moon. and return to the same position
among the stars.
One sidereal period A complete cycle of lunar

after new moon phases takes 29.53 days, the
Ecliptic Moon’s synodic period. (Synodic
Moon comes from the Greek words for
Sun
One sidereal period after new moon, “together” and “path.”)
Sagittarius the Moon has returned to the same
place among the stars, but the Sun Scorpius To see why the synodic period is
has moved on along the ecliptic. longer than the sidereal period,
study the star charts at the right.
One synodic period Although you think of the lunar

after new moon cycle as being about 4 weeks long,
Ecliptic it is actually 1.53 days longer than
Sun
4 weeks. The calendar divides the
New year into 30-day periods called
moon months (literally “moonths”) in
One synodic period after new moon,
Sagittarius the Moon has caught up with the Scorpius recognition of the 29.53 day syn-
Sun and is again at new moon. odic cycle of the Moon.
a
You can use the diagram on the opposite page to To think about the changing phases of
determine when the Moon rises and sets at different phases. the Moon, imagine facing the southern
sky, which is where people living in the
TIMES OF MOONRISE AND MOONSET Northern Hemisphere find the ecliptic.
The Moon crosses from west to east
Phase Moonrise Moonset night by night, following the ecliptic.
New Dawn Sunset

First quarter Noon Midnight
Full Sunset Dawn
Third quarter Midnight Noon
2b The last two weeks of

the cycle of the Moon
are shown below by its
The third quarter moon
is 3 weeks through its
position at sunrise on 14 successive 4-week cycle.
mornings. As the Moon shrinks from
full to new, it is said to wane.
Wan
cent ing
g cres gibb
nin ous
Wa
New moon is 22 21 20
invisible 23 19
near the 24 18
sun 25 THE SKY AT SUNRISE 17
26 16
Full moon
27 15 sets at
sunrise
14
East South West
From planet Earth you can see a
FIGURE 2-8 phenomenon that is not visible from
most planets. It happens that the Sun
is 400 times larger than the Moon
and, on the a verage, 390 times farther
away, so the Sun and Moon have nearly
equal apparent diameters. (See The
Small Angle Formula in the Math
Reference Cards MR .) Thus, the Moon
is just about the right size to cover the
bright disk of the Sun and cause a solar
eclipse. In a solar eclipse, it is the Sun
that is being hidden (eclipsed) and the
Moon that is “in the way.”
A shadow consists of two parts,
as you can see in Figure 2-9. The
umbra is the region of total shadow.
For example, if you were in the umbra
of the Moon’s shadow, you would see
no portion of the Sun. The umbra
of the Moon’s shadow usually just
barely reaches Earth’s surface and
covers a relatively small circular zone
(Figure 2-9a). Standing in that umbral
zone, you would be in total shadow,
unable to see any part of the Sun’s sur-
face. That is called a total eclipse, as
Castleski/Shutterstock.com
seen in Figure 2-9b. If you moved into

the penumbra, however, you would
be in partial shadow but could also see
Visual part of the Sun peeking around the
edge of the Moon. This is called a par-
In this sequence of lunar phases, the Moon shrinks from a thin crescent at
tial eclipse. Of course, if you are outside
upper left to the last crescent at lower right. You see the same face of the the penumbra, you see no eclipse at all.
Moon, the same mountains, craters, and plains, but the changing direction of Because of the orbital motion
sunlight produces the lunar phases. of the Moon and the rotation of Earth,
the Moon’s shadow sweeps rapidly
across Earth in a long, narrow path of
2-4c Solar Eclipses totality. If you want to see a total solar eclipse, you must
solar eclipse The event that be in the path of totality. When the umbra of the Moon’s
occurs when the Moon passes Eclipses are due to a seem- shadow sweeps over you, you see one of the most dra-
directly between Earth and the ingly complicated combi- matic sights in the sky—the Sun, totally eclipsed.
Sun, blocking your view of nation of apparent motions
the Sun. The eclipse begins as the Moon slowly crosses in
of the Sun and Moon, yet
front of the Sun. It takes about an hour for the Moon
umbra The region of a shadow they are actually easy to
to cover the solar disk, but as the last sliver of the Sun
that is totally shaded. predict once all the cycles
disappears, darkness arrives in a few seconds. Automatic
are understood. Eclipses
penumbra The portion of streetlights come on, drivers turn on their cars’ headlights,
a shadow that is only partially are also among the most
and birds go to roost. The sky usually becomes so dark
shaded. spectacular of nature’s
you can even see the brighter stars. The darkness lasts
sights you might witness.
The Moon moves on in its orbit and in an hour
FIGURE 2-9
the Sun is completely visible again.
Sometimes when the Moon crosses in
front of the Sun it is too small to fully cover the
Penumbra Sun, and then you would witness an annular
Umbra
eclipse. That is a solar eclipse in which an
annulus (meaning “ring”) of the Sun’s disk
Sunlight is visible around the disk of the Moon. The
eclipse never becomes total; it never quite
gets dark, and you can’t see the faint features
of the solar atmosphere. Annular eclipses
Path of total eclipse occur because the Moon follows a slightly
Moon
a elliptical orbit around Earth. If the Moon is
in the farther part of its orbit during totality,
its apparent diameter will be less than the
apparent diameter of the Sun, and thus you
see an annular eclipse. Furthermore, Earth’s
orbit is slightly elliptical, so the Earth-to-Sun
distance varies slightly, and consequently so
does the apparent diameter of the solar disk,
contributing to the effect of the Moon’s vary-
ing apparent size.
If you plan to observe a solar eclipse,
remember that the Sun is bright enough to
burn your eyes and cause permanent damage if
you look at it directly. This is true whether there
is an eclipse or not. Solar eclipses can be mis-
Daniel Good
leading, tempting you to look at the Sun in spite

b Visual
of its brilliance and thus risking your eyesight.
During the few minutes of totality, the bril-
(a) The umbral shadow of the Moon sweeps over a narrow strip of liant disk of the Sun is hidden, and it is safe
Earth during a solar eclipse. (b) From a location inside the umbral to look at the eclipse, but the partial eclipse
shadow, you would see the Moon cover the bright surface of the Sun phases and annular eclipses can be dangerous
in a total solar eclipse. Note faint features of the Sun’s atmosphere (Figure 2-10). See Figure 2-11 for a safe way to
around the edge of the Moon’s disk.
observe the partially eclipsed Sun. Table 2-1 will
allow you to determine when some upcoming
solar eclipses will be visible from your location.
only a few minutes because the umbra is never more than

270 kilometer (170 miles) in diameter on the surface of 2-4d Lunar Eclipses
Earth and sweeps across the landscape at over 1600 km/hr Occasionally you can see annular eclipse A solar
(1000 mph). On average, the period of totality lasts only the Moon darken and turn eclipse in which the solar
2 or 3 minutes and never more than 7.5 minutes. During copper-red in a lunar photosphere appears around the
totality you can see subtle features of the Sun’s atmo- eclipse. A lunar eclipse edge of the Moon in a bright ring,
or annulus. Features of the solar
sphere, such as red flame-like projections that are visible occurs at full moon when atmosphere cannot be seen during
only during those moments when the brilliant disk of the the Moon moves through an annular eclipse.
Sun is completely covered by the Moon. (The Sun’s atmo- the shadow of Earth.
lunar eclipse The darkening of
sphere will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.) As Because the Moon shines the Moon when it moves through
soon as part of the Sun’s disk reappears, the fainter fea- only by reflected sun- Earth’s shadow.
tures vanish in the glare, and the period of totality is over. light, you see the Moon
A Total Solar Eclipse
Sunlight
The Moon moving

from the right just Pinhole
begins to cross in
front of the Sun.
The disk of the Moon

gradually covers the
disk of the Sun.
Image of
partially eclipsed Sun
A safe way to view the partial phases of a solar eclipse.

Sunlight begins to
dim as more of the Use a pinhole in a card to project an image of the Sun
Sun’s disk is covered. on a second card. The greater the distance between
the cards, the larger (and fainter) the image will be.
not extinguished. In a lunar eclipse, it is the Moon that

is being hidden in the Earth’s shadow and Earth that is
During totality, pink “in the way” of the sunlight.
prominences are If the orbit of the Moon carries it through the
often visible.
umbra of Earth’s shadow, you see a total lunar eclipse,
demonstrated in Figure 2-12a. As you watch the Moon
in the sky, it first moves into the penumbra and dims
slightly; the deeper it moves into the penumbra, the
more it dims. In about an hour, the Moon reaches the
A longer-exposure umbra, and you see the umbral shadow darken part
photograph during of the Moon. It takes about an hour for the Moon
totality shows the
fainter corona.
to enter the umbra completely and become totally
eclipsed. The period of total eclipse may last as long
as 1 hour 45 minutes, though the timing of the eclipse
Daniel Good
depends on where the Moon crosses the shadow.

Visual images
Table 2-2 gives information about some upcoming lunar
eclipses.
This sequence of photos shows the first half of a total
When the Moon is totally eclipsed, it does not
solar eclipse.
disappear completely. Although it receives no direct
sunlight, the Moon in the umbra does receive some
sunlight refracted (bent) through Earth’s atmosphere.
gradually darken as it enters the shadow. If you were If you were on the Moon during totality, you would not
on the Moon and in the umbra of Earth’s shadow, you see any part of the Sun because it would be entirely
would see no portion of the Sun. If you moved into the hidden behind Earth. However, you would be able to
penumbra, however, you would be in partial shadow see Earth’s atmosphere illuminated from behind by the
and would see part of the Sun peeking around the Sun. The red glow from this ring consisting of all the
edge of Earth so the sunlight would be dimmed but Earth’s simultaneous sunsets and sunrises illuminates
TABLE 2-1 TOTAL AND ANNULAR ECLIPSES OF THE SUN, 2017 THROUGH 2024 *
Time of Mid- Maximum Length
Total/Annular Eclipse** of Total or Annular
Date (T/A) (UTC) Phase (Min:Sec) Area of Visibility
2017 February 26 A 14:55 0:44 South America, Atlantic, Africa, Antarctica

2017 August 21*** T 18:27 2:40 Pacific, United States, Atlantic
2019 July 2 T 19:24 4:33 Pacific, South America
2019 December 26 A 05:19 3:39 Southeast Asia, Pacific
2021 June 10 A 10:43 3:51 North America, Arctic
2021 December 4 T 07:35 1:54 Antarctica, South Atlantic
2023 April 20 A/T**** 04:18 1:16 Southeast Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia
2023 October 14 A 18:00 5:17 United States, Central America, South America
2024 April 8 T 18:18 4:28 North America, Central America
2024 October 2 A 18:46 7:25 Pacific, South America
* There will be no total or partial solar eclipses in 2018.

** Times are Universal Time. Subtract 5 hours for Eastern Standard Time, 6 hours for Central Standard Time, 7 hours for Mountain Standard Time, and
8 hours for Pacific Standard Time. For Daylight Savings Time (mid-March through early November), add 1 hour to Standard Time.
*** The next major total solar eclipse visible from the United States will occur on August 21, 2017, when the path of totality will cross the United
States from Oregon to South Carolina.
**** Hybrid eclipse: begins as annular, becomes total, ends as annular.
Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
TABLE 2-2 TOTAL AND PARTIAL ECLIPSES OF THE MOON, 2017 THROUGH 2024
Date Time of Mid-Eclipse (UTC)* Length of Totality (Hr:Min) Length of Eclipse** (Hr:Min)
2017 August 7 18:22 Partial 1:55

2018 January 31 13:31 1:16 3:23
2018 July 27 20:23 1:43 3:55
2019 January 21 05:13 1:02 3:17
2019 July 16 21:32 Partial 2:58
2021 May 26 11:20 0:15 3:07
2021 November 19 09:04 Partial 3:28
2022 May 16 04:13 1:25 3:27
2022 November 8 11:00 1:25 3:40
2023 October 28 20:15 Partial 1:17
2024 September 18 02:45 Partial 1:03
* Times are Universal Time. Subtract 5 hours for Eastern Standard Time, 6 hours for Central Standard Time, 7 hours for Mountain Standard Time, and
8 hours for Pacific Standard Time. For Daylight Savings Time (mid-March through early November), add 1 hour to Standard Time. Lunar eclipses that
occur between sunset and sunrise in your time zone will be visible, and those at midnight will be best placed.
** Does not include penumbral phase.
Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
FIGURE 2-12
b
Motion of Moon
a
During a total lunar eclipse,

the Moon takes a number
of hours to move through
Earth’s shadow.
A cross section of
Earth’s shadow shows
the umbra and penumbra. Sunlight scattered from Earth’s
atmosphere bathes the totally
eclipsed Moon in a coppery glow.
Orbit of
Moon
© 1982 by Dr. Jack B. Marling
To Sun Umbra Penumbra (Not to scale)
A longer exposure was used to record the Moon while it was totally eclipsed. The Moon’s path appears curved in
the photo because of photographic effects.
the Moon during totality and makes it glow coppery red, Lunar eclipses always occur at full moon but not
as shown in Figure 2-12b. at every full moon. The Moon’s orbit is tipped about
If the Moon passes a bit too far north or south of the 5 degrees to the ecliptic, so most full moons cross the
center of Earth’s shadow, it may only partially enter the sky north or south of Earth’s shadow and there is no
umbra, and you see a partial lunar eclipse. The part of lunar eclipse that month (see Figure 2-13). For the
the Moon that remains outside the umbra in the penum- same reason, solar eclipses always occur during new
bra receives some direct sunlight, and the glare is usually moon but not at every new moon. The orientation of
great enough to prevent your seeing the faint coppery the Moon’s orbit in space varies slowly and as a result
glow of the part of the Moon in the umbra. solar and lunar eclipses repeat in a pattern called the
FIGURE 2-13
Full moon
Earth
New moon
Umbral shadows of Earth and the Moon. Because of the tilt of the Moon’s orbit relative to the ecliptic, it is easy for the shadows
to miss their mark at full moon and at new moon and fail to produce eclipses. (The diameters of Earth and the Moon are
exaggerated by a factor of 2 for clarity.)
Saros cycle lasting 18 years and 11 1 3 days. Prehistoric the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. That is, the
peoples who understood the Saros cycle could pre- eclipse must occur between sunset and sunrise at your
dict eclipses without understanding what the Sun and location to be visible.
Moon really were. Table 2-2 will allow you
to determine when some Saros cycle The 18-year, 11 13 -day
Although there are usually no more than one or
period after which the pattern of
two lunar eclipses each year, it is not difficult to see upcoming lunar eclipses lunar and solar eclipses repeats.
one. You need only be on the dark side of Earth when will be visible.
What Are We? Along for the Ride

We humans are planet-walkers. We live on the surface around its orbit, the changing balance of sunlight
of a whirling planet, and on clear, dark nights we can produces the changing seasons. Winter and summer
look outward into space for billions of light-years. have cycled longer than there have been humans on
Most of the stars we see are actually not very far Earth, and when you watch autumn leaves turn golden
way. They are only hundreds, not billions, of light- you are part of one of the great astronomical cycles of
years from Earth. The vast majority of the stars in the your planet.
Universe are too distant and, consequently, too faint Through it all, the Moon orbits Earth and cultures
to see with the unaided eye. For centuries, human all through history have made it their timepiece. Your
cultures have labeled the visible stars with names and calendar is divided into months recognizing the cycle
divided them into constellations. The constellation of the Moon, and your months are divided into four
Hercules looked down on Plato and Aristotle just as it weeks recognizing the fourfold cycle of the phases.
looks down on you. Busy as you are, take a moment to look up and
Nearly all of the energy Earth receives comes from enjoy the cycles of the sky. They will remind you that
the Sun, and, as Earth spins on its axis and revolves you are a planet-walker.
STUDY
TOOLS 2 ASTRO ONLINE
Visit ASTRO Online at www.cengagebrain.com
◻ Interactive Reading
IN THE BOOK ◻ Practice Quizzing
◻ Tear Out the Review Card on User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns ◻ Videos and Animations
and Cycles. ◻ Exclusive Features
Questions 2
and Problems
REVIEW QUESTIONS 3. You are packing for a vacation on a planet orbiting
another star that is much like the Sun. Why might you
1. What is the difference between an asterism and a want some information about the planet’s orbit size
constellation? Give some examples. and axis tilt to know what to pack?
2. How does the Greek-letter designation of a star give 4. You happen to visit the Moon when some people
you a clue to its brightness? on Earth see a total solar eclipse. Who has a more
3. How did the magnitude system originate in the spectacular experience of this event, you or the friends
classification of stars by brightness? you left behind back on Earth? Why?
4. What does the word apparent mean in apparent visual
magnitude?
5. In what ways is the celestial sphere a scientific model? PROBLEMS
6. If Earth did not rotate, could you define the celestial 1. If light from one star is 40 times brighter (has 40 times
poles and celestial equator? more flux) than light from another star, what is their
7. Where would you go on Earth to place a celestial pole difference in magnitudes? (Hint: See Magnitudes in
at your zenith? the Math Reference Cards MR .)
8. Why does the number of circumpolar constellations 2. If two stars differ by 8.6 magnitudes, what is their
depend on the latitude of the observer? flux ratio? (Hint: See Magnitudes in the Math
9. If Earth did not rotate, could you still define the Reference Cards MR .)
ecliptic? Why or why not? 3. Star A has a magnitude of 2.5; star B, 5.5; and star
10. Why are the seasons reversed in the Southern C, 9.5. Which is brightest? Which are visible to
Hemisphere relative to the Northern Hemisphere? the unaided eye? Which pair of stars has an flux
11. Do the phases of the Moon look the same from every ratio of 16? (Hint: See Magnitudes in the Math
place on Earth, or is the Moon full at different times as Reference Cards MR .)
seen from different locations? 4. By what factor is sunlight brighter than moonlight?
12. What phase would Earth be in if you were on the (Hint: Refer to Figure 2-4, and see Magnitudes in the
Moon when the Moon was full? At first quarter? Math Reference Cards MR .)
At waning crescent? 5. If you are at a latitude of 35 degrees north of Earth’s
13. Why isn’t there an eclipse at every new moon and at equator, what is the angular distance from the
every full moon? northern horizon up to the north celestial pole? From
14. Why is the Moon red during a total lunar eclipse? the southern horizon down to the south celestial pole?
15. How Do We Know? How can a scientific model be 6. Given that Earth is 4.6 billion (4.6 3 109 ) years old,
useful if it isn’t a correct description of nature? how many precessional cycles have occurred?
16. How Do We Know? What are the main characteristics 7. Identify the phases of the Moon if on March 20 the
of a pseudoscience? Can you suggest other examples Moon were located at the position the Sun is located
of pseudoscience not described in the textbook? Can on: (a) March 20, (b) September 22, (c) June 22, and
you suggest other examples? (d) December 21.
8. Identify the phases of the Moon if at sunset in the
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Northern Hemisphere the Moon were (a) near the
eastern horizon, (b) high in the south, (c) in the
1. Using stars from one or more of the “official” southeast, (d) in the southwest.
constellations, create an asterism that is significant 9. Draw a diagram showing Earth, the Moon, and
to the culture of your school. shadows during (a) a total solar eclipse, (b) a total
2. You discover an ancient document that lists the location lunar eclipse, (c) a partial lunar eclipse, and (d) an
of buried treasure as 368 24' 11.9" N by 258 25' 35.4" E. annular eclipse.
You look on a map to see approximately where that is, 10. Phobos, one of the Moons of Mars, has an average
but when you start on your trip you find that your GPS diameter of 22.5 km and orbits 5980 km above the
is broken. How will you know when you’re at the right surface of the planet. What is the angular diameter of
latitude? Much harder question: How will you know Phobos as seen from Mars? (Hint: See The Small-
when you’re at the right longitude? Angle Formula in the Math Reference Cards MR .)
LEARNING TO LOOK 4. Figure 2-15 shows the annular eclipse of May 30, 1984.
How is it different from the annular eclipse shown in
1. To take the photos that are combined on the opening Figure 2-9? Why do you suppose it is different?
page of this chapter, was the photographer located
on the day or night side of the Earth? Was the
photographer in the Moon’s umbra, penumbra, or FIGURE 2-15
both? How do you know?
2. Look at Concept Art 2C. Find the person looking
at the third-quarter phase of the Moon at sunrise.
What percentage of the near side of the Moon is
illuminated? Likewise, what percentage is in the dark?
Repeat the exercise for the new phase of the Moon.
3. Figure 2-14 shows a crescent Moon. Explain why the
Moon could never look this way at night.
FIGURE 2-14
The New Yorker Collection 2006 Tom Cheney from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved
Laurence Marschall
Visual
3 The Origin
of Modern
Astronomy
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY/Bridgeman Images

How you would burst out laughing, my dear Kepler, if you would hear what the
greatest philosopher of the Gymnasium told the Grand Duke about me . . .
From a letter by Galileo Galilei
GUIDEPOST This chapter is not just about the history of astron-

omy. As the astronomers of the Renaissance struggled to
The preceding chapters gave you a modern view of Earth. understand Earth and the heavens, they invented a new
You can now imagine how Earth, the Moon, and the Sun way of understanding nature—a way of thinking that is
move through space and how that produces the sights you now called science. Every chapter that follows will use
see in the sky. But how did humanity first realize that we the methods that were invented when Copernicus and
live on a planet moving through space? This realization others grappled with the ancient idea that Earth is the
required the revolutionary overthrow of an ancient and center of the Universe.
honored idea of Earth’s place.
By the 16th century, many astronomers were
becoming uncomfortable with the idea that Earth sat
3-1 ASTRONOMY BEFORE
at the center of a spherical Universe. In this chapter,
you will discover how an astronomer named Copernicus
COPERNICUS
directly challenged that idea, how Galileo Galilei To understand why Copernicus’s work was so impor-
changed the rules of the debate, and how Isaac Newton tant, you first need to backtrack to ancient Greece and
changed humanity’s concept of nature. (See CO 3.) Here meet the two great authorities of ancient astronomy, the
you will find answers to four important questions: brilliant philosopher Aristotle and a later follower of
• How did classical philosophers describe Earth’s place Aristotle’s principles, Claudius Ptolemy, whom you first
in the Universe? met in Chapter 2 Section 2-1c in the context of measuring
• How did Copernicus revise that ancient concept? the brightness of stars.
• Why was Galileo condemned by the Inquisition? Recall from Chapter 1 the differences among Solar
• How did Isaac Newton change the way people thought System, galaxy, and Universe. The early astronomers dis-
about nature and themselves? cussed here didn’t know there were other galaxies. They
CO 3 Galileo’s telescope revealed such things
as craters on the Moon, and he explained how
that evidence could be used to test the prevailing
Earth-centered model of the Universe. He was
condemned by the Inquisition in 1633.
didn’t know that we live inside a galaxy. They didn’t even Study Concept Art 3A, “The Ancient Universe,”
know that the stars were other objects like the Sun. They and notice three important ideas:
thought the entire Universe consisted of Earth, the Sun,
1. Ancient philosophers and astronomers accepted
the Moon, and five moving points of light they called
without question—as first principles— that heav-
planets. Furthermore, they did not know that the plan-
enly objects must move on circular paths at constant
ets are composed of substances much like Earth’s. They
speeds, and that the Earth was motionless at the c enter
imagined that all of this was enclosed inside the celes-
of the Universe. Although a few ancient writers men-
tial sphere that lay just beyond the most distant planet,
tioned the possibility that Earth might move, most of
Saturn. Their entire Universe was quite small, and they
them did so in order to point out how that idea was
imagined that Earth lay at the center.
“obviously” wrong.
2. As viewed by you from Earth, the planets seem to
3-1a Aristotle’s Universe follow complicated paths in the sky, including epi-
Philosophers of the ancient world attempted to deduce sodes of “backward” motion that are difficult to
truth about the Universe by reasoning from first explain in terms of motion on circular paths at con-
principles. A first principle was something that seemed stant speeds.
obviously true to everyone and supposedly needed no 3. Finally, you can see how Ptolemy created an elabo-
further examination. That may strike you as peculiar; rate geometrical and mathematical model to explain
modern thinkers tend to observe how things work and details of the observed
then from that evidence make principles and conclusions motions of the planets first principle
that can always be reexamined. Before the Renaissance, while assuming Earth Something that seems obviously
however, reasoning from evidence (which you might call was motionless at the true and needs no further
examination.
“scientific thinking”) was not widespread. center of the Universe.
CHAPTER 3: The Origin of Modern Astronomy 37
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riuscì così felice; e meglio studiò l’obliquità dell’eclittica, sebbene
l’irregolare refrazione del sole in inverno gl’impedisse di precisare i
due solstizj. Mentre in tutta l’antichità conosciuta non erasi scoperto
alcun pianeta nuovo, primo nel 1789 Herschel trovò il pianeta urano:
poi Piazzi al 1º giorno del 1801 la cerere ferdinandea; scoperta che
destò rumore perchè prima, e perchè parea verificare l’ipotesi di
Keplero che i pianeti fossero disposti intorno al sole nelle distanze di
4, 7, 10, 16, 23, 52, 100, dove mancava il quarto fra marte e giove,
vuoto che restava empiuto da cerere. Ma dopochè l’Accademia di
Berlino, diviso il cielo in xxiv ore, ne affidò una a ciascuno de’ più
valenti osservatori, in modo da formare esattissime carte, divenne
cura più ch’altro meccanica lo scontrare altri asteroidi fra marte e
giove, che passano già il centinajo.
Oriani (1752-1832), povero fanciullo d’una terra suburbana di
Milano, raccolto dai Certosini e divenuto frate Barnaba, poi messo
alla specola di Milano, la amò passionatamente; quando Napoleone
esibivagli onori, esso gli cercava qualche stromento, e morendo
lasciolla erede. Risolse difficoltà dichiarate irresolubili da Eulero col
trovare tutte le relazioni possibili fra i sei elementi di qualsiasi
triangolo sferoidico; e precisò gli elementi di urano.
Giovanni Inghirami da Volterra 1779-1854 scolopio continuò la gloria
dell’osservatorio Ximeniano di Firenze; con somma lode eseguì una
delle ore per la gran carta uranografica; seguì le giornaliere
occultazioni delle piccole stelle sotto la luna con metodo
semplicissimo, sicchè con mere addizioni e sottrazioni possono
effettuarsi difficilissimi computi astronomici: laonde l’Accademia di
Londra lo dichiarò ingegno meraviglioso, e le principali nazioni
marittime vollero che alle loro effemeridi astronomiche fosse
aggiunta la planetaria dell’Inghirami. Illustrò difficili opere di calcolo
sublime, pubblicò un corso di matematiche e i Principj idromeccanici,
e nel 1817 misurò una base di cinque miglia sopra cui fu eretta la
triangolazione della Toscana. A simile operazione la matematica
celeste fu applicata in tutta la penisola per servire di norma alle
operazioni del censo; nel che bella lode meritarono gli astronomi di
Napoli [285].
Giovanni Plana da Voghera colla profonda analisi portò innanzi le
idee di Laplace, trattando della costituzione atmosferica della terra,
delle refrazioni astronomiche e delle perturbazioni planetarie, e del
movimento della luna, dedusse le tre coordinate dall’unico principio
dell’attrazione universale. Tracciò un meridiano attraverso il
Piemonte insieme col milanese Carlini, il quale trovò un nuovo
metodo per costruire le tavole astronomiche; e va posto fra i buoni
osservatori col Colla di Parma, il Calandrelli e lo Scarpellini di Roma,
il De Cuppis, il Cappocci, il Nasili di Napoli, lo Schiaparelli, il
Respighi, il Bianchi di Modena, il Santini d’Arezzo, allievo del celebre
Paoli, poi professore a Padova, diede una teoria degli stromenti
ottici. Del novarese Mossotti sono vanto il lavoro analitico sulla
determinazione delle orbite dei corpi celesti, e il metodo per dedurre
gli elementi d’un pianeta o d’una cometa da quattro osservazioni con
equazioni di primo grado; il Cavezzini anch’esso piemontese,
inventò le tavole geocentrica ed eliocentrica. Il gesuita Francesco De
Vico di Macerata, direttore dell’osservatorio romano, studiò le
nebulose e principalmente quella d’orione e le comete, e pel primo
vide in Italia quella d’Halley nel 1835, e ne calcolò il ritorno; esaminò
venere, precisandone la rotazione, e l’anello e il sesto e settimo
satellite di saturno. Benchè ungherese, dobbiamo nominare il barone
di Zach, che diresse la costruzione degli osservatorj di Napoli e di
Marlía presso Lucca, e dal 1816 al 26 pubblicò a Genova la sua
importantissima Corrispondenza astronomica, geografica, idrostatica
e statistica.
Il perfezionamento degli stromenti molto giovò all’astronomia, e se i
migliori telescopj ci vengono di fuori, quelli del modenese
Giambattista Amici non iscapitano da quelli d’Herschel [286]; fece
camere lucide, microscopj a riflessione e catadiottrici; e osservazioni
celesti moltiplicò dopo che, profugo, ricoverò a Firenze. Molto si
esaltarono pure i telescopj e i cannocchiali del piemontese Porro,
inventore del Cleps.
I varj osservatorj pubblicano annuarj e memorie, estendendo le
osservazioni anche a’ fenomeni magnetici pei quali un osservatorio
apposito venne piantato sul Vesuvio. Il gesuita Secchi vorrebbe aver
riconosciuto la legge che regola i bizzarri movimenti di declinazione
e inclinazione dell’ago magnetico, trovando che il sole opera su di
esso come fosse una potente calamita, situata a somma distanza
dalla terra, e avente i poli omonimi dei terrestri, dirizzati alla
medesima parte del cielo. Egli stesso potè pel primo valersi a Roma
delle comunicazioni elettriche per istabilire la contemporaneità delle
osservazioni metereologiche, sperata fonte di molte utilità
pratiche [287] e scrisse sull’unità delle forze.
Nel più potente stromento d’analisi, la matematica, quali nomi
opporremo al nostro Lagrangia e agli stranieri?
Lorenzo Mascheroni (1750-1800) (p. 576) morì profugo e povero in
Francia, ove fu consultato intorno al nuovo sistema di pesi e misure,
a cui collaborarono Lagrangia, Vassalli, Fabroni, Balbo e il lucchese
Pietro Franchini (1768-1837), autore d’un corso d’analisi, della
scienza del calcolo, di risoluzioni delle equazioni algebriche d’ogni
grado; e che fu dell’Istituto di Francia e senatore dell’Impero. Come il
veneto Collalto, così il Brunacci di Firenze sostennero fra noi il
metodo lagrangiano, mentre i Francesi preferivano quello di Liebniz,
o piuttosto li fuse. Il Mossotti suddetto, professore di fisica,
matematica e meccanica celeste a Pisa, i lombardi Mainardi,
Frisiani, Bordoni, Brioschi, Turazza, Cremona, Ruffini di Valentano...
continuano profonde ricerche matematiche, come i veneti Conti e
Minich, e il Bellavitis sul calcolo sublime e sul metodo delle
equipollenze, il vicentino Fusinieri sulla trisezione di qualunque arco
di circolo, il savojardo Luigi Menabrea sulle vibrazioni.
Quando Wronscki pubblicò la Filosofia della tecnica, posando pel
primo il teorema generale e il problema finale delle matematiche,
delle quali riponeva il carattere distintivo nella certezza d’un principio
unico trascendente assoluto, volle confutarlo il Romagnosi: ma oltre
mancare il rispetto dovuto a un grand’uomo, si mostrò incerto anche
nel maneggio della geometria.
Pietro Cossali veronese (1748-1815) nella Storia dell’algebra
rivendicò contro Montuela alcune glorie all’Italia, ma stanca col rozzo
stile e colle divagazioni. La Storia delle matematiche in Italia, scritta
in francese dal toscano Guglielmo Libri, erudito che per la
bibliografia concepì una passione divenutagli funesta, lo mostra
esperto matematico più che buono storico, accumulando e
divagando, e fino alterando i fatti per secondare le passioni sue e del
momento. Nessuna cosa è meno nazionale della scienza, e un
paese può offrirne un episodio, non mai quella concatenazione, che
unica costituisce le scienze. Troppo facilmente poi vi si mescolano la
passione e la boria fino al paradosso, s’arrogano alla patria
invenzioni certamente forestiere, ed anche senza volontaria infedeltà
si vagheggia come vero ciò che non è se non faticosamente trovato.
Il reggiano Giambattista Venturi (1746-1822), in Francia prese
pratica coi migliori fisici, dettò articoli e dissertazioni, lavorò sui
manoscritti di quelle biblioteche, e scrisse intorno a Lionardo, a
Galileo, al Castelvetro, ed all’origine e ai progressi dell’agricoltura;
uomo semplice fino all’avarizia, nelle tasche foderate di latta portava
la scarsa prebenda nei viaggi che, per confrontare manoscritti,
faceva alle diverse città.
Il vanto de’ nostri nell’idraulica fu sostenuto piuttosto con la pratica
che con teorie; ma vanno nominati con lode i toscani Fossombroni e
Brunacci suddetto, autore dell’Ariete idraulico, e il bergamasco
Tadini, la cui teorica delle onde è invano usurpata dagli stranieri.
Pessuti semplificò e ridusse intelligibile anche ai novizj la formola
complicata di Laplace per l’attrazione capillare.
L’asciugamento delle maremme toscane e venete, le dighe ai fiumi e
al mare, i canali di navigazione ed irrigui diedero grand’esercizio
agl’idraulici. Giuseppe Bruschetti preparò una buona storia de’ canali
di Lombardia; e dotte ricerche e sperienze sui nostri fiumi e laghi il
Parea, il Lombardini, il Paleocapa, il Colombani, il Brighenti, il
Possenti. Pietro Ferrari da Spoleto 1753-1825, architetto della
Camera apostolica, oltre i progetti per prosciugare il lago Trasimeno
e il Fúcino [288], lasciò quello d’un canale navigabile che
dall’Adriatico sboccherebbe in due luoghi del Mediterraneo. Nè di
progetti fu od è scarsezza. Ma gli è tempo che l’idraulica, l’economia
e l’agricoltura si associno seriamente per riparare ad uno de’
peggiori guai della nostra penisola, l’irruzione de’ torrenti, cagionata
dal diveltare e tagliare a vendetta le selve, onde i monti scollegansi e
franano, e le dirotte pioggie non più rattenute dalle foglie nè dalle
radici, colmano le valli e rovinano i colti.
In fronte alle scoperte moderne sta la pila del Volta (t. xii, p. 589), il
quale però visse fino al 1826 senz’ajutare d’un passo i progressi che
nella fisica e più nella chimica produsse quel suo trovato, divenuto
ben presto non solo potentissimo stromento di decomposizione, ma
fonte di luce, di forza, poi d’inesauribili meraviglie dopo combinatosi
col magnetismo. Questi sono meriti degli stranieri; ma non vuolsi
dimenticare il professore Brugnatelli che fino dal 1801 adoprò la pila
a decomporre i sali, ottenne la doratura col precipitare il rame, l’oro,
spiegò il fenomeno delle pile secondarie: splendidi veri, registrati
negli Annali di chimica, che lo fanno predecessore di Davy,
Nicholson, Jacobi, Kemp, sebbene non conosciuto [289]. Stefano
Marianini piemontese sostenne con perspicaci osservazioni l’origine
fisico-meccanica dell’elettricità, contro coloro che vi vedono
un’azione chimica, come il genovese Botto, che studiò pure
l’applicazione dell’elettromagnetismo alla meccanica. Matteucci
forlivese (-1868) studiò il passaggio delle correnti traverso ai liquidi,
e l’elettrofisiologia principalmente nella torpedine, e costruendo pile
d’animali appena morti [290]; ma non pare intenda connettere que’
fenomeni alle funzioni dei nervi, se non indirettamente. Isolati i
muscoli delle rane, scoprì che questi assorbono l’ossigeno ed
emettono l’acido carbonico a guisa de’ polmoni, e da essi ottenne
fenomeni chimici e correnti elettriche. Zamboni, repugnante alla
teoria elettro-chimica, colle pile a secco fece un pendolo perpetuo.
Nel 1790 Romagnosi osservava che una bussola, posta sotto
l’azione della corrente elettrica, deviava: annunziò il fatto sui giornali,
ma nè altri vi pose mente, nè egli vi diede sviluppo o esattezza
scientifica; sicchè al danese Oersted rimase intatta la gloria di
questa scoperta, per la quale potemmo a fili metallici, colle correnti
di induzione, comunicare tutte la proprietà d’un magnete, e a tal
modo ottenere le calamite intermittenti, fondamento delle tante
combinazioni elettro-magnetiche, per le quali si fecero e telegrafi e
macchine locomotrici. Ottenere pile di sì lieve costo, che divenga
economica la decomposizione dell’acqua, e così abbiasi a basso
prezzo il gas illuminante e il calefaciente, è lo studio pertinace e la
speranza del genovese Carosio.
La scienza del più bello e del più maraviglioso degli imponderabili, la
luce, ch’è la più avanzata delle fisiche perchè la più indipendente, fu
mutata di punto in bianco col tornare dalle emissioni di Neuton alle
ondulazioni di Huygens, donde gli stupendi fenomeni
dell’interferenza e della polarizzazione. Leopoldo Nobili reggiano
(1823) studiò quest’ultima; e la metallocromia, la doppia calamita
elettrica, la teoria delle induzioni prometteano in esso uno de’
maggiori fisici, se non moriva immaturo. La sua pila termoelettrica,
ove il calore opera sul galvanometro, più di qualunque termoscopio è
sensibile alle variazioni di calorico, potendosene dimostrare la
velocità della trasmissione e la quantità d’irradiazione traverso ai
corpi trasparenti, colla sensibilità fino di un terzo e di un quarto di
grado.
Macedonio Melloni, costretto coll’Amici a fuggire da Parma dopo la
rivoluzione del 1830, portò seco nell’esiglio un perfezionato
telescopio, e, compiute le sperienze, le offrì all’Istituto di Francia.
Biot ne stese una relazione in tutta lode. Le sue scoperte
consisteano nel ravvisare nel calorico raggi di natura differente,
alcuni essendo trasmessi, altri intercetti da certi corpi; oltre il calore
ordinario che si propaga lentamente e per diverse vie, ve n’ha uno
radiante, che si comunica non per contatto, ma istantaneamente, e
va sempre retto a guisa della luce. Il calore radiante è un agente
distinto dalla luce? Melloni risponde di sì; laonde la triplice proprietà
di scaldare, illuminare, produrre impressioni fotografiche. Morendo a
Napoli, lasciò un elettroscopio (1801-1856) assai migliore de’
precedenti.
Sul calorico sono pure ammirati gli studj del Belli (-1860) di
Vallanzasca. Amedeo Avogadro piemontese (1776-1856) ne stabilì
questa legge, che i calori specifici dei gas composti, ritenuti sotto
volume costante, paragonati a quelli d’un egual volume d’aria o di un
gas semplice sotto eguale temperatura e pressione, sono espressi
dalla radice quadrata della somma dei numeri interi e frazionarj dei
volumi dei gas semplici.
E d’altri fisici illustri ci gloriamo, quali Vincenzo Antinori fiorentino;
monsignor Gilj, che armò la cupola di San Pietro a Roma, isolandola
con un solo parafulmine, opera gigantesca, come la meridiana
tracciata su quella piazza, cui serve di gnomone l’obelisco; Lorenzo
Fazzini napoletano (1787-1837) che sviluppò molti fenomeni
dell’elettricità e introdusse certe eliche molto acclamate;
Zantedeschi, che al domani d’ogni grande scoperta si presenta a
reclamarne la priorità, quasi genio che intraveda le verità, ma senza
quella pienezza scientifica che le rende effettive.
Il botanico Giuseppe Raddi fiorentino, incaricato nel 1817 d’un
viaggio al Brasile, poi in Egitto col Rosellini, stampò sopra alcune
nuove crittogame; sulle quali il De Notaris studia in bella emulazione
col Moris, cui è dovuta la Flora sarda, come la Flora dalmatica al
Devisiani. Ciro Pollini la Flora veronese, la piemontese il Re, la
comasca il Comolli, la bergomense il Bergamaschi, la valtellinese il
Massara, la tirolese il Perini e l’Ambrosi che senza maestri si meritò
la stima de’ più illustri, la Pisana il Savi, che poi nella Flora italiana
(1818-24) raccolse le piante più belle che si coltivano nella penisola;
al Bertoloni è dovuta la prima Flora italica, cominciata nel 1815. I
veneti meneghini (Algologia euganica), Zanini, Massalungo; i
lombardi Balsamo-Crivelli, Cornaglia, Cesati, Garovaglio faticano
negli arcani di questa bella scienza, per la quale si segnalarono nel
napoletano il Piccioli, il Tenore, il Gasperini, il Parlatore. Molti
vegetali e insetti conservano il nome di Francesco Andrea Bonelli da
Cuneo 1748-1830 buon naturalista. Giorgio Gallesio fece la Pomona
italiana: il milanese Vittadini preparò in cera tutti i funghi. Mauro
Rusconi da Pavia portò luce sulla generazione delle rane. De Filippi
milanese sta fra’ megliori cultori del regno animale [291], di cui la
parte ornitologica trovò un acclamato cultore in Carlo Buonaparte
(-1857), e tutto un felice espositore in Giuseppe Gené. I molluschi
dell’Adriatico furono studiati da Stefano Renier di Chioggia in opera
che dopo trent’anni pubblicò nel 1816. Il bellunese Doglioni raccolse
e pubblicò gli uccelli della sua provincia, come il Carraro da Lonigo.
Il bergamasco Mangili (1767-1829) scoprì il sistema nerveo delle
mignatte e delle conchiglie bivalvi, illustrò i mammiferi soggetti al
letargo, la fecondazione artifiziale de’ girini, la circolazione del
sangue nel mesenterio delle rane e nelle branche de’ pesci, e
insegnò a rimediare coll’ammoniaca al veleno della vipera.
La zoologia, non contenta di svelare l’infinitamente piccolo, cercò in
grembo alla terra i frammenti d’un mondo perito, e secondo quelli
determinò l’età dei terreni. Il bassanese G. B. Brocchi (1772-1826)
oltre lo stato fisico del suolo di Roma, descrisse alcune località
d’Italia, e massime le colline conchigliacee subappennine;
preparando a indurre l’identità di formazione dei terreni terziarj non
dalla giacitura, ma da’ corpi organici che contengono. Morì al
Sennaar nel 1826. Scipione Breislak diede un’introduzione alla
geologia, e descrisse la provincia di Milano e la Campania, e mostrò
che i sette colli di Roma sono crateri di vulcani estinti. Da Gaetano
Rosina avemmo ricerche mineralogico-chimiche sulle valli
dell’Ossola, e osservazioni sul moto intestino dei solidi.
Marzari Pencati vicentino (1769-1830) descrisse i terreni veneti e
una corsa pel bacino del Rodano e per la Liguria occidentale; e
s’accorse che i graniti erano emersi dopo la deposizione de’ calcari
conchigliferi. Da poi la geologia trovò nel Napoletano passionati
cultori Nicola Covelli, il Monticelli, il Sacchi, il Pilla; in Romagna lo
Scarabelli, l’Orsini, lo Spada; in Toscana Cocchi, Meneghini, Savi; in
Sardegna Lamarmora; nell’alta Italia Collegno, Pasini, Zigno, Pareto,
Gastaldi, Curioni, Catullo, Stoppani, Sismonda; e cogli stranieri De
Buch, Dolomieu, Beaumont, Agassiz, Lyell esaminarono i nostri
terreni, ed agitarono quistioni animatissime. La emersione, predicata
da Beaumont, e già enunciata da Lazzaro Moro (vol. xii, pag. 585),
dovè cedere alla teoria del restringimento della crosta della terra,
prodotto dal raffreddarsi di essa. Nella geologia, perchè troppo
ancora conghietturale, difficilissimo è determinare il merito de’ suoi
cultori, talun de’ quali è appellato sommo, mentre altri lo dichiara
ciarlatano. Ecco in fatti il Gorini di Lodi uscire colla teoria del
plutonismo, che sventerebbe tutte le precedenti, e che in
conseguenza è da tutti i precedenti repudiata. E tanto sono squisite
le diligenze, che oggi si esigono dagli osservatori, che nessuno può
avventurarsi, non soltanto a diversi regni della natura, ma neppure a
diverse provincie del regno stesso; nè la scienza si fa progredire che
colla longanime perseveranza s’un punto solo, finchè verrà qualche
poderoso sintetico che valga a tutto riunire.
Molti scrissero d’agraria; Filippo Re che compilava gli Annali
d’agricoltura del regno d’Italia, il Ricci, il Malanotti, il Ridolfi, l’Onesti,
il Lambruschini [292] in Toscana, a Pavia il Moretti che diè fuori una
biblioteca agraria; come il bolognese Berti Pichat che riunisce una
farragine di cognizioni onnigene. Già prima il Dandolo avea trattato
della pastorizia, de’ bachi da seta, dei vini. Nicola Giampaolo
napoletano (1751-1832) scrisse un catechismo d’agricoltura e sul
rimediare all’immoralità derivata dalle ultime vicende politiche. Jacini,
trattando della cognizione de’ villani in Lombardia, cercò suggerirvi
miglioramenti. Agostino Bassi lodigiano (1773-1856) attese
all’educazione dei merini, propagò migliori metodi della vinificazione
e del caseificio; e le malattie contagiose volle dedurre da parassiti
animali o vegetali. Il Gera da Conegliano, il Rizzi da Pordenone, il
Freschi da San Vito, il piemontese Ragazzoni... adoprano lodevole
zelo a queste applicazioni: molti cercano il rimboscamento, molti il
miglioramento degli animali rurali: e gli studj di Giuseppe Gazzeri di
Firenze sugl’ingrassi recherebbero gran vantaggio, se la
popolazione nostra agricola gli applicasse. E società e giornali
ampliano queste discipline, dove ha singolar nome l’Accademia dei
Georgofili di Firenze.
La chimica, magistero d’analisi per eccellenza, che persegue la
materia sin nell’infima attenuazione, venne tra l’ultime scienze, e di
tutte approfitta per far ogni giorno passi tanto giganteschi, da
antiquare prontissimamente ciò che era fresco pur jeri. Le teoriche
del flogisto di Lavoisier furono schiarite e in parte combattute dal
savojardo Berthollet (1748-1822), sperimentatore diligente; il quale
credette le sostanze animali si distinguessero dalle vegetali per
l’azoto, conchiusione affrettata: studiò i clorati, e ottenne l’argento
fulminante, che dovea poi mutar il modo d’inescazione delle armi da
fuoco. Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli suddetto (pag. 541) credette la
teoria di Lavoisier non rendere ragione del calorico e della luce che
si sviluppano in certe emergenze, e ne trasse una teorica sua
propria, denominata termossigene. Trovati suoi son pure l’acido
suberico e l’eritrico; diede Elementi di chimica, i primi in Italia nel
senso delle teoriche francesi, e una Farmacopea, lodata anche da
forestieri. Porati migliorò la chimica applicata alla farmacia, e
dappertutto s’introdussero per applicarla alle arti.
Impadronitasi della pila, e collocato Davy al posto di Lavoisier, la
chimica potè elidere le maggiori affinità, nè trovò corpo che non le
cedesse il suo principio efficace, la sua essenza; donde le mirabili
teorie degli equivalenti e del dimorfismo, che abbattono quella delle
forme primitive, posta da Haüy. Gioacchino Taddei di Sanminiato
(1792-1860) cercò principalmente le relazioni della chimica colla
medicina e colle industrie, diede un prezioso trattato di farmacologia
(1819), coprì in Firenze la prima cattedra di chimica organica (1840),
migliorò i sistemi della metallurgia e della zecca, e molto occupossi
dei concimi. I begli studj di Giovanni Polli milanese e del Beltrami sul
sangue, le larghe applicazioni del milanese Kramer, del toscano
Gazzeri, di Lorenzo Cantò da Carmagnola, del Grimelli da Modena,
del Sobrero da Torino... non lasciano troppo invidiare gli stranieri,
sotto de’ quali eccellenti riuscirono l’Usiglio, il Canizzari, il De Luca, il
Malaguti, il veneziano Bixio, il napoletano Piria, il modenese Selmi. I
romani Viale e Latini nell’atmosfera scopersero l’ammoniaca come
sottocarbonaio ammoniacale, la credono dovuta alla respirazione, e
che sciolta dall’acqua, ricada colla pioggia sulla superficie della terra;
in opposizione a Boussingault, che crede l’ammoniaca dell’aria
prodotta dai temporali. Questa scienza aspira a divenire scienza
prima, e spiegherà arcani patologici e fisiologici mediante lo studio
de’ fermenti.
La medicina si fece migliore col distinguersi dalle affini in modo, che
ciascuna si migliorasse a parte, ed essa raccogliesse il frutto di tutte
per divenir sempre più vantaggiosa all’umanità. La fisiologia era in
fasce, nè i fenomeni della vita si investigavano che sulle orme di
Haller, e se ne curavano le alterazioni secondo gli istituti di
Boerhaave e di Van Swieten: alla scuola dell’irritabilità halleriana
alcuni opponevano la sensibilità; altri variavano nell’attribuirla a
questo o a quell’organo; e la combattuta insensibilità dei tendini fu
sostenuta dal trentino Borsieri e dal milanese Moscati (1739-1824).
Questi ben meritò quando, essendo preposto alla sanità nel regno
d’Italia, si raccolse intorno i giovani d’ogni capacità, ajutandoli a far
prova de’ loro talenti: ma egli distrattosi in variissime discipline, non
potè in alcuna primeggiare; il Borsieri applicò con maggior esattezza
l’irritabilità halleriana alla teorica dell’infiammazione, sbandendo le
antiche ipotesi dell’ostruzione, e squisite osservazioni esponendo
con semplicità.
Il cuore è l’organo più irritabile, eppure non ha nervi; prova che
l’irritabilità non risiede in questi. Così dicevano gli Halleriani: ma
Antonio Scarpa (tom. xii, pag. 596) ve li rinvenne, e mostrò non
esistere divario di struttura fra essi nervi e quelli de’ muscoli soggetti
alla volontà; non poter dunque conchiudersi che il cuore abbia
un’irritabilità indipendente dai nervi cardiaci; e questi tutt’al più esser
inefficaci ai moti di quello.
Intanto Guglielmo Cullen di Edimburgo derivava la febbre e
l’infiammazione da alteramenti dell’irritabilità; e questa teoria
diffondendosi, escluse le malattie umorali, e tutto ridusse al solido
vivo. Il toscano Vaccà Berlinghieri (1732-1812) lo affrontò,
sostenendo che gli umori non possono soggiacere a corruzione se
non fuori de’ vasi, ma che le alterazioni salubri o nocive del corpo
provengono da riazione dei solidi sopra i fluidi, suscitata da fisica
necessità; col che avviava al puro dinamismo e all’eccitabilità de’
moderni. Più lungo rumore levava lo scozzese Brown, che
distinguendo la natura morta dalla vivente, pone la salute in una
dose regolata di eccitabilità, stimolata dagli agenti esterni, sicchè le
malattie si riducono a due diatesi, steniche dove cumulo, asteniche
dove esaurimento del principio irritabile; e la cura nell’osservare
quanta capacità abbia il malato a sopportare il rimedio opposto.
Quest’apparente semplicità allettò molti, che non istettero ad
osservare se, come forse tutte le teorie patologiche, fosse dedotta
da principj a priori; ma sì poco cercavansi le fatiche di forestieri, che
sol dieci anni dopo pubblicata, Giovanni Rasori parmense (1766-
1837) conobbe a Firenze quella teoria, e cominciò sua fama col
tradurla e sostenerla con vivezza di parola, penna arguta, sprezzo
del senso comune, irosa beffa di chi la credea pura moda. Eppure
egli stesso la modificò, o piuttosto la invertì all’occasione della
petecchiale di Genova nel 1800, dove, vedendo morire i malati che
curava coll’oppio e cogli spiritosi, secondo il Brown che gli stimolanti
adoprava in tutte le affezioni morbide e fin nell’apoplessia, tornò alla
pratica del salasso e delle purghe. In allora al lemma di Brown che
tutto stimola, oppose una fondamentale distinzione de’ medicamenti,
appoggiandola sulla sua teoria, detta del controstimolo. Secondo la
quale, fondamento della vita sono l’azione esterna e l’eccitabilità
prodotta, modi della quale sono il senso, la contrazione muscolare, i
fenomeni della mente e della passione; l’eccitamento ha un’unità,
talchè non si deve curare questo o quell’organo ma l’insieme; i
farmachi sono stimolanti o controstimolanti, e come tali si applicano
alle malattie, che provengano da eccesso o difetto di stimolo. La
flogosi deriva da sviluppo di vasi venosi ingorgati, nè distrugge nè
genera parti organiche. Questo dinamismo trovò molti seguaci: e
Rasori lo sostenne colla pratica degli ospedali; sebbene poi sul fine
ammettesse l’azione specifica di qualche rimedio, come della china
nelle intermittenti.
La teorica del controstimolo fu elevata e modificata da Giacomo
Tommasini (1769-1846), che studiando la febbre di Livorno del 1804,
la febbre gialla ed altre analoghe, diede chiare idee della diatesi, e
formò una Nuova dottrina medica italiana, secondo la quale è negata
la debolezza indiretta di Brown, proveniente da eccesso di stimolo;
l’infiammazione è sempre stenica, cioè un processo vitale
consistente in eccesso di stimolo; e a flogosi vanno attribuite molte
malattie e febbrili e no, e acute e croniche, assegnate in prima a
tutt’altre cagioni. Riduceva dunque le malattie a stimolo,
controstimolo e irritazione; pure ne riconosceva alcune appartenenti
ad entrambe le diatesi: e l’uso della digitale e del tartaro stibiato, e le
prodighe cacciate di sangue resero famosa la scuola di
quest’insigne.
La sua dinamica organica segna una transazione fra la dottrina
dell’eccitabilità e quella del particolarismo o mistionismo, fondata da
Maurizio Bufalini di Cesena, il quale, invece d’accontentarsi delle
forze, come Rasori, ripudia tutto ciò che non sia materia e azione
chimica, e deriva le malattie da profonda e molecolare alterazione
dell’umano organismo; e così crea la patologia analitica. Più si
generalizzò la dottrina del francese Broussais, derivata ancora
dall’irritabilità halleriana, stimolata da agenti esterni, turbandosi le
funzioni se lo stimolo sia o eccessivo o deficiente: donde la
localizzazione primitiva delle malattie, il carattere stenico quasi
generale, l’infiammazione degli organi digestivi, e in conseguenza la
cura simile a quella delle infiammazioni esterne, cioè sanguigne,
bibite, ghiaccio.
Anche altri contraddittori ebbe il Tommasini, quali Giuseppe Giannini
da Parabiago (-1818), capo della clinica di Milano, che scrisse sulla
natura delle febbri (1805), contro queste raccomandò l’immersione
nell’acqua diaccia [293], gli acidi e il mercurio: lo Speranza di
Cremona, repugnante agli abusi del salasso, non meno che al misto
organico, all’omiopatia ed al mesmerismo, per attenersi
all’osservazione pratica: il Geromini, che attribuisce gli errori della
medicina all’ontologismo, e fonda la patologia sull’irritazione. Il
bresciano Giacomini alle dottrine della diatesi unì scientificamente
quella dell’elettività de’ medicamenti. Francesco Puccinotti urbinate,
clinico nell’Università pisana, proclamò la Scuola ippocratica italiana
o degli etiologi, unendo le dottrine positive dei vitalisti e dei
mistionisti, conservando la validità clinica col decoro
d’un’interpretazione scientifica, e accettando il progresso delle
scienze ausiliari. Ai diatesisti, che fanno passivo il principio della vita,
oppone gli atti spontanei naturali, e dalla natura medicatrice muove
nella Patologia induttiva; studia assai le epidemie; divisa una filosofia
medica, e traccia una Storia filosofica della medicina, versatissimo
come è nella conoscenza degli antichi.
Questo variare di sistemi fa ridere i lepidi, e fremere gli austeri; ma in
realtà la pratica riesce per lo più alle medesime conchiusioni, e chi
esaminò gli ospedali avverò che generalmente il numero de’ morti
sta a quel de’ malati nelle medesime proporzioni, sia quando si
svena, sia quando si lascia morire di pletora. Il ripetere che la scuola
italiana s’attiene all’osservazione più che alle teorie, crede molto ai
fatti, pochissimo alle opinioni, studia i fenomeni naturali, va cauta ne’
giudizj, indaga semplicemente il vero, e sfida abbastanza nelle forze
medicatrici della natura, esprime un desiderio più che non formoli
una teoria. I savj s’attengono all’osservazione, ajutata dai progressi
della chimica e dell’anatomia patologica, dall’uso dello stetoscopio,
modificando il trattamento a norma de’ sintomi e dell’individuo: che
se alla diatesi generale prevale la localizzazione, questa si fissa men
tosto sopra un organo che sopra qualche sistema. Certo è che nei
medici si fa sempre più indisputata la dignità [294] ed estesa la
coltura, molti occupandosi oltre la pratica, in ricerche proprie e in
conoscere le altrui; la diagnosi e il trattamento sono d’assai
migliorati; donde una quantità di medici buoni, mentre si deplora
manchino que’ famosi, che un tempo capitanavano od anche
tiranneggiavano la scienza salutare.
Fra i quali Siro Borda da Pavia gran fautore del controstimolo,
moltiplicò sperienze sull’acido idrocianico, sull’acqua coobata di
lauroceraso, sulla digitale e altre sostanze; Locatelli da Canneto,
ricusando le teorie per la pratica, combattè i Browniani; Antonio
Testa (1746-1814) da Ferrara, insigne per l’opera sulle malattie del
cuore, studiate pure dal piemontese Giacinto Sachero (1787-1855)
che professò la dottrina de’ polsi organici, introdotta in Italia dal
Gandini. Giambattista Monteggia di Laveno (1762-1815), autore
delle Istituzioni chirurgiche, il Paletta da Montecretese, che nelle
Exercitationes patologicæ moltissimi fatti e vedute nuove bellamente
espresse, onorarono lungamente la clinica di Milano, dove poi il
Verga approfondò le malattie mentali; nelle quali, dopo Chiarugi,
Baccinelli, Calvetti, Ferrarese, si esercitarono Gualandi, Bonacossa,
Monti, Bini. Lodasi il trattato di Brofferio sulla emormesi. Brera
migliorò la medicina jatroleptica, fondata sulla facoltà assorbente
della pelle. Fossati, Pirondi e principalmente Rognetta sostengono in
Francia l’onore della medicina italiana, come in Egitto Ranzi, Raggi,
Grassi, Gaetani, Morandi, in Turchia, Mongeri, in Barberia
Castelnuovo e Mugnaini. Eusebio Valli lucchese (-1886) studiò in
Oriente il vajuolo e la peste bubonica, innestandosela; e al fine
soccombette alla febbre gialla, che si procurò apposta all’Avana.
Rasori pel primo esperì una statistica medica dopo il 1712
nell’ospedale di Milano, per dimostrare la superiorità del proprio
metodo; e subito crebbero annali clinici, rendiconti, prospetti; viepiù
da che Tommasini, nella prolusione del 1821, parlò della necessità di
sottoporre a una statistica i fatti della medicina pratica, divisando
anche le classificazioni. Idea lodevole, ma nell’applicazione
riducendosi spesso a provare soltanto una teorica prestabilita,
diviene qui, come in altre materie, un giuoco di numeri.
La medicina legale ebbe ottime applicazioni; e vi attesero Speranza,
Gianelli, Puccinotti, Barzelotti (1768-1739), di cui si lodarono il
Parroco istruito nella medicina e le Relazioni della medicina
coll’economia politica; Omodei, autore del Sistema di polizia medico-
militare; Buffini che ragiona sui trovatelli, piaga del secolo.
Nuovi farmachi sono esibiti dalla progredente chimica, e tutti
semplificati, sbandendo le ricerche polifarmache; si voltano a sanità i
veleni più tremendi. Dell’innesto del vajuolo vaccino (t. xii, p. 598),
esteso per quanto contrastato, il ridestarsi delle epidemie vajolose
mise in dubbio la potenza preservatrice. Lunghi e pur troppo
inefficaci studj occasionarono il cholera e le migliari; e la pellagra, di
cui scrissero Cerri, Strambio, Marzari, Frapolli, Ballardini, Carlo
Gallo, Caldarini, Rizzi, Fanzago ed altri lombardi.
Gli stromenti chirurgici furono perfezionati, e molti ne introdussero
l’Assalini di Modena per l’ostetricia, il Signoroni di Adro per le ernie e
per avere primo tentato la demolizione della mascella inferiore. Il
Donegani di Como e lo Schiantarelli di Brescia ebbero nome per
operazioni intorno agli occhi. Paolo Mascagni sienese (1755-1815)
volle passare in rassegna tutte le scoperte astronomiche d’antichi e
moderni, e valutarne il merito; colle injezioni esaminò le parti tutte
della testura umana, principalmente vasi linfatici; nell’Anatomia per
uso degli artisti offrì le più giuste proporzioni del corpo umano ben
conformato e lasciolla postuma, come anche la Grande anatomia,
dove con incomparabile esattezza sono rappresentati gli elementi
del corpo. Si pretende volesse usurparsela quel côrso Antonmarchi,
che assistette agli ultimi momenti di Napoleone nell’isola di
Sant’Elena; e i professori Vaccà e Barzelotti si unirono al professore
Rosini stampatore per terminarla e pubblicarla a grave dispendio.
Fra gli anatomisti il torinese Bianchi intorno al fegato dissentì da
Morgagni; il Rolando pure torinese è arguto esploratore del cervello,
il Bellingeri del sistema nervoso e del midollo spinale, il Lippi della
comunicazione delle vene coi vasi linfatici, il Barbieri delle vescicole
spermatiche, corretti e superati dal vicentino Panizza, che la gloria
del Mascagni sostiene co’ suoi studj sui vasi linfatici, sul fungo
midollare e la depressione della cataratta. Porta mostrasi indagatore
sottile non meno che esperto operatore: il Corti esplora il magistero
dell’udito; De Filippi, Gastaldi, Pacini volgonsi principalmente
all’istiologia; Giuseppe Cantù cresce il museo anatomico torinese
con bei preparati in cera.
Tra i fisiologi, dopo il napoletano Tommasi, non potrebbero
dimenticarsi i veneti Nardo e Berti. Il Vittadini pretendea mutare la
teoria della visione, ad onta degli anatomici e dei fisici; alla quale
ricerca si volsero e Dell’Acqua, e Polli, e Cattaneo, e Trinchinetti. Il
Petropoli, che nel 1808 coll’Etiologia riprovava i sistemi adottati nelle
scienze fisiologiche, qui ricordiamo solo pel suo famoso paradosso,
Matematica e poesia condannate dalla ragione. Coi metodi di
Tronchina e Passeri si agevolò l’imbalsamazione; e gran rumore di
prose e versi levossi attorno al bellunese Segato (1793-1836),
allorchè annunziò poter ridurre lapidei i tessuti animali. Non trovando
soscrittori per trentamila lire onde pubblicare la sua scoverta, viveva
a Firenze lavorando da calcografo, esponendo i viaggi che aveva
fatto in Africa, e presto morì. Lo contraddissero il tempo e Giovanni
Rossi sarzanese, valentissimo operatore, che l’Università di Parma
arricchì di preziosi preparati, e primo in Italia eseguì l’esofagotomia:
ma sul modo di conservare i cadaveri e le carni mangereccie
volgonsi ora tante attenzioni, che fanno sperare la riuscita [295].
Francesco Aglietti bresciano, trovando a Venezia già preoccupati i
seggi dell’arte sua dal Paitoni, dal Lotti, dal Pellegrini, dal
Cullodrowitz, dal Pezzi, fondò il Giornale per servire alla storia della
medicina (1783), coadjuvato da Stefano Gallino illustre fisiologo e da
altri; e può dirsi instauratore dell’anatomia patologica. Pubblicava
pure le Memorie per servire alla storia letteraria e civile (1793), con
retti giudizj e buoni estratti di opere, e promosse la fondazione della
società veneta di medicina (1789) di cui fu segretario e presidente.
Luigi Valeriano Brera illustre clinico cominciò nel 1812 un giornale di
medicina pratica. Gli Annali a Milano furono tenuti in lungo credito
dall’Omodei, poi dal Caldarini e dal Griffini, ed emulati dalla Gazzetta
medica dello Strambio e del Bertani. E ne’ giornali moltiplicatisi,
meglio che in questi nostri cenni da ignorante, saranno a cercare i
nomi illustri d’una scienza, di cui, come della politica e con altrettanta
presunzione ed ignoranza, vogliamo parlare tutti, e che fu estesa,
quanto al passato, con copiosa erudizione dal dottore De Renzi
napoletano, arricchendola di particolarità e sui sistemi e sulle
persone: e meglio dal Puccinotti, mentre altre prolissamente sono
aggiunte alla traduzione della Storia pragmatica dello Sprengel; altre
ogni giorno compajono in sapienti monografie, fra cui vogliamo citare
quelle del Perini e del Ferrario.
Come Broussais localizzava le malattie, così Gall localizzò le facoltà
colla frenologia, alla quale non mancarono cultori e contraddittori in
Italia [296], benchè i più siansi accontentati alla codarda futilità di celie
ed epigrammi. Altrettanto avvenne dell’idropatia e dell’omiopatia.
Quest’ultima fu coltivata specialmente dal Rucco napoletano, e che
ito in Francia nel 1814, pubblicò i Nuovi elementi di materia medica,
e più tardi l’Esprit de la médecine ancienne et nouvelle comparée
(1846), e la Médecine de la nature protectrice de la vie humaine
(1855).
Fino dal primo estendersi delle scoperte elettriche, il veneziano
Pivati avea preteso potersi ottenere l’effetto da farmachi senza
introdurli nel corpo, e solo col metterli in bottiglie vitree elettrizzate. Il
mesmerismo risorse testè con nuove forme e nuovo corredo di
scienza e di fatti tali, da non poter più gettarsi da un canto come
fanciullaggine; e se è troppo lo sperarne portentose guarigioni nè
scoprimento di verità, offrirà ragioni di molti fatti che nella storia è
temerità il negare, sebbene non sia possibile spiegare. Fa vent’anni
noi proclamavamo che «coloro i quali ammettono solo ciò che
comprendono, e ripudiano ciò che non si brancica e taglia, trovando
le teorie fisiologiche inette ad abbracciare e spiegare i fatti
magnetici, li negano risolutamente: ma più che dai nemici, dalle
esagerazioni de’ sostenitori è posta in compromesso questa scienza,
che forse recherà tanta luce sopra l’azione nervosa.»
Davanti a questi avanzamenti delle scienze fisiche, allo smisurato
aumentarsene della potenza dell’uomo e del suo imperio sulla
natura, inorgogliscono alcuni: altri mestamente si domandano se tali
incrementi sieno civiltà, quanto ajutino il progresso morale e civile, e
se non diano viziosa prevalenza al sensibile sovra l’intelligibile.
CAPITOLO CLXXXVIII.
Belle arti.
Il privilegio di esprimere in creazioni concatenate l’evoluzione del

genio dei popoli fu tolto alle belle arti dalla letteratura, sicchè esse
decaddero ne’ tempi nuovi, ma subirono i medesimi influssi di
questa. Nella rivoluzione, tutta di Bruti e Timoleoni, stettero classiche
affatto; e la scuola di David, imitante il movimento esterno antico
colla pretensione di rappresentare idee gravi in istile castigato,
dominò l’età napoleonica, per ricerca della correzione dando nel
freddo, pel contegno arrivando a una semplicità manierata, e sotto la
pompa di una falsa scienza comprimendo l’originalità, così propria
de’ primi maestri di Grecia e d’Italia. Che il revocare all’arte greca
come temperamento transitorio è opportunissimo, ma non il volerla
costituire principio estetico rigeneratore. Andrea Appiani (tomo xii, p.
532) nei chiaroscuri pel reale palazzo di Milano ritraendo i fasti di
Buonaparte, s’ingegnò di adattare il panneggiare antico alle truppe
moderne; poi ivi stesso e alla Villa frescò l’apoteosi di Napoleone:
lavori che gli meritarono il titolo di pittore delle Grazie; e come arte
classica, difficilmente sarà superato. Da questa scuola uscirono
Pietro Benvenuti d’Arezzo (1769-1844), che a Firenze, dove fu
direttore dell’Accademia, effigiò nel palazzo Pitti le fatiche d’Ercole,
l’opera più acclamata del tempo [297], e la cupola di San Lorenzo, ad
Arezzo il trionfo di Giuditta, il conte Ugolino ed altri quadri; il
parmigiano Gaspare Landi (1756-1830), di cui fu tanto lodato il
Cristo che va al Calvario: il Camuccini, Giuseppe Colignon,
Giuseppe Bezzuoli, Francesco Nenci fiorentini, l’Errante siciliano, il
Boldrini vicentino, altri grandiosi ed esanimi dipintori, i quali, fioriti in
età retorica, ebbero magnifici encomj, mentre ai successivi toccò
comprarsi qualche povero articolo di giornali. In gara col gloriato
Benvenuti lavorò Luigi Sabatelli (1772-1850), professore
dell’Accademia di Milano, che meglio pratico dell’affresco, parve
scarso di stile, e non bene intelligente del chiaroscuro e delle
distanze prospettiche: nella tribuna di Galileo riuscì meglio che a Pitti
e a Pistoja e nella peste di Firenze, nella benedizione dei fanciulli unì
ricca fantasia e stile grande. Più che Rafaello raccomandava a’
giovani di studiare i Caracci nella sala Farnese in Roma. I due suoi
figli Francesco e Giuseppe prometteano largamente se non fossero
morti così giovani.
Molti costruivano in quel modo, strettamente imitatore, con
distribuzioni grandiose, ed absidi ed esedre frequenti, escludendo le
lesene dagli intercolunnj, attenendosi quasi solo al dorico, e
riuscendo a un liscio freddo e monotono. Camporesi a Roma
dirigeva le feste imperiali, e disegnò piazza Popolo coll’attiguo
giardino. Il marchese Luigi Cagnola (1762-1830) alzò in Milano l’arco
del Sempione, ch’è de’ più grandi e il più bello di tal genere; e
chiese, palazzi, torri disegnò con gusto correttissimo, dai classici non
si scostando neppure in edifizj di cui quelli non poteano aver idea.
Della qual maniera sarebbe stato il capolavoro il Foro Buonaparte,
vasta spianata attorno allo smantellato castello di Milano, che si
pensò circondare di tutti gli edifizj occorrenti a gran città; tempio (non
dovea dirsi chiesa), ginnasj, palestra, teatro, odeon, terme, e
insieme uffizj, cantieri con canali, caserme. Fu ideato dall’Antolini,
che negli Elementi di architettura aveva fatto una rapsodia di
Palladio e Vignola: alla stampa de’ disegni accompagnò una
descrizione il Giordani: tutto nel classico più pretto, senza
commettere una sola originalità, se non fosse quella di Gaetano
Cattaneo, che nel mezzo collocava una gran torre, rappresentante
l’erma di Napoleone, su cui la corona ferrea serviva di terrazzo
accessibile. Non si edificò che l’anfiteatro veramente bello, pure non
credemmo vano addurre questo testimonio delle fantasie d’allora.

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ASTRO 3: Introductory Astronomy 3rd

Edition Michael A. Seeds

Here and Now

User’s Guide to the Sky:

Reading YOUR Way Studying YOUR Way Learning YOUR Way

www.cengage.com/4LTRPRESS Now with ASTRO Online

+ Here and Now

User’s Guide to the Sky:

WEAK Rate and Organize

Printed in the United States of America

PART 1 EXPLORING THE SKY

PART 2 THE SOLAR SYSTEM

PART 3 THE STARS

PART 4 THE UNIVERSE OF GALAXIES

Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data 368

BRIEF CONTENTS iii

3-3 Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and

Part 1 Planetary Motion 44

4 Light and Telescopes 60

4-3 Observatories on Earth—Optical and Radio 68

1 Here and Now 2

2 User’s Guide to the Sky:

3 The Origin of Modern

6 The Terrestrial Planets 108

7 The Outer Solar System 136 9 The Family of Stars 188

7-5 Neptune 151 9-4 Star Sizes 196

8 Origin of the Solar System and

11-5 Neutron Stars 254 14-2 The Big Bang 325

12 The Milky Way Galaxy 272

NOW WITH ASTRO ONLINE

1 Here and Now

The longest journey begins with a single step.

NOA A /NASA GOES Project

GUIDEPOST provide more specific insights into how scientists study

CO 1 Image of Earth from the GOES

FIGURE 1-1 FIGURE 1-2

© NASA, Landsat infrared photograph

relative sizes of Earth and Moon are shown in the inset

star A globe of gas, held is a bit larger than Earth’s

4 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

CHAPTER 1: Here and Now 5

This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous

by the glow of the stars and Visual

in diameter. Only a century ago astronomers thought it

FIGURE 1-12 FIGURE 1-13

M. Seldner, B. L. Siebers, E. J. Groth, and P.J. E. Peebles,

Milky Way Galaxy

8 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

CHAPTER 1: Here and Now 9

10 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

CHAPTER 1: Here and Now 11

GUIDEPOST • How does the motion of the Moon produce phases

• H ow are stars and 2-1a Constellations

12 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

Old constellation boundaries,

CHAPTER 2: User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns and Cycles 13

14 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

k b of saying that the star

CHAPTER 2: User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns and Cycles 15

16 PART ONE: Exploring the Sky

John Harwood/Photodisc/Getty Images

CHAPTER 2: User’s Guide to the Sky: Patterns and Cycles 17

P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA /NSF

GUIDEPOST • How does the motion of the Moon produce phases

• H ow are stars and 2-1a Constellations

only a few minutes because the umbra is never more than