Assignment+2


 * ASTRONOMY: Looking Back**

A. Ancient Skywatching 1. Could easily see the sun and moon, five planets, comets and meteors. a. didn't know what they were, so they made up stories about them b. Astrology grew out of these early myths 2. Tried to identify patterns in the sky a. They recongnized patterns in the stars positions and gave those patterns names b. Told stories on how the "pictures" became to be. 3. Earliest Skywatchers who kept records were the sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians a. Records dated as far back as 5000 B.C. B. Classifying Stars 1. Ancients thought everything in the sky was a star and classified stars this way: a. "Fixed Stars didn't change and didn't move relative to one another. (stars) b. "Shooting Stars" that flashed across the sky (meteors) c. "Hairy Stars" that moved across the skywith a tail following behind them (comets) d. "Wandering Stars" that moved across the sky following the suns path (planets) 2. Gave the name planets, meaning wanderers. a. gave the name to the Sun, Moon, and planets b. to them were points of light that moved against the background of fixed stars. C. Earth Centered Systems 1. Greeks Believed that earth was the center of the universe and all planets and stars moved around earth. a. according to greek philosophy, everything about earth was perfect. b. believed that the sphere was the perfect shape. 2. Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy a. proposed that planets moved in little circles that moved on bigger circles around Earh. b. His theory explained why some points of light seemed to move in strange patterns. 3. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe a. used Nicolaus Copernicus' theory that the sun was the center of the earth, and confirmed that the planets orbit around the sun. b. With careful measurments, he showed that comets were well beyond the moon. 4. Italian scientist Galileo Galilei a. adapted one of the first telescopes for astronomical use in 1610 b. Among his first discoveries were four satellite moons revolving around Jupiter. c. He was arrested for his discoveries and claims, which contradicted many beliefs held by the church.


 * Questions 1-3:**

1. Astronomy is the scientific study of planets, stars, meteors, comets, galexies, ect. 2. Ancient skywatchers told stories that explained the magic in the night sky because they didn't know what the objects were in the sky, so they made up myths about what they had seen. 3. The Greeks believed that earth was the center of the universe. Over time and careful measurements, they confirmed that all the planetary objects, including earth, orbited around the sun.