Astronomy Project
Storyboard Text
- Today, we will be exploring the history of the ancient astronomer Aristarchus. We will delve into his theories, his contributions to the field of astronomy, and his lasting legacy.
- My son! I will name you Aristarchus.
- Unfortunately, not much is known about the parents and early life of Aristarchus. He was born in Samos, an island in the Aegean Sea, at around 310 BCE.
- Samos:c. 310 bce
- What if?
- Aristarchus of Samos, born c.310 bce on the island of Samos, was a pioneering Greek astronomer and mathematician who first proposed the revolutionary idea that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the Solar System. This is known as the heliocentric model.
- Aristarchus was a student of Strato of Lampsacus, who was head of Aristotle's Lyceum. He was an adherent to the Aristotelian view of the cosmos as being singular, uncreated, and having the Earth at its center. However, it is not thought that Aristarchus studied with Strato in Athens but rather that he studied with him in Alexandria.
- Based on his observations of the apparent sizes of the sun and moon. he suggested that if the sun were at the center of the universe, it would explain why the stars remained fixed in the sky, and why the planets moved in circular orbits around the Sun. Aristarchus was able to calculate, with some measure of accuracy, the distance and the size of both the Moon and the Sun. His calculations were off, but his method was both sound and reproducible. A method he used triangulation where he measured the distance and size of planets. This involves using two observers separated by a known distance and measuring the angle between them and the planet in question. From this, the distance and size of the planet can be calculated.
- Based on his observations of the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon. He suggested that if the Sun were at the center of the universe, it would explain why the stars remained fixed in the sky, and why the planets moved in circular orbits around the Sun.
- Aristarchus of Samos, the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician, is believed to have died of old age around 230 BC.
- Mr. Regan, why did he think our universe was heliocentric?
- Alexandriac. 230 bce
- Aristarchus used a method called triangulation to measure the distance and size of planets. This involves using two observers separated by a known distance and measuring the angle between them and the planet in question. From this, the distance and size of the planet can be calculated. Another method was Lunar occultation timing, Aristarchus timed the Moon's transit through Earth's shadow and measured the duration it took for the Moon to travel a distance equal to its diameter. By timing how long a bright star was obscured by the Moon, he determined that the shadow was approximately 8/3 the diameter of the Moon. This finding suggests that the Moon is much farther away from Earth than previously thought. By measuring the ratio of the Earth's shadow to the Moon's diameter, Aristarchus was able to calculate the Moon's distance from Earth. This finding was revolutionary in its time, as it allowed for the calculation of the size of the Solar System.
- Aristarchus is known as the first person to propose that the Earth rotates around the Sun. This was a revolutionary idea at the time, and it has become known as the heliocentric model of the solar system. Aristarchus helped to lay the foundation for modern astronomy and the understanding of the universe. However, it was Nicolaus Copernicus, a Renaissance-era astronomer, who further developed the heliocentric model of the Solar System, which states that the Sun is at the center of the Solar System, and the Earth and other planets revolve around it. The work of Aristarchus was lost in time, and Galileo and Copernicus are often credited due to the fact they could prove their theories.
- Why wasn ´ t his theory accepted? Why did it take so long for it to become fact?
- Aristarchus had made the claim that the Earth revolves around the Sun, but he couldn't produce any evidence to back it up. It was not accepted as fact until the 16th century, when Nicolaus Copernicus published his own heliocentric model of the solar system.
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