Scientists’ Contributions to Our Understanding of the Solar System.
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Transcript of Scientists’ Contributions to Our Understanding of the Solar System.
Scientists’ Contributions to Scientists’ Contributions to Our Understanding of the Our Understanding of the
Solar SystemSolar System
Greek Myths tell about…Greek Myths tell about… A god named Helios,
who was “god of the Sun”
A goddess named Gaea (Gee-a), AKA “Mother Earth, “ the protector of Earth and mother of the Titans and humans)
The GreeksThe Greeks Noticed that stars moved
in fixed patterns as they seemed to move across sky – except for 5 that seemed to “wander.”
Determined that these 5 were not stars
Gave us the word “planets” which means “wandering stars”
The Greeks believed in a geocentric system
geogeo-- meansmeans of Earth; related to Earth
-centric means-centric means
Earth in the center
What does the word ‘geocentric’ mean? Well, if…
and…
then…
geocentric meansgeocentric means
in the center
1. “geocentric”
CopernicusCopernicusPolish AstronomerPolish Astronomer
1500s Copernicus
believed in heliocentric system
http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/phisci/Gallery/copernicus.html
http://www.aip.org/history/esva/catalog/esva/Copernicus_Nicolaus.htmlFor images of this astronomer, go to:
Source of photo, which is in public domain: Wikipedia
helioshelios-- meansmeans of the sun; related to the sun
-centric means-centric means
sun in the center
What does the word ‘heliocentric’ mean? Well, if…
and…
then…
heliocentric meansheliocentric means
in the centerView an interesting phenomenon in an animation of our heliocentric system: http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~zhu/ast210/helicentric.html
heliocentric model
Galileo,Galileo,Italian AstronomerItalian Astronomer
1500s and 1600s Believed in
heliocentric system & supported Copernicus
Improved the telescope to view objects in sky
For images of this astronomer and his telescope, go to
http://www.aip.org/history/esva/catalog/esva/Galileo_Galilei).html
Image of Galileo, which is in public domain: Wikipedia
Galileo’s proof of Galileo’s proof of heliocentrism:heliocentrism:
2. The moon has mountains, valleys. It isn’t smooth and perfect.
3. Jupiter has moons, so everything does not orbit around Earth.
1. Venus has phases (like the moon), so it must orbit the sun.
1633 at age 70, Galileo had to 1633 at age 70, Galileo had to recant his findings before the recant his findings before the
Church -Church -“must altogether abandon the false opinion
that the sun is the center of the world and immovable, and that the earth is not the center of the world, and moves, and that I must not hold, defend, or teach in any way whatsoever, verbally or in writing, the said false doctrine, and after it had been notified to me that the said doctrine was contrary to Holy Scripture.”
Another contributing scientist is Johannes Kepler .
Around the same time as Galileo, Kepler discovered that the planets revolve around the sun in what shape?
elliptical
The planets orbit the sun in an elliptical path.
Newton,Newton,English ScientistEnglish Scientist
Recognized that two factors keep planets in orbit:
Fabulous pictures on this site: http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/PictDisplay/Newton.html
Source: Wikipedia/pulic domain
1. What does “geocentric” mean? Draw and label a diagram of this model of the solar system.
2. What does ‘heliocentric’ mean? Draw and label a diagram of this model.
3. What type of model did the Greeks believe in?
4. Which kind of solar system do we live in: geocentric or heliocentric?
5. What did Copernicus believe?6. Copernicus was correct, but people didn’t
agree with him until someone else found more evidence. Who was this person? What did he discover?
1. What does “geocentric” mean? Draw and label a diagram of this model of the solar system.
2. What does “heliocentric” mean? Draw and label a diagram of this model of the solar system.
3. What did the Greeks believe?
Geocentric model
4. Which kind of solar system do we live in: geocentric or heliocentric?
5. What did Copernicus believe?
6. Copernicus was correct, but people didn’t agree with him until someone else found more evidence. Who was this person? What did he discover?
Heliocentric model
Galileo saw moons orbiting Jupiter, phases of Venus, and the moon was not perfect.