How Planets Move: Ptolemy and Copernicus
Monday, September 8, 2014
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THE PHASES OF THE MOON AND PLANETS
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The moon's period is 29 1/2 days
Synodic Period: type of period that depends on the orientation of a third body (i.e.
the sun)
o Mercury and Venus orbit inside Earth's orbit, so sometimes we see the side that faces
away from the sun
o Both are sometimes seen as crescents
o Moon and Earth are inclined relatively to each other by 5
o New Moon is almost exactly between Earth and Sun
o Waxing Crescent is a growing crescent
o Waning Gibbous Moon is one week after the first quarter; full moon
o Full moon will rise just after sun sets
o Each day, this time will get 50min later
o Three-quarter moon will rise at midnight
o One-quarter moon will rise at noon
o Seeing the unlit, "dark" side of the moon is a result of "earthshine"
o Sidereal Period: moon revolves around the Earth every 27 1/3 relative to the stars
o Because the Earth is moving partway around the sun, it takes more time for the moon
to revolve around the sun ---> causes 29 1/2 day period
CELESTIAL SPECTACLES: ECLIPSES
o The moon usually passes above or below Earth's shadow at a full moon
o The Earth usually passes above or below Moon's shadow at a new moon
o There is a max of 7 eclipses a year: full or new moons that occur on the same plane
as the Earth, resulting in a Lunar or Solar Eclipse
o Total Lunar Eclipse: moon is entirely in Earth's shadow
o Total Solar Eclipse: alignment of moon, sun, and earth must be precise; only a narrow
band on Earth's surface can see it entirely.
LUNAR ECLIPSES
o Partial phase is when the Earth's shadow gradually covers the moon and lasts about
an hour
o The total phase can also last about an hour
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o Blood-orange light is refracted around the moon
SOLAR ECLIPSES
o Corona: hot, tenuous outer layer of sun; fainter than blue sky
o Total solar eclipse "removes" blue effect
o Solar Photosphere: disk of the sun; surface
o Moon is 400x smaller than the sun, but also around 400x closer to Earth, so it
compensates
o Sun and moon almost cover the same angle in the sky (1/2 )
o Umbra: darkest part of the shadow
o Penumbra: intermediate part of the shadow
o Having only 1% of the photosphere visible allows us to see corona
o Final minutes of partial phase ---> light passing through edges of the moon, giving a
bead-like effect (known as "Baily's Beads")
o Last part of the uneclipsed surface gives a "diamond ring" effect
o At totality, corona is visible: streamers of gas along eclipse, finer plumes near poles,
pink H gas
o Annular Eclipse: moon doesnt completely cover the sun, so a ring, or annulus, of
photosphere remains
SURVEY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
o Venus is 70% distance from the sun
o Mercury is closest; hot, gaseous particles move too quickly to be retained by a
gravitational pull
o Galileo sent back pictures of Jupiter and its moons, Cassini sent info about Saturn
o Beyond Neptune, there are Kuiper-belt objects
RETROGRADE MOTION
o Stars move relative to each other
o Sun and moon have constant rates/phases (moon track varies every 18 yrs)
o Other planets appear as points in the sky
o Mercury and Venus never get half or a quarter distance from the sun and can have
retrograde motion by moving across the sun
o Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be any distance from the sun, and go retrograde and
appear brightest when they are opposite (farthest) from the sun
o Middle of retrograde motion (loop) is directly opposite and the planet appears the
brightest
EARTH CENTERED MODEL OF ANCIENT GREECE
o Prograde Motion: forward motion of planets (west --> east) with respect to
background of stars, over course of weeks and months, moving slower than the sky
o Retrograde Motion: a planet drifts in opposite direction (east --> west)
o Greeks compared lengths of the periods of retrograde motion of different planets to
solve for their distances
o Aristotle: 350 BC, believed Earth was the center and everything worked mechanically
o Ptolemy: 140 CE presented Geocentric theory; to account for retrograde motion,
planets move in epicycles and deferents
o This was problematic because close planets have bigger epicycles than larger planets
(didnt make sense), and the predictions were not accurate, leading to a constant
tweaking of numbers
o Epicycle: small circles of orbit within the planet's larger orbit
o Deferents: the large, overall orbit of a planet
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Equant: center of an epicycle; planet moves around this point
This theory was accepted for 15 centuries
THE HERITICAL SUN CENTERED UNIVERSE
o Copernicus: suggested heliocentric model 1510 CE; assumed planets move in perfect
circles around the sun
o Was a member of the Catholic Church, had thorough education (walked from Poland
to Italy for University)
o Published ideas after death to avoid consequences
o Presented retrograde motion as an illusion; it appears to move backwards because
Earth is on the inner track and moving faster
o This theory is more accurate in making predictions
o Church compromises to use formulas, but still believe the Earth is in the center
TRANSIT OF VENUS
o Venus crossed Sun's disk in 2004 and 2012
o Transit of Venus ---> scale of the solar system
o "Black Drop" effect caused by inherent blurring and solar limb darkening
ROTATION OF VENUS
o 1961- radio waves penetrate Venus's clouds to determine how fast it rotates
o 243 days in opposite direction relative to the stars and planets
o 225 Earth days to revolve around the sun
o Sun returns to same position in the Venus sky every 117 days