Astro Chapter 2 Lecture

Chapter 2
The Copernican Revolution
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Units of Chapter 2
2.1 Ancient Astronomy

2.2 The Geocentric Universe
2.3 The Heliocentric Model of the Solar System
The Foundations of the Copernican Revolution
2.4 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Units of Chapter 2, continued
2.5 The Laws of Planetary Motion

Some Properties of Planetary Orbits
2.6 The Dimensions of the Solar System

2.7 Newton’s Laws
2.8 Newtonian Mechanics
Weighing the Sun

• Ancient civilizations observed the skies

• Many built structures to mark astronomical
events
Summer solstice
sunrise at
Stonehenge:

Spokes of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel are
aligned with the rising and setting of the Sun
and other stars

This temple at
Caracol, in Mexico,
has many windows
that are aligned with
astronomical events

Ancient astronomers
observed:
Sun
Moon
Stars
Five planets: Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn

Sun, Moon, and stars all have simple
movements in the sky
Planets:
• Move with respect to
fixed stars
• Change in brightness
• Change speed
• Undergo retrograde
motion

• Inferior planets: Mercury, Venus

• Superior planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Now know:
Inferior planets have
orbits closer to Sun
than Earth’s
Superior planets’
orbits are farther
away

Early observations:
• Inferior planets never too far from Sun
• Superior planets not tied to Sun; exhibit
retrograde motion
• Superior planets brightest at opposition
• Inferior planets brightest near inferior
conjunction

Earliest models had Earth at center of solar
system
Needed lots of
complications to
accurately track
planetary motions

2.3 The Heliocentric Model of the
Solar System
Sun is at center of solar system. Only Moon
orbits around Earth; planets orbit around Sun.
This figure
shows
retrograde
motion of
Mars.

Discovery 2-1: The Foundations of
the Copernican Revolution
1. Earth is not at the center of everything.
2. Center of Earth is the center of Moon’s orbit.
3. All planets revolve around the Sun.
4. The stars are very much farther away than the
Sun.
5. The apparent movement of the stars around the
Earth is due to the Earth’s rotation.
6. The apparent movement of the Sun around the
Earth is due to the Earth’s rotation.
7. Retrograde motion of planets is due to Earth’s
motion around the Sun.
Telescope invented around

1600
Galileo built his own, made
observations:
• Moon has mountains and
valleys
• Sun has sunspots, and
rotates
• Jupiter has moons (shown)
• Venus has phases
Phases of
Venus cannot
be explained by
geocentric
model

Kepler’s laws were

derived using
observations made by
Tycho Brahe

1. Planetary orbits are ellipses, Sun at one focus

2. Imaginary line connecting Sun and planet

sweeps out equal areas in equal times

3. Square of period of planet’s orbital motion

is proportional to cube of semimajor axis

More Precisely 2-1: Some
Properties of Planetary Orbits
Semimajor axis and eccentricity of orbit
completely describe it
Perihelion: closest approach to Sun
Aphelion: farthest
distance from Sun

Astronomical unit: mean distance from
Earth to Sun
First measured during transits of Mercury
and Venus, using triangulation

Now measured using radar:
Ratio of mean
radius of Venus’s
orbit to that of
Earth is very well
known

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Newton’s laws of
motion explain how
objects interact with
the world and with
each other.

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Newton’s first law:

An object at rest will remain at rest, and an object
moving in a straight line at constant speed will
not change its motion, unless an external force
acts on it.

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Newton’s second law:

When a force is exerted on an object, its
acceleration is inversely proportional to its mass:
a = F/m
Newton’s third law:
When object A exerts a force on object B, object
B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Gravity
On the Earth’s
surface, acceleration
of gravity is
approximately
constant, and
directed toward the
center of Earth

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Gravity
For two massive

objects, gravitational
force is proportional to
the product of their
masses divided by the
square of the distance
between them

2.7 Newton’s Laws
Gravity
The constant G is called the gravitational

constant; it is measured experimentally and
found to be
G = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2/kg2

Kepler’s laws are

a consequence of
Newton’s laws;
first law needs to
be modified: The
orbit of a planet
around the Sun is
an ellipse, with the
center of mass of
the planet–Sun
system at one
focus.

More Precisely 2-3: Weighing the Sun
Newtonian mechanics tells us that the force

keeping the planets in orbit around the Sun is the
gravitational force due to the masses of the
planet and Sun.
This allows us to calculate the mass of the Sun,
knowing the orbit of the Earth:
M = rv2/G
The result is M = 2.0 x 1030 kg (!)

Escape speed: the

speed necessary for
a projectile to
completely escape a
planet’s gravitational
field. With a lesser
speed, the projectile
either returns to the
planet or stays in
orbit.

Summary of Chapter 2
• First models of solar system were

geocentric but couldn't easily explain
retrograde motion
• Heliocentric model does; also explains
brightness variations
• Galileo's observations supported
heliocentric model
• Kepler found three empirical laws of
planetary motion from observations

Summary of Chapter 2 (cont.)
• Laws of Newtonian mechanics explained

Kepler’s observations
• Gravitational force between two masses is
proportional to the product of the masses,
divided by the square of the distance
between them

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Chapter 2

The Copernican Revolution

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

2.1 Ancient Astronomy

2.4 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

2.5 The Laws of Planetary Motion

2.6 The Dimensions of the Solar System

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Ancient civilizations observed the skies

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Inferior planets: Mercury, Venus

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Telescope invented around

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Kepler’s laws were

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

1. Planetary orbits are ellipses, Sun at one focus

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

2. Imaginary line connecting Sun and planet

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

3. Square of period of planet’s orbital motion

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Newton’s first law:

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Newton’s second law:

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

For two massive

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

The constant G is called the gravitational

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Kepler’s laws are

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Newtonian mechanics tells us that the force

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Escape speed: the

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

• First models of solar system were

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Laws of Newtonian mechanics explained

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

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