Copernicus, Tycho Brache, and Kepler
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History of Astrometry
5 Gaia web site: http://sci.esa.int/Gaia site: web Gaia 6 June 2009 June are emerging about the nature of our Galaxy. Galaxy. our of nature the about emerging are More detailed information can be found on the the on found be can information detailed More technologies developed by creative engineers. creative by developed technologies scientists all over the world, and important conclusions conclusions important and world, the over all scientists of the Universe combined with the most cutting-edge cutting-edge most the with combined Universe the of The results from Hipparcos are being analysed by by analysed being are Hipparcos from results The expression of a widespread curiosity about the nature nature the about curiosity widespread a of expression 118218 stars to a precision of around 1 milliarcsecond. milliarcsecond. 1 around of precision a to stars 118218 trying to answer for many centuries. It is the the is It centuries. many for answer to trying created with the positions, distances and motions of of motions and distances positions, the with created will bring light to questions that astronomers have been been have astronomers that questions to light bring will accuracies obtained from the ground. A catalogue was was catalogue A ground. the from obtained accuracies Gaia represents the dream of many generations as it it as generations many of dream the represents Gaia achieving an improvement of about 100 compared to to compared 100 about of improvement an achieving orbit, the Hipparcos satellite observed the whole sky, sky, whole the observed satellite Hipparcos the orbit, ear Y of them in the solar neighbourhood. -
The Astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
Ice Core Records – From Volcanoes to Supernovas The Astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler Tycho Brahe (1546-1601, shown at left) was a nobleman from Denmark who made astronomy his life's work because he was so impressed when, as a boy, he saw an eclipse of the Sun take place at exactly the time it was predicted. Tycho's life's work in astronomy consisted of measuring the positions of the stars, planets, Moon, and Sun, every night and day possible, and carefully recording these measurements, year after year. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630, below right) came from a poor German family. He did not have it easy growing Tycho Brahe up. His father was a soldier, who was killed in a war, and his mother (who was once accused of witchcraft) did not treat him well. Kepler was taken out of school when he was a boy so that he could make money for the family by working as a waiter in an inn. As a young man Kepler studied theology and science, and discovered that he liked science better. He became an accomplished mathematician and a persistent and determined calculator. He was driven to find an explanation for order in the universe. He was convinced that the order of the planets and their movement through the sky could be explained through mathematical calculation and careful thinking. Johannes Kepler Tycho wanted to study science so that he could learn how to predict eclipses. He studied mathematics and astronomy in Germany. Then, in 1571, when he was 25, Tycho built his own observatory on an island (the King of Denmark gave him the island and some additional money just for that purpose). -
Claudius Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY: TETRABIBLOS OR THE QUADRIPARTITE MATHEMATICAL TREATISE FOUR BOOKS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK PARAPHRASE OF PROCLUS BY J. M. ASHMAND London, Davis and Dickson [1822] This version courtesy of http://www.classicalastrologer.com/ Revised 04-09-2008 Foreword It is fair to say that Claudius Ptolemy made the greatest single contribution to the preservation and transmission of astrological and astronomical knowledge of the Classical and Ancient world. No study of Traditional Astrology can ignore the importance and influence of this encyclopaedic work. It speaks not only of the stars, but of a distinct cosmology that prevailed until the 18th century. It is easy to jeer at someone who thinks the earth is the cosmic centre and refers to it as existing in a sublunary sphere. However, our current knowledge tells us that the universe is infinite. It seems to me that in an infinite universe, any given point must be the centre. Sometimes scientists are not so scientific. The fact is, it still applies to us for our purposes and even the most rational among us do not refer to sunrise as earth set. It practical terms, the Moon does have the most immediate effect on the Earth which is, after all, our point of reference. She turns the tides, influences vegetative growth and the menstrual cycle. What has become known as the Ptolemaic Universe, consisted of concentric circles emanating from Earth to the eighth sphere of the Fixed Stars, also known as the Empyrean. This cosmology is as spiritual as it is physical. -
Kepler's Cosmological Synthesis
Kepler’s Cosmological Synthesis History of Science and Medicine Library VOLUME 39 Medieval and Early Modern Science Editors J. M. M. H. Thijssen, Radboud University Nijmegen C. H. Lüthy, Radboud University Nijmegen Editorial Consultants Joël Biard, University of Tours Simo Knuuttila, University of Helsinki Jürgen Renn, Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science Theo Verbeek, University of Utrecht VOLUME 20 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hsml Kepler’s Cosmological Synthesis Astrology, Mechanism and the Soul By Patrick J. Boner LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Cover illustration: Kepler’s Supernova, SN 1604, appears as a new star in the foot of Ophiuchus near the letter N. In: Johannes Kepler, De stella nova in pede Serpentarii, Prague: Paul Sessius, 1606, pp. 76–77. Courtesy of the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Boner, Patrick, author. Kepler’s cosmological synthesis: astrology, mechanism and the soul / by Patrick J. Boner. pages cm. — (History of science and medicine library, ISSN 1872-0684; volume 39; Medieval and early modern science; volume 20) Based on the author’s doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge, 2007. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-24608-9 (hardback: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-24609-6 (e-book) 1. Kepler, Johannes, 1571–1630—Philosophy. 2. Cosmology—History. 3. Astronomy—History. I. Title. II. Series: History of science and medicine library; v. 39. III. Series: History of science and medicine library. Medieval and early modern science; v. 20. QB36.K4.B638 2013 523.1092—dc23 2013013707 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. -
UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The science of the stars in Danzig from Rheticus to Hevelius / Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7n41x7fd Author Jensen, Derek Publication Date 2006 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO THE SCIENCE OF THE STARS IN DANZIG FROM RHETICUS TO HEVELIUS A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History (Science Studies) by Derek Jensen Committee in charge: Professor Robert S. Westman, Chair Professor Luce Giard Professor John Marino Professor Naomi Oreskes Professor Donald Rutherford 2006 The dissertation of Derek Jensen is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2006 iii FOR SARA iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page........................................................................................................... iii Dedication ................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... v List of Figures .......................................................................................................... -
Galileo in Early Modern Denmark, 1600-1650
1 Galileo in early modern Denmark, 1600-1650 Helge Kragh Abstract: The scientific revolution in the first half of the seventeenth century, pioneered by figures such as Harvey, Galileo, Gassendi, Kepler and Descartes, was disseminated to the northernmost countries in Europe with considerable delay. In this essay I examine how and when Galileo’s new ideas in physics and astronomy became known in Denmark, and I compare the reception with the one in Sweden. It turns out that Galileo was almost exclusively known for his sensational use of the telescope to unravel the secrets of the heavens, meaning that he was predominantly seen as an astronomical innovator and advocate of the Copernican world system. Danish astronomy at the time was however based on Tycho Brahe’s view of the universe and therefore hostile to Copernican and, by implication, Galilean cosmology. Although Galileo’s telescope attracted much attention, it took about thirty years until a Danish astronomer actually used the instrument for observations. By the 1640s Galileo was generally admired for his astronomical discoveries, but no one in Denmark drew the consequence that the dogma of the central Earth, a fundamental feature of the Tychonian world picture, was therefore incorrect. 1. Introduction In the early 1940s the Swedish scholar Henrik Sandblad (1912-1992), later a professor of history of science and ideas at the University of Gothenburg, published a series of works in which he examined in detail the reception of Copernicanism in Sweden [Sandblad 1943; Sandblad 1944-1945]. Apart from a later summary account [Sandblad 1972], this investigation was published in Swedish and hence not accessible to most readers outside Scandinavia. -
Copernicus and Tycho Brahe
THE NEWTONIAN REVOLUTION – Part One Philosophy 167: Science Before Newton’s Principia Class 2 16th Century Astronomy: Copernicus and Tycho Brahe September 9, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The Copernican Revolution .................................................................................................................. 1 A. Ptolemaic Astronomy: e.g. Longitudes of Mars ................................................................... 1 B. A Problem Raised for Philosophy of Science ....................................................................... 2 C. Background: 13 Centuries of Ptolemaic Astronomy ............................................................. 4 D. 15th Century Planetary Astronomy: Regiomantanus ............................................................. 5 E. Nicolaus Copernicus: A Brief Biography .............................................................................. 6 F. Copernicus and Ibn al-Shāţir (d. 1375) ……………………………………………………. 7 G. The Many Different Copernican Revolutions ........................................................................ 9 H. Some Comments on Kuhn’s View of Science ……………………………………………... 10 II. De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelstium (1543) ..................................................................................... 11 A. From Basic Ptolemaic to Basic Copernican ........................................................................... 11 B. A New Result: Relative Orbital Radii ................................................................................... 12 C. Orbital -
The Nova Stella and Its Observers
Running title: Nova stella 1572 AD The Nova Stella and its Observers P. Ruiz–Lapuente ∗,∗∗ 1. Introduction In 1572, physicists were still living with the concepts of mechanics inherited from Aris- totle and with the classification of the elements from the Greek philosopher. The growing criticism towards the Aristotelian views on the natural world could not turn very produc- tive, because the necessary elements of calculus and the empirical tools to move into a better frame were still lacking. However, in astronomy, observers had witnessed by that time the comet of 1556 and they would witness a new one in 1577. Moreover, since 1543 when De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium by Copernicus came to light, the apparent motion of the planets had a radically different explanation from the ortodox geocentrism. The new helio- centric view slowly won supporters among astronomers. The explanations concerning the planetary motions would depart from the “common sense” intuitions that had placed the earth sitting still at the center of the planetary system. Thus the “nova stella” in 1572 happened in the middle of the geocentric–versus–heliocentric debate. The other “nova”, the one that would be observed in 1604 by Kepler, came just shortly after the posthumous publication of Tycho Brahe’s Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata1 which contains most of the debates in relation to the appearance of the “new star”2. arXiv:astro-ph/0502399v1 21 Feb 2005 The machinery moving the planetary spheres, i.e. the intrincate system of solid spheres rotating by the motion imparted to them as the wheels in a clock, was not directly affected by the new heliocentric proposal. -
Three Editions of the Star Catalogue of Tycho Brahe*
A&A 516, A28 (2010) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201014002 & c ESO 2010 Astrophysics Three editions of the star catalogue of Tycho Brahe Machine-readable versions and comparison with the modern Hipparcos Catalogue F. Verbunt1 andR.H.vanGent2,3 1 Astronomical Institute, Utrecht University, PO Box 80 000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] 2 URU-Explokart, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80 115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands 3 Institute for the History and Foundations of Science, PO Box 80 000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands Received 6 January 2010 / Accepted 3 February 2010 ABSTRACT Tycho Brahe completed his catalogue with the positions and magnitudes of 1004 fixed stars in 1598. This catalogue circulated in manuscript form. Brahe edited a shorter version with 777 stars, printed in 1602, and Kepler edited the full catalogue of 1004 stars, printed in 1627. We provide machine-readable versions of the three versions of the catalogue, describe the differences between them and briefly discuss their accuracy on the basis of comparison with modern data from the Hipparcos Catalogue. We also compare our results with earlier analyses by Dreyer (1916, Tychonis Brahe Dani Scripta Astronomica, Vol. II) and Rawlins (1993, DIO, 3, 1), finding good overall agreement. The magnitudes given by Brahe correlate well with modern values, his longitudes and latitudes have error distributions with widths of 2, with excess numbers of stars with larger errors (as compared to Gaussian distributions), in particular for the faintest stars. Errors in positions larger than 10, which comprise about 15% of the entries, are likely due to computing or copying errors. -
History of Astronomy
NASE publications History of Astronomy History of Astronomy Jay Pasachoff, Magda Stavinschi, Mary Kay Hemenway International Astronomical Union, Williams College (Massachusetts, USA), Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (Bucarest, Romania), University of Texas (Austin, USA) Summary This short survey of the History of Astronomy provides a brief overview of the ubiquitous nature of astronomy at its origins, followed by a summary of the key events in the development of astronomy in Western Europe to the time of Isaac Newton. Goals • Give a schematic overview of the history of astronomy in different areas throughout the world, in order to show that astronomy has always been of interest to all the people. • List the main figures in the history of astronomy who contributed to major changes in approaching this discipline up to Newton: Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. • Conference time constraints prevent us from developing the history of astronomy in our days, but more details can be found in other chapters of this book Pre-History With dark skies, ancient peoples could see the stars rise in the eastern part of the sky, move upward, and set in the west. In one direction, the stars moved in tiny circles. Today, when we look north, we see a star at that position – the North Star, or Polaris. It isn't a very bright star: 48 stars in the sky are brighter than it, but it happens to be in an interesting place. In ancient times, other stars were aligned with Earth's north pole, or sometimes, there were no stars in the vicinity of the pole. -
Sect in Astrology Slides
Day and Night • One of the most fundamental astronomical cycles. • But what does it mean in astrology? • Concept of sect recently recovered from ancient astrology. • Posits a distinction between day and night charts. • Interpretation of basic chart placements altered. • Broad overview of sect in this talk. The Two Teams or Sects • Greek hairesis: a faction, party, school, or religious sect. • The planets are divided into two teams. • Each team is led by a luminary: giver of light. – Day team led by the Sun – Night team led by the Moon Sect as a Foundational Concept • Sect shows up everywhere in ancient astrology: – Domicile assignments – Joys – Exaltations – Triplicity rulers – Lot calculations (e.g. Lot or Part of Fortune) – Master of the Nativity – Some timing techniques • It is not a minor technique or concept. Domiciles Aspects Receive Emit Exaltations Exaltations, Sect, and Aspects Solar hemisphere: spirit, soul, mind Planetary Joys Lunar hemisphere: fortune, body, matter Calculating the Lot of Fortune • The Arabic Parts are geometrical calculations. • The Lot of Fortune is reversed by day and night. • Has to do with sect light, and light/dark analogy. The Master of the Nativity • The overall ruler of the chart. • To find the Master, you must first find the Predominator. • Three candidates: Sun, Moon, or Ascendant. – Strongest luminary preferred. • Domicile lord of predominator becomes Master. • Interesting implications: – Many born during the day characterized by Sun-sign. – Many born at night characterized more by Moon-sign. • See TAP #205 for more on this. Annual Profections and Sect • Profections is an ancient timing technique. • Count one sign per year from the rising sign. -
The Tetrabiblos
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