WELCOMEWELCOME TOTO AncientAncient AstronomyAstronomy HowardHoward PomerantzPomerantz [email protected]@earthlink.net 8 October 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Howard J. Pomerantz All rights reserved. LecturesLectures onon thethe WebWeb z http://voyager.deanza.edu/~howardphttp://voyager.deanza.edu/~howardp z AvailableAvailable onon--lineline MondayMonday OctoberOctober 1111 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 2 De Anza College z Mrs.Mrs. CopernicusCopernicus waswas aa greatgreat inspirationinspiration toto herher husband:husband: ""Copernicus,Copernicus, whenwhen areare youyou goinggoing toto comecome toto termsterms withwith thethe factfact thatthat thethe worldworld doesdoes notnot revolverevolve aroundaround you?"you?" 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 3 De Anza College CourseCourse TopicsTopics z AstronomyAstronomy BasicsBasics z ArchaeologyArchaeology BasicsBasics z CosmologiesCosmologies ofof ancientancient culturescultures z PaleolithicPaleolithic ““AstronomyAstronomy”” z Marshack theory z Lascaux Cave z NeolithicNeolithic ““AstronomyAstronomy”” z Durrington Walls z Newgrange z Avebury z Stonehenge 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 4 De Anza College CourseCourse OverviewOverview Cont.Cont. zzAstronomyAstronomy inin MesopotamiaMesopotamia zzMUL.APINMUL.APIN zzEnumaEnuma AnuAnu EnlilEnlil zzCosmologyCosmology zzMesopotamianMesopotamian ““AstrolabesAstrolabes”” zzAstronomyAstronomy inin AncientAncient EgyptEgypt 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 5 De Anza College CourseCourse OverviewOverview Cont.Cont. zzHellenistic/GreekHellenistic/Greek AstronomyAstronomy zzSeleucidSeleucid PeriodPeriod zzAristotleAristotle zzEratosthenesEratosthenes zzPtolemaicPtolemaic PeriodPeriod zzPtolemyPtolemy 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 6 De Anza College CourseCourse OverviewOverview Cont.Cont. zz AstronomyAstronomy inin IndiaIndia zz AstronomyAstronomy ofof thethe MayaMaya zz AstronomyAstronomy ofof NANA IndianIndian PeoplesPeoples zz AncientAncient NavigationNavigation zz OriginsOrigins ofof thethe calendarcalendar zz LetLet’’ss getget SiriusSirius forfor aa momentmoment 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 7 De Anza College IndexIndex CardsCards z WhatWhat topics,topics, sites,sites, culturescultures youyou wouldwould toto seesee coveredcovered z WhatWhat topicstopics youyou wouldwould likelike emphasizedemphasized z WhyWhy youyou areare interestedinterested inin ancientancient astronomyastronomy z WhatWhat shortshort coursescourses youyou areare interestedinterested inin havinghaving usus offeroffer inin thethe futurefuture z WhatWhat eveningsevenings areare bestbest forfor youyou 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 8 De Anza College TonightTonight’’ss TopicsTopics z NakedNaked eyeeye astronomyastronomy z ScientificScientific methodmethod z MagnitudesMagnitudes andand MeasurementMeasurement z ArchaeologyArchaeology MethodsMethods andand TheoryTheory z PaleolithicPaleolithic astronomyastronomy z AbriAbri BlanchardBlanchard z LunarLunar PhasesPhases z LascauxLascaux CaveCave z CoordinateCoordinate SystemsSystems 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 9 De Anza College EyesightEyesight z Natural eye sensitivity z You are born with this, some people having much more acute eyesight than others; z Age and color of the eyes z Age z The older you become, the less acute your vision can be z Eye Fatigue z Position of the eye z In relation to what it is being viewed z Dark adaptation z The eye becomes considerably more sensitive to subtle light variations when totally dilated and equalized to its dark surroundings z Eye defect and disease z Everyone has some degree of defect in our eyes 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 10 De Anza College TheThe NakedNaked EyeEye z Cones z Lower sensitivity, specialized for day vision z Rods z High sensitivity, specialized for night vision z More photopigment , captures more light z High amplification, single photon detection z Saturate in daylight z Low temporal resolution: z Slow response, long integration time z More sensitive to scattered light z More rods in the peripheral areas z Do not see RED 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 11 De Anza College 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 12 De Anza College EyeEye ResolutionResolution z 9090 millionmillion toto 120120 millionmillion receptorsreceptors (pixels)(pixels) z NotNot allall conescones andand rodsrods areare activeactive atat anyany givengiven timetime 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 13 De Anza College EyeEye ResolutionResolution Cont.Cont. z CaptainCaptain WilliamWilliam HenryHenry Smyth'sSmyth's BedfordBedford CatalogCatalog ofof 18501850 listslists starsstars asas hehe sawsaw themthem inin England.England. z "The number of stars seen by the naked eye at once is seldom much above a thousand; though from their scintillation and the indistinct manner in which they are viewed, they appear to be almost infinite. Indeed, albeit the keen glances of experience might do more, the whole number that can generally be perceived by the naked eye, taking both hemispheres, is not greatly above three thousand, from the first to the sixth magnitudes." 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 14 De Anza College 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 15 De Anza College MagnitudesMagnitudes andand MeasurementsMeasurements 8 October 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Howard J. Pomerantz All rights reserved. MetricMetric SystemSystem z Length z meter (m) ~39 inches z kilometer (km) = 1000 m 0.6 miles z Mass z gram (gm) ~ 1 Advil Tablet z kilogram (kg) = 1000 gm = 2.2 lbs. 103 gm z Volume z m3 z cm3 = 10-6 m3 ~ size of a sugar cube z Time z second (s) 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 17 De Anza College MagnitudesMagnitudes zz DiameterDiameter ofof thethe Earth:Earth: ~12,756,272m~12,756,272m zz RadiusRadius ofof thethe EarthEarth (Equator):(Equator): ~6,378,136m~6,378,136m zz Billion:Billion: 10109 1,000,000,0001,000,000,000 zz Trillion:Trillion: 101012 1,000,000,000,0001,000,000,000,000 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 18 De Anza College MagnitudesMagnitudes Cont.Cont. zz AUAU (Astronomical(Astronomical Unit):Unit): 149,600149,600 xx 10106mm zz VelocityVelocity ofof light:light: 299,792,458m/sec299,792,458m/sec z 186,282.4186,282.4 miles/secmiles/sec zz 11 LightLight Year:Year: 9,454,254,955,488,000m9,454,254,955,488,000m z 9.45459.4545 xx 101015 z 63,200AU63,200AU 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 19 De Anza College ScaleScale z PopulationPopulation ofof USUS ~294,000,000~294,000,000 z NumberNumber ofof cellscells inin humanhuman bodybody z ~ 100 trillion z 1014 z NumberNumber ofof starsstars inin ourour galaxygalaxy –– MilkyMilky WayWay z ~100 billion z AnnualAnnual federalfederal budgetbudget z ~ $1 trillion ($1,926,000,000,000) z 1012 z US Debt $7,384,000,000,000 z ~$25,000/person (294,000,000) z ~ number of stars in 10 galaxies 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 20 De Anza College ScientificScientific MethodMethod 8 October 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Howard J. Pomerantz All rights reserved. ScientificScientific MethodMethod z Aristotle z 1637 René Descartes z "Discours de la Méthode" z The subject of a scientific experiment must to be: z Observable z Reproducible z Observations may be made with the unaided eye, a microscope, a telescope, a voltmeter, or any other apparatus suitable for detecting the desired phenomenon. 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 22 De Anza College ScientificScientific MethodMethod z The invention of the telescope in 1608 made it possible for Galileo to discover the moons of Jupiter the following year z Other scientists confirmed Galileo's observations and the course of astronomy was changed. z Some observations that were not able to withstand tests of objectivity were the canals of Mars reported by astronomer Percival Lowell. z Lowell claimed to be able to see a network of canals in Mars that he attributed to intelligent life in that planet. z Bigger telescopes and satellite missions to Mars failed to confirm the existence of canals. z This was a case where the observations could not be independently verified or reproduced, and the hypothesis about intelligent life was unjustified by the observations. z Lowell did accurately predict the existence of the planet Pluto in 1905 based on perturbations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. z Good example of deductive logic z The application of the theory of gravitation to the known planets predicted that they should be in a different position from where they were 8 Octoberz 2004If the law of gravitation was notAncient wrong, Astronomy then something else had to 23 account for the variation. PlutoDe Anza was College discovered 25 years later AristotleAristotle z AristotleAristotle waswas bornborn inin 384384 BC,BC, inin StagiraStagira,, nearnear MacedoniaMacedonia z StudentStudent ofof PlatoPlato z PossiblyPossibly firstfirst toto useuse scientificscientific methodmethod z UnfortunatelyUnfortunately notnot exclusivelyexclusively z LogicLogic 8 October 2004 Ancient Astronomy 24 De Anza College ScientificScientific RevolutionsRevolutions z ThomasThomas KuhnKuhn z TheThe CopernicanCopernican RevolutionRevolution z TheThe StructureStructure ofof ScientificScientific RevolutionsRevolutions z ParadigmParadigm z "In"In thethe absenceabsence ofof aa paradigmparadigm oror somesome candidatecandidate forfor paradigm,paradigm, allall thethe factsfacts thatthat couldcould possiblypossibly pertainpertain toto thethe developmentdevelopment ofof aa givengiven sciencescience areare likelylikely toto seemseem equallyequally relevant"relevant" z AA setset ofof acceptedaccepted notionsnotions basedbased onon receivedreceived knowledgeknowledge 8 October 2004 Ancient