Physical Science, Q4 - Mod 1 - “Ancient and Modern Astronomy” (Grade 11)

What I Need To Know

This module is designed to deepen your knowledge about Ancient and Modern Astronomy.
After going through this module, you are expected to:
 explain how the Greeks knew that the Earth is spherical (S11/12PS-IVa-38);
 cite examples of astronomical phenomena known to astronomers before the advent of telescopes
(S11/12PS-IVa-42); and
 Explain how Brahe’s innovations and extensive collection of data in observational astronomy paved
the way for Kepler’s discovery of his laws of planetary motion (S11/12PS-IVb-44).

Physical Science,
Ancient Astronomy
Module 1, Lesson 1

What’s New
It was in Greece that the Golden Age of early astronomy was centered. Being philosophers, the
Greeks used philosophical arguments to explain the natural events happening around them including the
movements of the stars and other heavenly bodies. But they were also observers. The early Greeks had a
geocentric view of the earth. For them, it was the center of the universe; hence, a motionless sphere. The
sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn orbited the Earth. The Greeks also believed that
stars traveled daily around the earth. However, they all stayed in a transparent, hollow sphere located
beyond the planets. They called this sphere as the celestial sphere.

What Is It
The Size of the Spherical Earth
Ancient scholars tried to provide proof of a spherical Earth and its circumference through
calculations. It was Eratosthenes who gave the most accurate size during their time. While he was working
at the Library of Alexandria in Northern Egypt, he received correspondence from Syene in Southern Egypt
which stated that a vertical object did not cast any shadow at noontime during the summer solstice. But this
was not the case in Alexandria where, at noon time during the summer solstice, a vertical object still casts a
shadow. These observations could only mean that the Sun, during this time in Alexandria, was not directly
overhead.

Figure 1: Shows how Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the Earth.

Eratosthenes then determined the angle the Sun made with the vertical direction by measuring the
shadow that a vertical stick cast. He found out that in Alexandria, the Sun makes an angle of 7.2° from the
vertical while 0° in Syene. To explain the difference, he hypothesized that the light rays coming from the sun
are parallel, and the Earth is curved.
From his measurements, he computed the circumference of the Earth to be approximately 250 000
stadia (a stadium is a unit of measurement used to describe the size of a typical stadium at the time), about
40 000 kilometers.
Our understanding about the different heavenly bodies can be credited to the important findings of
the following Greek astronomers:
a. Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras was able to explain what causes the phases of the moon. According to him, the moon
shone only by reflected sunlight. Since it is a sphere, only half of it illuminated at a time. This illuminated
part that is visible from the earth changes periodically.
b. Eudoxus
Eudoxus proposed a system of fixed spheres. He believed that the Sun, the moon, the five known
planets and the stars were attached to these spheres which carried the heavenly bodies while they revolved
around the stationary Earth.
c. Aristotle
 Aristotle was a student of Plato. For him, the earth is spherical in shape since it always casts a
curved shadow when it eclipses the moon. He also believed that the earth was the center of the universe.
The planets and stars were concentric, crystalline spheres centered on the earth.
d. Aristarchus
Aristarchus is the very first Greek to profess the heliocentric view. The word helios means sun;
centric means centered. This heliocentric view considered the sun as the center of the universe. He learned
that the sun was many time farther than the moon and that it was much larger than the earth. He also made
an attempt to calculate the distance of the sun and the moon by using geometric principles. He based his
calculations on his estimated diameters of the earth and moon, and expressed distance in terms of
diameter. However, the measurements he got were very small and there were a lot of observational errors.
e. Eratosthenes
The first successful attempt to determine the size of the earth was made by him. He did this by
applying geometric principles. He observed the angles of the noonday sun in two Egyptian cities that were
almost opposite each other- Syene (now Aswan) in the south and Alexandria in the north. He assumed they
were in the same longitude.
f. Hipparchus
Hipparchus is considered as the greatest of the early Greek astronomers. He observed and
compared the brightness of 850 stars and arranged them into order of brightness or magnitude. He
developed a method for predicting the times of lunar eclipses to within a few hours. Aside from this, he also
measured the length of the year to within minutes of the modern value.
g. Claudius Ptolemy
He believed that the earth was the center of the universe. His Ptolemic Model claimed that the
planets moved in a complicated system of circles. This geocentric model also became known as the
Ptolemic System.

The Ptolemic Model

Claudius Ptolemy developed a model that was able to explain the observable motions of the planets.

Figure 2: Ptolemic Model showing geocentrism

According to the Ptolemic Mode, the sun, the moon, and the other planets move in circular orbits
around the earth. However, if observed night after night, these planets move slightly eastward among the
stars. At a certain point, the planet appears to stop then moves in the opposite direction for some time; after
which it will resume its eartward motion. This westward drift of the planets is called retrograde motion.
To justify his earth-centered model using retrograde motion, he further explained that the planets
orbited on small circles, called epicycles, revolving around large circles called deferents.

What I Have Learned

Directions: Arrange the words in correct order. These are the observations that led the Greeks to conclude
that the Earth is sphere. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
1. earth the circular casts on the moon a shadow during a lunar eclipse.
2. the different has positions depending observer on the location of the North Star.
3. moon spherical and the Sun are both the.
4. a sailing ship becomes smaller and then its hull disappears first before the sail as if it is being water
enveloped by completely disappears the until it.
5. the Sun of the with the vertical summer direction at angle noon time during a solstice from place to
place varies.

Physical Science, Examples of Astronomical Phenomena Before the

Module 1, Lesson 2 Advent of Telescopes

What’s New
The roots of astronomy reach back to prehistoric times when humans first noted stars in the
night sky. The earliest astronomers divided the night sky into groups of stars called constellations. The
names of the constellations are mainly a carryover from the names assigned by early Greek, Babylonian
and Egyptian astronomers.
 What Is It

Even before the advent of the telescopes, ancient astronomers were able to observe the following:
 rising and setting of the Sun in the east and the west, respectively;
 point where the Sun rises and sets in the horizon varies in a year;
 phases of the moon;
 lunar eclipse;
 solar eclipse;
 daily and annual motion of the stars; and
 planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Rising and Setting of the Sun
Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations used a primitive version of a sundial, called gnomon, in
systematically observing the motion of the sun. By looking at the shadows that the gnomon casts, they were
able to observe that the sun rises in the eastern part of the sky, reaches its highest point in midday, and sets
in the western part of the sky.

Figure 3: The figure shows the ancient stele used as a gnomon, a primitive version of sundial

Also, they recorded that the points where the sun rises and sets on the horizon varies over a year
and these variations happen periodically. They observed that these variations are related to weather and so
concluded that seasonal changes in climate happen during a course of one year.
Phases of the Moon
A moon, also called a satellite, is a relatively small object that is orbiting around a planet. Earth’s
moon is the fifth biggest moon in the solar system. As we will see, several other planets in the solar system
also have moons. On average, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 384,000 kilometres. To give
you an idea of its size, the moon is about four times smaller than the width of the Earth.
The gravity of the Earth pulls on the moon such that one face of the moon is always facing us, and
we can never see the other side. Just like the Earth, half of the moon is always lit by sunlight and the other
half is in shadow. As the moon orbits the Earth, we see a different phase of the moon. It takes 27 days, 7
hours, and 43 minutes for our Moon to complete one full orbit around Earth. This is called the sidereal
month, and is measured by our Moon's position relative to distant “fixed” stars. However, it takes our Moon
about 29.5 days to complete one cycle of phases (from full Moon to full Moon).

Figure 4: The figure shows the eight (8) phases of the moon

Eclipses
There are two types of eclipses: lunar eclipse and solar eclipse.
A. Lunar Eclipse

Figure 5: The figure shows the lunar eclipse

 The lining up of the earth, moon, and sun produces a lunar eclipse when the moon passes into the
shadow of the earth. Usually a lunar eclipse either precedes or follows a solar eclipse by two weeks. Just as
all solar eclipses involve a new moon, all lunar eclipses involve a full moon. A lunar eclipse may be partial or
total. All observers on the dark side of the earth see a lunar eclipse at the same time. Interestingly, when the
moon is fully eclipsed, it is still visible and reddish.

B. Solar Eclipse

Figure 4: The figure shows the solar eclipse

Sometimes, the moon comes between the sun and the Earth. Then, it hides briefly from our sight.
We call this an eclipse of the sun. Ancient people feared an eclipse, because it was supposed to show that
the gods were angry, or that there would be floods, wars and other disasters. A solar eclipse occurs when
the moon’s shadow falls on the earth. Because of the large size of the sun, rays of sunlight taper to provide
an umbra and a surrounding penumbra. An observer in the umbra part of the shadow experiences darkness
during the day a total eclipse, totality. Totality begins when the sun disappears behind the moon and ends
when the sun appears on the other edge of the moon. The average time of totality is 2 to 3 minutes, and a
maximum of 7.5 minutes.

Daily and Annual Motion of the Stars

It was also observed that the stars appear to be attached to a celestial sphere that rotates around an
axis in one day. This axis intersects the celestial sphere at a point in the northern sky and is presently close
to the northern star, Polaris. Also, the constellations’ positions in the night sky vary depending on the time of
the year.
The movement of different celestial bodies can be described as diurnal motion, annual motion, and
precession of the equinoxes.
A. Diurnal Motion
Diurnal motion is the apparent daily revolution of the celestial sphere around the celestial poles as a
direct effect of the Earth’s rotation on its axis. In other words, it refers to the apparent movement of stars
and other celestial bodies around Earth. The circular path that the celestial bodies take to complete the
diurnal motion is called diurnal circle.
The apparent motion of celestial bodies viewed from Earth is east to west. If you observe the night
sky, the stars seem to move in a counter-clockwise direction (from east to west) with respect to Polaris or
North Star. Similarly, the apparent daily motion of the sun, which is the closest star to Earth, is counter-
clockwise. You can observe that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Some stars, called circumpolar stars, never seem to go away from the horizon, or never set or rise.
The closer you get to the poles, the larger the circle of circumpolar stars is. On the other hand, the nearer
you get to the equator, the circle of circumpolar stars decreases until it vanishes at the celestial poles.
B. Annual Motion
Annual motion is the apparent yearly movement of the stars as observed from Earth as a direct
effect of the Earth’s revolution around the sun.
The sun revolves 360 degrees a year around a path on the celestial sphere called the ecliptic. The
sun moves eastward with respect to the stars on the celestial sphere. It can be observed that the sun’s
altitude changes with season. Its altitude is at maximum during summer solstice and at minimum during
winter solstice. Also, sunrise and sunset points in the horizon changes with season. The sun rises north of
east in the summer, and south of east in the winter.
As the sun revolves around the ecliptic, different stars and constellations appear on the horizon
throughout the year. These are known as the constellations of the Zodiac.
C. Precession of the Equinoxes
As the sun revolves around the ecliptic, it intersects the celestial equator twice during a year at two
points. These points are called the equinoxes: vernal and autumnal. During an equinox, the length of
daytime is almost equal to the length of nighttime. Vernal or spring equinox happens every March 20 while
autumnal equinox occurs every September 22. The gravitational force of the sun and the moon on Earth
causes the cyclic precession or “wobbling” of the Earth’s axis of rotation.
Precession of the equinoxes is the apparent motion of the equinoxes along the ecliptic as Earth
‘wobbles,’ and this motion happens about every 26 000 years. At present, Earth’s North Pole points to
Polaris. However, it will eventually point to another star, Vega, because of precession.
D. Planets Discovered Before the Invention of Telescope
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the planets discovered before the invention of the telescope.

What I Have Learned

Directions: Complete the statements below. Write your answers on you answer sheet.
Even before the advent of the telescopes, ancient astronomers were able to observe the following:
 rising and setting of the (1) respectively
 point where the Sun rises and sets in the (2) varies in a year
 phases of the (3)
 lunar (4)
 (5) eclipse
 daily and annual motion of the (6) , and
 planets Mercury, (7) , (8) , (9) , and (10)

Physical Science,
Modern Astronomy
Module 1, Lesson 3

What’s New
Throughout human history, scientists have struggled to understand what they see in the night
sky. Famous astronomers — many of them great scientists who mastered many fields — explained the
heavens with varying degrees of accuracy. Over the centuries, a geocentric view of the universe — with
Earth at the center of everything — gave way to the proper understanding we have today of an expanding
universe in which our galaxy is but one of billions. On this list are some of the most famous scientists from
the early days of astronomy through the modern era, and a summary of some of their achievements.
After 14 centuries since Ptolemy, five noted scientists made important discoveries that gave rise to
the birth of modern astronomy. These were Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo
Galilei and Isaac Newton.

What Is It

Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer and nobleman who made accurate observations of the
movement of celestial bodies in an observatory built for him by King Frederick II of Denmark in 1576. He
was able to invent different astronomical instruments, with the help of his assistants, and made an extensive
study of the solar system. He was able to determine the position of 777 fixed stars accurately.
Johannes Kepler
When King Frederick II died, and the successor did not fully support Brahe’s work, he moved to
Prague in 1599 where he was supported by Emperor Rudolf II and worked as an imperial mathematician.
Emperor Rudolf II recommended Johannes Kepler to work for him as an assistant. Kepler was born to a
poor German family and studied as a scholar at the University of Tübingen in 1589.
Brahe and Kepler's Work
 Brahe and Kepler had an unsteady working relationship. Kepler was Brahe's assistant. However,
Brahe mistrusted Kepler with his astronomical data in fear of being shadowed by his assistant.
 Brahe assigned to Kepler the interpretation of his observations of Mars, whose movement did not
match Brahe’s calculations. Kepler was tasked to figure out what path Mars followed as it revolved
around the Sun. It was believed by many scientists that Brahe gave this task to Kepler to keep him
occupied and left Brahe to develop his laws of planetary motion.
Kepler's Discoveries from Brahe's Data
Kepler postulated that there must be a force from the Sun that moves the planets. He was able to
conclude that this force would explain the orbit of Mars and the Earth, including all the other planets, moved
fastest when it is nearest from the Sun and moved slowest when it is farthest from the Sun.
Eventually, Brahe decided to give all his data to Kepler hoping that he would be able to prove his
Tychonic system and put together new tables of astronomical data. This table was known as Rudolphine
Tables, named after the Roman emperor and was useful in determining the positions of the planets for the
past 1000 years and the future 1000 years. This table was the most accurate table that is known to the
astronomical world.
 After Brahe died in 1601, Emperor Rudolf II assigned Kepler as the new imperial mathematician, and
all of Brahe’s writings, instruments, and the Rudolphine tables were passed on to him. From Brahe’s data,
Kepler was able to formulate his laws of planetary motion: the law of ellipses, the law of equal areas, and
the law of harmonies.
Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion
First Law - The Law of Ellipses
When Kepler tried to figure out Mars’ orbit, it did not fit the then-famous theory that a planet follows a
circular path. He then postulated that instead of a circular path, planets follow an oval or an ellipse orbit.

Figure 7: Kepler’s Law of Ellipses

This orbit matched his calculations and explained the “irregularities” in the movement of Mars. He
was able to formulate his first law of planetary motion, the law of ellipses which describes that the actual
path followed by the planets was elliptical, not circular, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

Second Law - The Law of Equal Areas

The second law, which is the law of equal areas states that when an imaginary line is drawn from
the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, the line will sweep out an equal area of space in equal time
intervals.

Figure 8: Kepler’s Law of Equal Areas

The law describes how fast a planet moves in its orbit. A planet moves fastest when it is nearest the
Sun and slowest when it is farthest from the Sun, and still, the same area is swept out by the line in equal
amounts of time.
Third Law - The Law of Harmonies
The law of harmonies, which is the third law, describes that the square of a planet’s orbital period
(T2) is proportional to the cube of a planet’s average distance from the Sun (R3). It states that that the ratio
of the squares of the periods of two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of the average distances of
these two planets from the Sun or:
where the subscript 1 indicates planet 1 and subscript 2 indicates planet 2.

Figure 9: Kepler’s Law of Harmonies

What I Have Learned

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the correct answer. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
1. ___ was a Danish astronomer and nobleman who made accurate observations of the
movement of celestial bodies.
2. ___ was a German astronomer and mathematician who worked as an assistant to Brahe and
formulated the three laws of planetary motion based on Brahe’s extensive astronomical data.
3. __ states that planets follow an elliptical orbit.
4. ________ states that when an imaginary line is drawn from the center of a planet to the center of the
Sun, an equal amount of space is swept in equal amount of time.
5. ________ states that the ratio of the squares of the period of two planets is equal to the ratio of the
cubes of the planets’ average distance from the Sun.
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References:
 Matias, Jiji Erick Q. 2020. Physical Science-Senior High School Quarter 1-Module 10: Household
Products. Legaspi City: Department of Education.