Observational astronomy

Aristarchus of Samos was not only an astronomer but also a mathematician. He lived between 310–230 B.C. and belonged to the Pythagorean School of Thought (Heath). His mathematical knowledge helped him to discover great advances in the world of astronomy. His writing The Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon is his only surviving text (Aristarchus ‘16). Aristarchus’ description of the solar system was similar to our modern one and this was about 1500 years before Copernicus made his geocentric…

Galileo’s Contributions Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, played a major role in the scientific revolution. He laid the foundation of modern physics and astronomy. Initially, he studied medicine at the University of Pisa, but lost interest. Soon after that, Galileo developed an interest in mathematics and physics and began observing our solar system. While observing the solar system, he developed his own scientific method.. He later helped develop the modern scientific method, which…

theorized that the sun, moon, and stars all orbited the earth in small rings called epicycles, was the widely accepted and accurate model of the universe at the time according to the Church (Williams). The Ptolemaic model looked to improve the field of astronomy, as Ptolemy concluded that the Aristotelian homocentric model of spherical shells was not an accurate enough as an astronomical theory. As the Church was at odds with Aristotelian theories such as the…

Man Isn’t Center of the Universe Anymore? Before the sixteenth century, the common knowledge of astronomy was based off the Pythagoras, Aristotle, and the Ptolemaic model. They said the Earth was the center of the universe and everything, including the sun, planets, and the heavenly spheres rotated about its center. Aristotle established the principle that there were only seven planets considered wandering stars: Earth, moon, sun, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. Anything besides these stars…

The Moon Didn’t The clock struck seven. The crickets took a bow and then stage left. The birds sang, a shimmering show of shouts and silence, Greeting the bees and butterflies waking the morning daisies. But the Moon didn’t hear a thing. The clock struck eight. The sun opened its arms to the dirt and sky, Its brilliance caught in dew drops and fed to the earth. The breeze zipping around and about, beckoning the fields for a dance. But the Moon didn’t see a thing. The clock struck nine.…

My favorite constellation is Pegasus. In the second century, it was listed as a constellation along with forty-seven others by the astronomy Ptolemy. I choose Pegasus because of the mythological legends behind such a magnificent organization of stars. Also, Pegasus particularly interests me because of the near perfect arrangement of four stars in a square: Markab, Scheat, Algenib, and Alpheratz/Sirrah (to use their Arabic names) are the four corners of the square asterism. In Greek mythology,…

What is beauty? According to Lexi Herrick, ‘’Beauty is happiness”(Herrick). People experience Beauty in many ways, some see it in new places, animals, the planets, and at times even themselves. The sun, moon, the heart, paris, and horses all have their own beauty, all in their own ways. The sun is one of the largest and most beautiful stars, but it is not the largest (sun facts). Our sun is classified as a dwarf star, and the biggest star is called Red Giants(sun facts) although the sun is not…

Shifting its weight from side to side, the sugar-covered Northern gannet holds its short wings aloft, preparing to jump from a rugged boulder. After a careful scope of the diamond-crusted sea below, the white adventurer tenses before leaping from the mossy cliff. Briefly the gannet plunges--flapping its wings determinately until the stiff breeze lifts its stout form above the salty ocean spray. Swiftly rising through the clear air, the Northern gannet angles its broad, unmoving wings like a…

The most prominent motif in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is the motif of light and dark. In this famous tragedy, beauty is often associated with light. Before Romeo meets Juliet his world is described as dark, gloomy and depressed, after he meets her, however, it is evident that Juliet brings him light. Essentially, Juliet is the healer of Romeo’s depression. The motif of light and dark in the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is shown to change over the course of five acts. The beginning of…

In All Summer in a Day, Ray Bradbury uses descriptive language and symbolism to represent the sun and its connection to the children's happiness. The sun makes the children excited, and happy when they hear that the sun is coming. The symbolism that he used is what shows That the rumor of the sun's arrival excites the children and makes them so happy. Ray Bradbury also uses The writing skill of descriptive language to describe and explain the children and different events in the story. He shows…