ASTRONOMY

By

Morgan Williams and Courtney Godwins

Mrs. Saundra Watts

3th grade

March 1, 2011

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ASTRONOMY
Introduction:
I. The study of Heavens
A. Astonomy
1. Comes from “aston ”which means star and “nemein” Which
means to name
1. Stars are named according to their placement inside the pattern and
graded according to brightness.
A. Constellations
1. Early civilizations remembered the relative positions of the stars by
grouping stars that seemed to makes patterns.
2. Some examples of constellations are Orion, Eridanus ,and Scorpii
I. Ancient astronomy
A. Ancient monuments
1. Examples are Stonehenge in the UK and the pyramids of the Maya
in South America.
3. They offer evidence that the basic components of observational
astronomy have been known for at least 6,000 years.
B.Solar Eclipse
1. Ancient civilizations believed that it was a dragon eating the sun.
4. They also believed a loud noise would frighten the dragon.
II. Ordering the Universe
A.Ptolemy
1. Gave civilization a lot of knowledge of ancient science.
5. He collected and clarified the work of all the great astronomers
before him.
B.The Almagest and Tetrabiblos
1. The almagest was an astronomy text book that had information of
known stars
6. The tetrabibols discussed astrology.

IV. The Celestial sphere

A.Earth
1. They had no real evidence of earth, so they concluded that it was
stationary.
2. They also found out that the stars and planet revolve around it.
B.Crystalline Sphere
1. Crystalline Sphere means the stars wheeling around a single point
in the sky and assumed that this must be one end of the axis.
7. Was also called the sphere of fixed stars.
V. Astrology
A.Meaning

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 1. Comes from the Greek word “astron” meaning star and “logos”
meaning the science.
8. Since Babylonian time people starring at the star were convinced
that the regular motion of the heavens indicated some great cosmic
purpose.
B. The Zodiac
1. Since Roman time the series of consultations have be limited to 12.
9. A person horoscopic chart she how the stars and planets were
placed at the time of birth.
VI. The Copernican Revolution
A.The Nova
1. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe discover a new star The Nova
10. The Nova is so bright that it can be seen during the day.
B.Copernican Universe
1. Copernicus based his solar system on how long it took each planet
to complete a full orbit.
11. It shows the Earth in an orbit around the sun with the Zondiac
beyond.
VII. Intellectual Giant
A.Faces of Venus
1. Galileo in 1610 discovered that the moons of Jupiter and the phases
of Venus
12. The phases of Venus are caused by the sun shining on a planet that
revolves around it.
B.The Moon and Gravity
1. The moon held its orbit because it is always “falling” toward the
Earth.
13. Without gravity it would hurtle straight out into space.
VIII.Observatories
A.Beijing Observatories
1. The Great Observatory sets on the walls of the Forbidden City in
the Beijing, China.
3. It was constructed with the help of Jesuit a Priest from Portugal.
B.Mauna Kea
1. The best are mountain tops or deserts and temperate climates.
14. There are optical, infrared and radio telescopes on Mauna Kea.
IX.Venus
A.Greenhouse Effect
1. Temperatures on the surface easily reach 900’F
15. The thick clouds keep out as much as 80 percent of the Sun’s rays.
B.Landing on Venus
4. Most of the land contains volcanoes.
X. Saturn
A.Saturn’s and its rings
1. Rings are made of different size of chunks of ice.
16. The rings are about only 100 feet thick and the total width of the

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 rings is 169,000 miles.
B.Saturn’s moons
1. All the moons are made of ice except Titan.
17. Emceladus is heavily cratered suggesting internal melting.

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 Jimmy’s Telescope
Jimmy checked the forecast and it called for clear
skies. This was just what he was hoping for. Then he check
the time. It was almost time for the mailman, Roger, to
come. He hoped out of his chair and shot to the door.
Once out side Jimmy waited by the mailbox. Sweat
started to bead on his forehead as the hot summer sun
beamed down on his head.
Then just what he was waiting on. The mail truck was
just in sight down the street stopping at every house. Jimmy
was so excited he could not stay still. Finally the mailman
got to Jimmy’s house.
“Hey Jimmy, How are you today?” said Roger the
mailman with his usual giant grin on his face.
“Great, Hey do you have a package for me.” Replied
Jimmy so excited he couldn't’t stop even one part of his
body from moving.
Newton was the brilliant man to first invent the
reflected telescope. He thought of this because a lens could
break white light into its constituent parts. Furthermore
a telescope with lens can also cause chromatic abrasion
or halos of colored light. Instead of using lens he decided
to use a mirror (Which was very creative) these made
him instantly famous throughout Europe. When he
was 25 he brought a triangular prism in order to study
the phenomenon of colors. Also, when conducing the
experiment he noted that the blue end of the spectrum was
more severely bent than the red one. His experiments lead
to the invention of the reflective telescope.

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 In addition, in the 19th century photography of space
had been an important tool for astronomers. This was done
by attaching a camera to telescope. There was a special
motor that can be set to turn at the same speed as the
rotation of Earth. Before these astronomers had to draw
everything they saw. This meant that astronomers had to be
artist as well as scientist. The camera being added to the
telescope ended up saving time for the astronomers.
Magnification of a telescope was one of the major
telescopes of early astronomers. They had the idea of
making a very long distance between the objective lens and
the eyepiece lens. Some were spaced out to much an even
the slights vibration could have messed up the observation.
Ultimately, telescopes have changed the way
astronomer study the sky. It has also given them ability to
see more than they could with their naked eyes. Telescopes
are an invention which astronomers will continue to use for
many generations. This invention can be imitated but can
never be duplicated.

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 Works Cited

Lippincott, Kristen. Astronomy. EyeWitness Books. New, York: DK Publishing, Inc, 2004. 1-52. Print.