Autumnal Equinox CELESTIAL MOTIONS

Winter Solstice CELESTIAL MOTIONS

Perihelion & Aphelion CELESTIAL MOTIONS

PERIHELION the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is closest to the sun.

Johannes Kepler was always sick as a child and lived in poverty. His hands were crippled and his eyesight permanently impaired by smallpox. His father, a mercenary, was killed in a battle and he was raised by his mother and grandfather. Despite these difficulties, guests at his grandfathers’ inn were astonished at his ability to solve any problem they could bring to him involving numbers. YOUNG KEPLER

His mother Katharina, who was an herbalist, conveyed her love of the natural world to her son. She made a point of taking him out at night to show him interesting things in the night sky, including a comet and a lunar eclipse. In doing so, she set Johannes on a course which would eventually transform our understanding of our solar system and the universe.

After being inspired by the sight of the moon turning red during a lunar eclipse at age nine; Kepler, with an incredible amount of hard work worked, attended and lectured at the University of Tübingen; where he began to develop his ideas on astronomy. YOUNG KEPLER

Tyco Brahe was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. He was born in Scania, then part of Denmark, now part of modern-day Sweden. TYCO BRAHE

Brahe was ridiculously rich and good friends with royalty. He lived on an island on which he built his own observatory. He also drank in excess and lost his nose in an intoxicated fight with his cousin over a math equation. Instead of replacing his nose with wax like everyone else during the time; he had two prosthetics made. One gold, one silver. TYCO BRAHE’S PRIVATE LIFE

THE SLICE

Tyco also had a pet moose at his castle, that he trained to follow him around like a puppy. One night at a party, the moose drank too much beer, fell down a castle staircase and died. THE MOOSE

Eventually, Johannes Kepler becomes Tyco Brahe’s assistant. Brahe was insecure and distrustful; so he gave Kepler what he thought was an unsolvable problem to discourage him and force him to quit.

In 1601 Brahe died and for centuries people thought that Brahe had been murdered by mercury poisoning. But when researchers exhumed his remains in 2012, they found the real cause… A MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Brahe is now thought to have died from a bladder infection after politeness kept him from excusing himself to use the bathroom during a royal banquet in October 1601, causing his bladder to rupture. HE WAS KILLED BY PEE

They also found that instead of gold or silver; the nose he was wearing when he died was brass. THE NOSE

Once Brahe died, Kepler returned to the lab to pick up his notes on the almost impossible problem he was working on. However, Brahe’s family had locked the doors and was about to sell everything. So Kepler did what any good mathematician would do in that scenario. He broke in and stole his work. THE BREAK-IN

Kepler eventually solved the problem that Brahe had given him. People thought that the planets had traveled In circles and the motion of planets was unpredictable. However, by observing mars, Kepler discovered that all heavenly bodies travel in elliptical or oval paths. THE KEY - MARS

ELLIPTICAL ORBITS

PERIHELION AND APHELION

KEPLER’S LAWS As a result Kepler created three laws that mathematically confirmed Nicolaus Copernicus’ idea that the Sun was at the center of the Solar System. These laws eventually helped Galileo develop his ideas as well.

KEPLER’S FIRST LAW Planetary orbits are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus The distance of a planet from the Sun therefore varies. When the planet is furthest away it is at aphelion (apogee, in general), and when it is closest it is at perihelion (perigee, in general). The terms described as 'in general' are those terms that can be used whatever the central attracting body is. The terms perihelion and aphelion apply only when the central attracting body is the Sun.

KEPLER’S SECOND LAW An imaginary line between a planet and the Sun will sweep out the same area in equal periods of time. This law is equivalent to the present-day Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum. The classic example of this latter law is an ice-skater who rotates faster when (s)he draws in initially-outstretched arms.

KEPLER’S THIRD LAW

“Where there is matter, there is geometry.” JOHANNES KEPLER

If we ever want to go to Mars; we have to wait for Mars to be close and time our launch perfectly. TRANSLATION

NOTEBOOK TEST 1.When a planet, asteroid, or comet is at its closest point to the sun; we call this moment its _______. 2.In three sentences describe young Johannes Kepler’s life. 3.What did Kepler’s mom do that inspired Kepler to become an astronomer? 4. What event motivated Kepler the most to study the stars and planets? 5.What was the name of the university at which Kepler attended and taught? 6.In three sentences describe what Tyco Brahe was like. 7.How did Brahe loose his nose and what was it replaced with? 8.Where did Tyco Brahe live? 9.What did Brahe have as a pet, and what happened to it? 10.Describe Brahe’s relationship with Kepler. 11.How did Brahe die? 12.After Brahe’s death, what happened to Kepler’s work. 13.What was the key that helped Kepler solve the “impossible problem.” 14.On January 2 the earth is ________ to the sun; and on July 4 the earth is ________ from the sun. 15.How many laws did Kepler create? 16.What does the first law state? 17.What does the second law say? 18.What does the third law state? 19.When is the best time to take a trip to Mars?

Spring Equinox CELESTIAL MOTIONS

Summer Solstice CELESTIAL MOTIONS