Astronomy Early insights and A context for Humanity

Do you know what this is?

What is the basis for each of the following units of time? Day Week Month Seasons Year

How about these? Hour Minute Second

Where do we get the names for our days of the week? Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Where do we get the names for our days of the week? Sunday – Sun’s day Monday – Moon’s day Tuesday – Tiw’s day (Norse god) Wednesday – Wodin’s day (King of Norse gods) Thursday – Thor’s day (more Norse mythology) Friday – Freya’s day (still another!) Saturday – Saturn’s day

The connections get clearer DayGermanicRomanceObject SundaySolSun MondayLunesMoon TuesdayTiwMartesMars WednesdayWodinMiercolesMercury ThursdayThorJuevesJupiter FridayFreyaViernesVenus SaturdaySabadoSaturn

Why was astronomy so important to ancient civilizations (e.g., Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Norse, etc.) A means of keeping time (calendar) Recurring, predictable changes in the heavens When to plant, when to harvest, when the Nile would flood, when to collect taxes, etc.

Were there other applications? Order in the heavens Might this order extend to peoples’ lives too? So… maybe people’s futures can be predicted Hence, the pseudoscience of Astrology

What’s your sign? Astrology is based on ancient Babylonian religion It relies on a series of assumptions that have been debunked by science So, what are these assumptions?

Assumptions inherent in astrology Earth is the center of the universe Sun, moon, planets and stars, including constellations revolve around Earth Constellations are “real”, i.e., they define real shapes in two dimensions

Assumptions inherent in astrology Calendars haven’t changed through time Unknown forces from stars that are billions of miles away affect people more than DNA!

Earth in context

Earth One of nine planets orbiting a central Star – the SUN Sun is one of about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy Milky Way is one of 28 galaxies in a cluster called The Local Group The Local Group is one of trillions of galactic clusters that make up the Universe

Andromeda Galaxy

Spiral Galaxy – like the Milky Way

Just how big is the Universe? Consider the following: Each galaxy has billion stars Classroom demonstration – 1500 galaxies Example: look in the cup of the Big Dipper This area of space holds about 1 million galaxies!!

Hubble images a part of the Universe