ASTRONOMY

CHAPTER 1
OBSERVING THE SKY: THE BIRTH OF ASTRONOMY

Astrology and Astronomy

I. INTRODUCTION
Many ancient cultures regarded the planets and stars as representatives or symbols
of the gods or other supernatural forces that controlled their lives. Understanding the
behavior of the gods and gaining their favor was a matter of life and death for them,
therefore studying the sky was not only an academic pursuit. On the other hand, the use of
mathematics, physics, and chemistry to study celestial objects and phenomena is known as
astronomy. It explores the structure and origin of the universe, including the stars, planets,
galaxies, and black holes that reside in it. Astronomers aim to answer fundamental
questions about our universe through theory and observation. In this module, you will
understand the concepts and ideas that differs astronomy and astrology.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to:

a. Explains the origins of astrology.

b. Explain what horoscope is.
c. Summarize the arguments that invalidate astrology as a scientific practice.
d. Explain how Copernicus developed the heliocentric model of the solar
system.
e. Explain the Copernican model of planetary motion and describe evidence or
arguments in favor of it.
f. Explain how Galileo’s discoveries tilted the balance of evidence in favor of the
Copernican model.

II.PRE-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST
Answer the following questions.
1. What is your birthday? ____________________
2. What is your astrological sign? ___________________
3. For your sign, what is the ruling planet? ________ The Element? __________
4. What is your recent horoscope for this year?
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
5. Does the reading of your horoscope accurately reflect your status and well-being
now?
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
6. Reflecting on your experience, is astrology a science or a pseudoscience? Why? Or
why not?
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

III.Learning Resources/Materials
Franknoi, A., Morrison, D., & Wolff, S. (2017). Astronomy. Rice University.
Riebeek, H. (2009). Planetary Motion: The History of an Idea That Launched the Scientific
Revolution. Retrieved from NASA Earth Observatory:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/OrbitsHistory
Williams, M. (2016, January 5). PhysOrg. Retrieved from What is the heliocentric model of the
universe?: https://phys.org/news/2016-01-heliocentric-universe.html
Price, M. (2023, September 15). Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved from Astrology & Astronomy in Iran
and Ancient Mesopotamia:
https://www.iranchamber.com/calendar/articles/astrology_astronomy_iran_mesopotamia.php#:~:text=
Astrology%20is%20an%20occult%20practice,some%20understanding%20of%20the%20subject.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Astrology was originated in Mesopotamia, specifically in the ancient city of
Babylonia where oldest record was found. The Babylonians used their knowledge to guide
their rulers because they believed that planets and their motions influenced the fate of their
rulers, kings, and nations. It spreads to India, but its Western form developed in Greek
civilization during Hellenistic period. The Greek mythology holds that the 12 zodiac
constellations divide the heavens, and that the bright stars that appear periodically have a
spiritual impact on human affairs. By the 2nd century BCE, the Greeks democratized
astrology by developing the idea that the planets influence every individual. Their natal
astrology concept said that a person's personality and fortune were influenced by the Sun,
Moon, and planets' alignment at the time of birth. 400 years later, natal astrology became
more recognized when Ptolemy compiled the Tetrabiblos. Tetrabiblos is a book that was
equally influential in astrology, the study of the effects of astronomical cycles on earthly
matters. Ancient China also placed a high value on astrology, and during the imperial period,
it was customary to have a horoscope made for each newborn child and at all significant
turning points in life. Even though the Copernican idea eliminated astrology's reliance on a
geocentric worldview, astrological signs are still frequently believed to have an effect on
personality.

The horoscope is the

key to natal astrology which shows the
positions of the planets in the sky at the
moment of an individual’s birth. The
word “horoscope” comes from the
Greek words’ hora means “time” and
skopos meaning a “watcher” or
“marker”. At the time astrology was set
up, the zodiac was divided into 12
sectors called astrological signs.
Zodiac is an imaginary band in the
heavens centered on the ecliptic that
encompasses the apparent paths of all
the planets and is divided into 12
constellations. Each zodiac sign was
named after a constellation in the sky
through which the Sun, Moon, and Figure 1-5. The signs of the zodiac are shown in a
planets were seen to pass. medieval woodcut.
There are several schools of a
strological thinking on how to interpret a horoscope in detail, and it is a very difficult process.
It also means that it is very difficult to tie down astrology to make exact forecasts or to
acquire the same predictions from different astrologers. Although some of the principles may
be standardized, how each rule is to be weighted and applied is a matter of judgment—and
"art."
 The astrology today is widely considered today to be diametrically opposed to the
findings and theories of modern Western science. Very few well-educated people today
claim that our entire lives are predetermined by astrological influences at birth, but many
people apparently believe that astrology has validity as an indicator of affinities and
personality. However, some of the arguments that invalidates the astrology as a science are;
a. There are no known forces, not gravity or anything else, that could cause
such effects to the future of someone.
b. Absence of proof regarding our future selves based on planet configurations
at birth or the positions of wandering objects.
c. There is no proof that natal astrology has the ability to forecast anything
about a person's daily life or future, not even in a statistical sense.
As a result of the astrological system's lack of a scientific foundation, it is categorized
as a pseudoscience, from which astronomy emerged.

One of the most important events of the Renaissance was the displacement of Earth
from the center of the universe, an intellectual revolution
initiated by a Polish cleric in the sixteenth century,
Nicolaus Copernicus . His great
contribution in science was the development of the
“heliocentric theory”, a Sun-centered theory and model
of the solar system. Copernicus described his ideas in
detail in his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
(On the Revolution of Celestial Orbs), published in
1543, the year of his death. By this time, the old
Ptolemaic system needed significant adjustments to
predict the positions of the planets correctly. Copernicus
wanted to develop an improved theory from which to
Figure 1-6 Nicolaus Copernicus
calculate planetary positions, but in doing so, he was known for Heliocentric Theory
himself not free of all traditional prejudices. According
to Copernicus, Earth is a planet, and all planets revolve around the Sun, and only moon
orbits Earth. By 1514, Copernicus began circulating copies among his fellow astronomers
that described his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis, which was based on seven
principles.
These principles stated that:
a. Celestial bodies do not all revolve around a single point.
b. The center of Earth is the center of the lunar sphere—the orbit of the moon around
Earth.
c. All the spheres rotate around the sun, which is near the center of the universe.
d. The distance between Earth and the sun is an insignificant fraction of the distance
from Earth and sun to the stars, so parallax is not observed in the stars.
e. The stars are immovable – their apparent daily motion is caused by the daily rotation
of Earth.
f. Earth is moved in a sphere around the sun, causing the apparent annual migration of
the sun. Earth has more than one motion.
g. Earth's orbital motion around the sun causes the seeming reverse in direction of the
motions of the planets.

However, due to fear of criticism from scholars in the Church,

who believed more in the idea of geocentric theory and
worried that his theory presented some scientific laws, he did
not publish his theory until 1543, shortly before his death.
Evidence for heliocentric solar system gradually mounted when Galileo looked through his
telescope in the night sky in 1610 and discovered things that will support the idea of
heliocentric theory of Copernicus.

Beginning his astronomical work late in 1609, Galileo was able to gather discoveries that are
in favor of heliocentric theory are as follows:
a. Galileo found that many stars too faint to be seen with the unaided eye became
visible with his telescope.
b. He found that some nebulous blurs resolved into many stars, and that the Milky Way
Figure 1-7 Galileo Galilei, the
—the strip of whiteness across the night sky—was
father of modern science also made up of a multitude of individual stars.
c. Examining the planets, Galileo found four moons
revolving about Jupiter in times ranging from just under 2 days to about 17 days
which is important because it showed that not everything has to revolve around
Earth.
d. He had found that Venus goes through phases like the Moon, showing that it must
revolve about the Sun, so that we see different parts of its daylight side at different
time.
e. Galileo also observed the Moon and saw craters, mountain ranges, valleys, and flat,
dark areas that he thought might be water. These discoveries showed that the Moon
might be not so dissimilar to Earth—suggesting that Earth, too, could belong to the
realm of celestial bodies.
These discoveries made Galileo house-arrested because they were in great deal of
opposition to what the Church believed: that Earth is the center of the solar system, where
other planets and celestial objects orbit. The new ideas of Copernicus and Galileo began a
revolution in our understanding of the cosmos.

Explore

a. Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast astronomy and astrology.

b. What Galileo findings demonstrated the geocentric idea, which served as the
foundation for the solar system model, to be false?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________