A Short History of Astronomy, Arthur Berry [large screen ebook reader .TXT] 📗

78. The application of the same ideas to an apparent rotation round the observer, as in the case of the apparent daily motion of the celestial sphere, is a little more difficult. It must be remembered that the eye has no means of judging the direction of an object taken by itself; it can only judge the difference between the direction of the object and some other direction, whether that of another object or a direction fixed in some way by the body of the observer. Thus when after looking at a star twice at an interval of time we decide that it has moved, this means that its direction has changed relatively to, say, some tree or house which we had noticed nearly in its direction, or that its direction has changed relatively to the direction in which we are directing our eyes or holding our bodies. Such a change can evidently be interpreted as a change of direction, either of the star or of the line from the eye to the tree which we used as a line of reference. To apply this to the case of the celestial sphere, let us suppose that S represents a star on the celestial sphere, which (for simplicity) is overhead to an observer on the earth at A, this being determined by comparison with a line A B drawn upright on the earth. Next, earth and celestial sphere being supposed to have a common centre at O, let us suppose firstly that the celestial sphere turns round (in the direction of the hands of a clock) till S comes to S′, and that the observer now sees the star on his horizon or in a direction at right angles to the original direction A B, the angle turned through by the celestial sphere being S O S′; and secondly that, the celestial sphere being unchanged, the earth turns round in the opposite direction, till A B comes to A′ B′, and the star is again seen by the observer on his horizon. Whichever of these motions has taken place, the observer sees exactly the same apparent motion in the sky; and the figure shews at once that the angle S O S′ through which the celestial sphere was supposed to turn in the first case is equal to the angle A O A′ through which the earth turns in the second case, but that the two rotations are in opposite directions. A similar explanation evidently applies to more complicated cases.

Hence the apparent daily rotation of the celestial sphere about an axis through the poles would be produced equally well, either by an actual rotation of this character, or by a rotation of the earth about an axis also passing through the poles, and at the same rate, but in the opposite direction, i.e. from west to east. This is the first motion which Coppernicus assigns to the earth.

79. The apparent annual motion of the sun, in accordance with which it appears to revolve round the earth in a path which is nearly a circle, can be equally well explained by supposing the sun to be at rest, and the earth to describe an exactly equal path round the sun, the direction of the revolution being the same. This is virtually the second motion which Coppernicus gives to the earth, though, on account of a peculiarity in his geometrical method, he resolves this motion into two others, and combines with one of these a further small motion which is required for precession.50

80. Coppernicus’s conception then is that the earth revolves round the sun in the plane of the ecliptic, while rotating daily on an axis which continually points to the poles of the celestial sphere, and therefore retains (save for precession) a fixed direction in space.

It should be noticed that the two motions thus assigned to the earth are perfectly distinct; each requires its own proof, and explains a different set of appearances. It was quite possible, with perfect consistency, to believe in one motion without believing in the other, as in fact a very few of the 16th-century astronomers did (chapter V., § 105).

In giving his reasons for believing in the motion of the earth Coppernicus discusses the chief objections which had been urged by Ptolemy. To the objection that if the earth had a rapid motion of rotation about its axis, the earth would be in danger of flying to pieces, and the air, as well as loose objects on the surface, would be left behind, he replies that if such a motion were dangerous to the solid earth, it must be much more so to the celestial sphere, which, on account of its vastly greater size, would have to move enormously faster than the earth to complete its daily rotation; he enters also into an obscure discussion of difference between a “natural” and an “artificial” motion, of which the former might be expected not to disturb anything on the earth.

Coppernicus shews that the earth is very small compared to the sphere of the stars, because wherever the observer is on the earth the horizon appears to divide the celestial sphere into two equal parts and the observer appears always to be at the centre of the sphere, so that any distance through which the observer moves on the earth is imperceptible as compared with the distance of the stars.

81. He goes on to argue that the chief irregularity in the motion of the planets, in virtue of which they move backwards at intervals (chapter I., § 14, and chapter II., § 51), can readily be explained in general by the motion of the earth and by a motion of each planet round the sun, in its own time and at its own distance. From the fact that Venus and Mercury were never seen very far from the sun, it could be inferred that their paths were nearer to the sun than that of the earth. Mercury being the nearer to the sun of the two, because never seen so far from it in the sky as Venus. The other three planets, being seen at times in a direction opposite to that of the sun, must necessarily evolve round the sun in orbits larger than that of the earth, a view confirmed by the fact that they were brightest when opposite the sun (in which positions they would be nearest to us). The order of their respective distances from the sun could be at once inferred from the disturbing effects produced on their apparent motions by the motion of the earth; Saturn being least affected must on the whole be farthest from the earth, Jupiter next, and Mars next. The earth thus became one of six planets revolving round the sun, the order of distance—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn—being also in accordance with the rates of motion round the sun, Mercury performing its revolution most rapidly (in about 88 days51), Saturn most slowly (in about 30 years). On the Coppernican system the moon alone still revolved round the earth, being the only celestial body the status of which was substantially unchanged; and thus Coppernicus was able to give the accompanying diagram of the solar system (fig. 40), representing his view of its general arrangement (though not of the right proportions of the different parts) and of the various motions.