GEOL 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Bathymetry, Nuclear Fission, Systematic Chaos
Document Summary
Ancient philosophers learned to distinguish stars from planets. Stars: points of light whose locations are fixed, relative to each other. Planets: tiny spots of light that move relative to the backdrop of stars. Two schools of thought developed concerning how to explain the configuration of stars and planets, and their relationship to earth. The earth sits motionless at the enter of the universe while the. Moon and the planets whirl around it, and everything lies inside a revolving globe of stars. The sun lies at the center of the universe while the earth and other planets orbit around it. For millennia, the geocentric model garnered the most followers. During the middle ages, church leaders in europe adopted the geocentric model as dogma. Universe: all of space and the matter energy within it. Stars: immense balls of plasma (incandescent gas) that emit intense heat and light. Galaxies: immense groups of stars held together by gravity.
