Difference between revisions of "The Cosmos"

Revision as of 02:10, 7 March 2021

"A missionary of the Middle Ages tells that he had found the point where the sky and the Earth touch..." —Flammarion Engraving (Colorized)

The Cosmos is the name given to everything that is above the terrestrial atmoplane.

General

The Sun

Main article: Sun

The Sun is a sphere which revolves above the Earth on a path known as the ecliptic. Its path moves North-South over the year between the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer. It illuminates a portion of the earth at a time and has daily cycle of one revolution per 24 hours.

The Moon

Main article: Moon

The Moon is a sphere which revolves above the surface of the Earth in a manner similar to the Sun. It moves at a slower rate of revolution, at about 347.81° per 24 hours, rising and setting 50 minutes later each day. The Moon has a monthly phase cycle, ranging from New Moon to Full Moon.

The Planets

Main article: Planets

The planets are spheres which move above the face of the Earth and across the sky with apparent relationship to the Sun. Known to antequity as 'wandering stars', the planets were once thought to be key to the nature of the Solar System and the Earth's place in it.

The Stars

Main article: Stars

The stars are luminous elements which move in a layer above the Sun and Moon at a rate slightly slower than the Sun, resulting in the Sun moving along zodiac constellations throughout the year.

General Physics

Further information: General Physics

A Note On Sphericity

It is sometimes asked that if the celestial bodies are spheres, why isn't the Earth a sphere? The logic that the Earth must be a sphere because the celestial bodies are spheres is only one possible interpretation. It could also be logical that all bodies need a plane of existence to exist upon or over, like all other bodies of human experience. Pebbles in a stream have a stream bed. Basketballs have a basketball court. The game Water Polo consists of a court with a flat bottom and balls which float on a medium. It does not follow because those objects are round, that the courts must also be round.

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 ==A Note On Sphericity==
-It is sometimes asked that if the celestial bodies are spheres, why isn't the Earth a sphere? The logic that the Earth must be a sphere because the celestial bodies are spheres is only one possible interpretation. It could also be logical that all bodies need a plane of existence to exist upon or over, like all other bodies of human experience. Pebbles in a stream have a stream bed. Basketballs have a basketball court. The game Water Polo consists of a court with a flat bottom and balls which float on a medium. It does not follow because those objects are round, that the courts must also be round. It was one of the original fallacies of the [[The Ancient Greeks|Ancient Greeks]] to assume that the Earth is a sphere because we see spheres in the sky.
+It is sometimes asked that if the celestial bodies are spheres, why isn't the Earth a sphere? The logic that the Earth must be a sphere because the celestial bodies are spheres is only one possible interpretation. It could also be logical that all bodies need a plane of existence to exist upon or over, like all other bodies of human experience. Pebbles in a stream have a stream bed. Basketballs have a basketball court. The game Water Polo consists of a court with a flat bottom and balls which float on a medium. It does not follow because those objects are round, that the courts must also be round.
-{{cite2|Pythagoras himself had been a believer in the spherical shape of the earth, reasoning that it must be a sphere since all the other heavenly bodies were spheres|Ernest R. Trattner, The Story Of The World's Great Thinkers}}
 [[Category:Cosmos]]