Module 1: Fundamentals of the Sky
20 videos • 3,078 views • by Jason Kendall Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdnM... This is part of Module 1 of 14 which details an entire online introductory college course. This video series was used at William Paterson University and CUNY Hunter in online classes as well as to supplement course material. In the first lecture, I talk about how we navigate our way around the sky. I talk about the constellations and coordinate systems of the sky. In the second lecture, I decided to practice more so you can learn about the Celestial Sphere, equatorial coordinates, and where stars rise and set. Next, I discuss the motions of the Earth and the reason for the seasons. Following this, I discuss the motions of the Moon and the reason for the phases and eclipses. This leads us to discuss the nature of distance in Astronomy and its measurement with parallax. Once you know distances, we can chat about how we know the size of the Earth, and how that can be used to determine the distance to the Sun, given that Venus does a transit across the Sun. There's more to do, so I continue my discussion of the nature of distances and sizes in astronomy, and its measurement just positions in the sky. Wherein we chat about how we know the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon to the Earth. Finally, I go back in time to discuss Aristotle's arguments for a stationary Earth, and the construction of Ptolemy's Geocentric Model that ruled the roost for almost 2000 years, until it was dethroned in 1610.