7. Does that how do you know?
I think astronomers. They do know! But if you're talking about things that nobody has found. That's theories! Let's see ... How will they know how far away are the stars? And they even dare to tell the temperature! Has it been someone with a thermometer to see that this is so? Friday, February 19, 2010
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So I began to investigate why astronomers say they know all those things. It is the good of science, which is built slowly, without haste, and all based on repeatable experiments. So do not I have to trust what you tell a Greek astronomer, but if you want I can search for Tickle repeat the same experiment and see if he's right.
And after much investigating, it appears that the answer is not that all the time was right before my eyes, but was in my own eyes. Have you ever wondered what we both eyes? My mother repeated the question several times a day (especially when I stumbled home with a vase and broke it Why have two eyes in the face? , angrily told me with a bad content.) The answer is that we have two eyes to see in three dimensions. That is, if we only had one eye would see the world as if we were a camera, without a sense of depth. All objects would believe that are at the same distance from us, as if it were a picture. But with two eyes each see objects from a different angle and slightly different depending on the distance you are. Is the typical game of seeing the finger of your hand at different distances from your eyes by closing one eye at a time. The closer the finger will see that with each eye will see in a different position. Appears to move. Is projected against the background objects differently. And the farther away, less seems to move a finger. It is an interesting effect (although I notice that this game is only mildly interesting if you have to wait for a long time and nothing else better to do). So my mother was right. To find out how far it was the vase should look with both eyes and thus may not have thrown it away would have known what was in me. To me this
of the three dimensions I have always liked it, so when I learned that could create 3D images with a simple photo and image editing program I got to it. This is the original photo to make a slightly different, as we would see with the other eye. For that all you have to do is move the object you want to be closer in the picture. Once you have the two images, one for each eye, put a side by side and squinting his eyes to bring them together. The resulting image is what you would see with both eyes together. The object that you believe is moved closer to the rest.
Squinting your eyes see as the two images together into one.
tries to focus and see an image in three dimensions.
Well, it seems that Greek astronomers did have eyes in my head and realized that if they measured what an object is moved over the most distant objects when viewed from two different places, they could say how far was no need to travel the way to this object with a ruler in hand. The more you move over the background objects, the closer. And this method instead of calling The method genius to know how far away are the stars , they thought it was better to call Trigonometry so boring and teach in schools around the world.
The method genius to know how far away are the stars is what has served to know the distance to the Moon, the Sun, Mars. . . and of course to the stars. Although the method serves not only to measure distances. Thanks to trigonometry could also see for example that Earth was round and calculate its radius. Not bad for something so bored out of math class.
could now explain the method to know that the Earth is round, but could not explain it more clearly than how I explained it to me Carl Sagan in Cosmos. So I'm not going to deny the privilege of seeing the first chapter of Cosmos: On the shore of the cosmic ocean to know how to determine the radius of the Earth. Suffice it to say that it is simply to measure the shadow of an obelisk from two different points on Earth at the same time and see how are different. The difference in length of shadows give us clues to how curved is the Earth and we can estimate its radius.
A lot of people who, like me, did not believe that the Earth was round, he started again calculate the radius of the Earth in the International Year of Astronomy 2009. And thanks to the students of a total of 639 secondary schools were able to measure again the radius of the Earth and the result was that the Earth is round (yeah, yeah, round) and has a radius of about 6500 km. Then go! The Earth is round and instead I see flat. If I had to trust my senses ...
As I said, to measure distances just have to see an object from two points of view and see how it moves over the ground. To determine the radius of the Earth, we saw how the shadow changed from two places on Earth. Well, to measure the distance to the moon we can see how it looks from two different points on Earth and so know the distance.
From various points on Earth's Moon is at the same time at different heights of the horizon.
This will enable us to calculate the distance to the Moon using trigonometry if
know the latitude of the two observers and the radius of the Earth.
But whether what we want to know the distance is far away, and not simply close one eye and then another, but we have to move us to see how the object moves. Similarly, to know the distances to the stars, the farther away it is no longer enough to look at it from two different points on Earth, but must wait several months to allow time for Earth to have moved enough around the Sun to observe the movement of the star in question. So you can know the distance to the stars.
To measure the distance to the stars we observe
half a year difference to see how it moves on to the stars distant.
half a year difference to see how it moves on to the stars distant.
you see. Measuring the shadow of a stick can we know the radius of the Earth. Knowing the radius of the Earth we know the distance to the moon. And so on until you know the distances to the planets of the solar system, the same sun and stars. Knowing things can come close to knowing how things are distant.
It is well rest assured that what science tells us we can see, even 2300 years after doing it for the first time that Eratosthenes in Alexandria. Thus, each new astronomer does not have to start from scratch by demonstrating yet again. We can not trust what the scientists told us earlier (as I have not had to repeat what Carl Sagan and explained at the time) and move between all people to a knowledge of the Cosmos that a person can not achieve alone as life lasts. It is what Newton meant when he said that what he did not have merit, because if he could look further than the ancient astronomers was only because he was looking at standing on the shoulders of a giant, giant it began to feed, from tiny, the Ancient astronomers could grow and be big (giant should say). But if at some point you do not trust (you do well), repeat the experiment and convince yourself. That is the scientific spirit.
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