- The importance of the telescope in the development of astronomical geography
- Topics covered by astronomical geography
- References
The astronomical geography is the subdiscipline of geography dedicated to the study of soil in relation to other celestial bodies. In this sense, a celestial body is any natural body outside the Earth's atmosphere. These include the Moon, the Sun, the other planets in the solar system, their satellites, and others.
During the 19th century, astronomical geography was distinguished from physical geography and political geography. Thus, astronomy was in charge of describing the earth in its character as a celestial globe: its place in space, its rotation on its axis and around the sun and its relationship with other light or dark objects in the universe.
Physics studied the configuration of the earth: soil, climate, and others. And politics described social products.
The importance of the telescope in the development of astronomical geography
Since man stopped turning to theology to explain the phenomena of the world and scientific knowledge began to give reliable answers, man has asked himself, what is there?
Geography was the first discipline to attempt to answer that question. Therefore, it is probably the oldest of all the sciences. Its basic components have always been the exploration and discovery of new places, new cultures and new ideas.
Thus, geography is known as the mother of all sciences, since it has been the germ of scientific fields, including astronomy.
Now, until the seventeenth century, when the telescope was invented and the laws of motion and gravity were discovered, astronomy was primarily concerned with noting and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets.
At first this was only done to create calendars and astrological purposes, then they were used for navigation and scientific interest.
Before the introduction of the telescope in 1609, all observations were made with the naked eye. This meant that there were many limitations and little detail in the observations.
After the invention of the telescope by Galileo Galilei, these were central to the development of astronomical geography.
As this instrument allows the study of objects that are at great distances and that are very little perceptible to the human eye, it greatly facilitated answering the question, what lies beyond?
Telescopes, then, were a great input for the development of astronomical geography.
Topics covered by astronomical geography
Among the first topics covered by mathematical geography, as it is also known, was the calculation of geographic coordinates, in other words, latitude and longitude.
These are used for the exact location of any point on the globe. The first measures how many degrees to the northern or southern hemisphere a given point is relative to the imaginary line of the equator. The second measures the distance to the east or west of the Greenwich meridian.
Another aspect discussed is the magnitude of the celestial bodies and their calculation. This is the measure of the luminosity of a star or other celestial body.
A magnitude is defined as a brightness ratio of 2,512 times. So a 5.0 magnitude star is 2.512 times as bright as a 6.0 magnitude star.
Likewise, the calculation of the distances between the earth and the other stars, as well as their dimensions, is another aspect that concerns this sub-discipline of science.
References
- Astronomical geography. (s / f). Merriam Webster Online. Recovered from merriam-webster.com.
- Coffey J. (2009, December 27). Celestial body. Universe today. Recovered from universetoday.com.
- Figueras i Pey, J. (1848). Lessons in astronomical, physical and political geography. Barcelona: Printing of Joaquín Verdaguer.
- James Evans, J. and Friedlander, MW (2016, November 30). Astronomy. Encyclopædia Britannica. Recovered from britannica.com.
- Rosenberg, M. (2017, June 13). Geography 101. An Overview of Geography. Thought Co. Recovered from thoughtco.com.