In ancient times, people knew that they could not live without this magnificent creation, the Sun, yet they didn't know why. Since then, the sun has been worshipped as a God. The sun god was called Ra in Egypt, Helios is Greece, Marduk by the Babylonians, and Utu by the Sumerians. The Aztecs fed human sacrifices to this bloodthirsty god, Huitzilopochtli. The Incas believed that their king was a descendant of the sun. All of these cultures worshipped the sun.
Not much was known back then about the sun. The ancient Chinese believed that the sun was being chased across the sky by a giant dragon. When the sun disappeared because it was being covered by the moon (an eclipse), they thought the dragon had swallowed the sun. They would then shoot arrows in to the sky, light firecrackers, etc to drive away this evil spirit.
The Chinese were not the only ones who worried when they could not see the sun. The Egyptians thought that when the sin sank below the horizon, it had to travel underground and fight off demons before returning the next morning. The Egyptians had many gods for the sun, including different ones for the rising and setting sun, the heat and light, the disk and rays. The pyramids were built so the sides would be in a line with the rising sun at the beginning of spring.
Many cultures built various structures to follow the sun's motions. Many scientists believed that the circle of stones at Stonehenge, England was built so that the sun would rise over one of the large rocks when the sun appears at its highest point in the sky, also known as the summer solstice. In Wyoming, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel was to have a similar function for the Native Americans.
Soon, people began to try to understand the sun. In the sixth century B.C., followers of the mathematician, Pythagoras, believed that the Earth rotated around a central fire, the sun, every 24 hours.
In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle stated that the Earth was at the center of the universe and not the sun. The truth was not accepted until 20 centuries later. In the 16thcentury, Copernicus stated that the sun was in fact the center of the universe. He wrote a book, On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres. The telescope was invented in the 17th century, and Galileo used it to prove that Copernicus was right. This was known as the heliocentric model.
In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton explained his theory on gravity. He stated that all objects has gravity, which means they attract other objects; the more massive that object, the stronger the pull is. The sun, because it is the most massive object in the solar system, has the most powerful gravity. Therefore, it holds the solar system together and keeps the planets from dispersing in to space.
Astronomers now use solar telescopes to view the sun. These are special telescopes with mirrors that reflect an image of the sun on a viewing table. One other tool used by astronomers is the spectroscope. Each beam of light carries information, almost like DNA or a fingerprint. A spectroscope cracks the code by breaking the beam in to hundreds of narrow lines. By studying these lines, astronomers can learn information as to what makes up the sun.
In 1976, a probe, Helios 2, got closer to the sun than any human being has ever gotten. It got within 28 million miles of the sun's surface and relayed important data back to Earth. In 1990, Ulysses, another probe was sent to go to the north and south poles of the sun.
Not much was known back then about the sun. The ancient Chinese believed that the sun was being chased across the sky by a giant dragon. When the sun disappeared because it was being covered by the moon (an eclipse), they thought the dragon had swallowed the sun. They would then shoot arrows in to the sky, light firecrackers, etc to drive away this evil spirit.
The Chinese were not the only ones who worried when they could not see the sun. The Egyptians thought that when the sin sank below the horizon, it had to travel underground and fight off demons before returning the next morning. The Egyptians had many gods for the sun, including different ones for the rising and setting sun, the heat and light, the disk and rays. The pyramids were built so the sides would be in a line with the rising sun at the beginning of spring.
Many cultures built various structures to follow the sun's motions. Many scientists believed that the circle of stones at Stonehenge, England was built so that the sun would rise over one of the large rocks when the sun appears at its highest point in the sky, also known as the summer solstice. In Wyoming, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel was to have a similar function for the Native Americans.
Soon, people began to try to understand the sun. In the sixth century B.C., followers of the mathematician, Pythagoras, believed that the Earth rotated around a central fire, the sun, every 24 hours.
In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle stated that the Earth was at the center of the universe and not the sun. The truth was not accepted until 20 centuries later. In the 16thcentury, Copernicus stated that the sun was in fact the center of the universe. He wrote a book, On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres. The telescope was invented in the 17th century, and Galileo used it to prove that Copernicus was right. This was known as the heliocentric model.
In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton explained his theory on gravity. He stated that all objects has gravity, which means they attract other objects; the more massive that object, the stronger the pull is. The sun, because it is the most massive object in the solar system, has the most powerful gravity. Therefore, it holds the solar system together and keeps the planets from dispersing in to space.
Astronomers now use solar telescopes to view the sun. These are special telescopes with mirrors that reflect an image of the sun on a viewing table. One other tool used by astronomers is the spectroscope. Each beam of light carries information, almost like DNA or a fingerprint. A spectroscope cracks the code by breaking the beam in to hundreds of narrow lines. By studying these lines, astronomers can learn information as to what makes up the sun.
In 1976, a probe, Helios 2, got closer to the sun than any human being has ever gotten. It got within 28 million miles of the sun's surface and relayed important data back to Earth. In 1990, Ulysses, another probe was sent to go to the north and south poles of the sun.
