How exactly do we know that the earth is moving around the sun?
I have a traditional Catholic friend who goes to the Traditional Latin Mass. He believes that the earth does not move around the sun. Rather, he believes that the sun and everything else in space move around the earth. He tells me that there is no way to calculate if the earth is actually moving. He is the only...
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answers:
Sky say: The simple fact that the stars shift in the night sky from one night to the next. At any specific time, the stars will be approximately 1° different in position from where they were the previous night, and throughout the year they will have spun around in their positions a full 360°. That can only happen if the Earth is going around the sun so that the point in the night sky that's directly opposite the position of the sun traces its way around the complete night sky in the course of a year.
If your friend claims there is no way to calculate if the Earth is actually moving, clearly he has never even taken the time to look at the evidence and all the astronomical calculations that are based on that fact. Someone who is so ignorant about very basic scientific facts should not be a doctor because he will end up letting his religion dictate who he treats and how he treats them, whether it's refusing to treat a GLBT patient or by telling the patient to pray for healing rather than actually doing something. In college he is going to have to fill in a lot of elective courses, so you should tell him to take a course in astronomy or astrophysics.
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Iridflare say: You can add the abberation of starlight, and stellar parallax to the evidence list.
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poldi2 say: If he doesn't accept the facts then that is his choice.
http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/ask-as...
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ANDY say: I would only like to add that there's another evidence that proves Earth orbits the sun (I don't believe it was mentioned here by our friends): The change of seasons─from Summer to Autumn to Winter to Spring, proves the Earth is moving. The tilt of the axis is then an important factor. This would be enough to know the Earth is moving around its star.
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MARK say: Thankfully, you are most probably in the USA. Therefore, as I get older and may have an increasing need for medical care I will not encounter this idiot when, even if, he qualifies as a doctor.
Doctors have to work on the basis of what is called evidence. In fact, evidence-based medicine is a big thing at the moment. It means medicine based on evidence rather than what some expert just happens to think works.
Not only does he reject evidence but he also rejects the mythology to which he chooses to subscribe. It is not the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that the universe is geocentric. The Roman Catholic Church accepts the heliocentric model of our solar system. The Roman Catholic Church has forgiven Galileo.
Of course, he may not be one of those Catholics who clings to pre-Vatican II things but he could be a sedevacantist in which case he will not accept the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. He will belong to a schismatic group that believes it knows better. I hope not because that is not the kind of person you want as a doctor.
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Morningfox say: This could get into a discussion about how we "know" anything about the world outside our minds. But I would use the following argument. It doesn't matter if the Earth is "really" moving (whatever that means in a faith-based discussion). What does matter is that the science equations for the apparent motions of the sun, moon, and planets are *much* simpler if you include a moving Earth. They are about 10 times easier, if you want to get particular.
There is also the apparent parallax motions of the stars, as they seem to move back and forth on an annual cycle. If the Earth doesn't move, then each star is somehow magically linked to all the others, so they move in synchronization.
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cosmo say: There are two main effects that result from the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
1) Parallax of stars --- stars that are relatively nearby (that is, less than, say, 100 lightyears) are seen to move in a little ellipse against the background of more distant stars, as the Earth moves from one side of the Sun to the other. (If you hold your finger up in front of your face and then close first one eye and then the other, you see the position of the finger shift against the background --- it's the same effect: parallax.) This is a small effect that was not detected until the 19th century, but nowadays it's measured accurately for literally a billion stars.
2) Velocity shift --- as the Earth moves in its orbit, it moves more-or-less toward a given part of the sky for half the year, and more-or-less away from it the other half of the year, a shift of order 30 kilometers per second. This is seen as a small redshift or blueshift in the spectra of all astronomical objects, from the Cosmic Microwave Background to the very narrow spectral lines from molecules in molecular clouds. The analysis of all astronomical spectra must take into account this component of velocity that comes from the Earth's orbit.
I point out that your friend's opinion is in direct contradiction to the doctrine of the Catholic church.
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marty say: The Catholics know how the planets move, they do have their own observatory.
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Hi_Satan say: There is a lot of maths involved, and gravity, but before considering that, realise that we are not the only planet.
We can observe these planets moving around the sun, we can chart their paths and positions. The only way that these paths and positions can actually work, is if we're moving as well.
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rick29148 say: we can watch it now with satellites ......................
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Sky say: The simple fact that the stars shift in the night sky from one night to the next. At any specific time, the stars will be approximately 1° different in position from where they were the previous night, and throughout the year they will have spun around in their positions a full 360°. That can only happen if the Earth is going around the sun so that the point in the night sky that's directly opposite the position of the sun traces its way around the complete night sky in the course of a year.
If your friend claims there is no way to calculate if the Earth is actually moving, clearly he has never even taken the time to look at the evidence and all the astronomical calculations that are based on that fact. Someone who is so ignorant about very basic scientific facts should not be a doctor because he will end up letting his religion dictate who he treats and how he treats them, whether it's refusing to treat a GLBT patient or by telling the patient to pray for healing rather than actually doing something. In college he is going to have to fill in a lot of elective courses, so you should tell him to take a course in astronomy or astrophysics.
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abdul say: The traditional mass doesn't teach a thing about that. It maintains that Vatican 2 did not have authority to change the order of the mass , and that there hasn't been a legitimate pope since Pius X. He was probably home schooled, if your story is true.
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