On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon

E511444

ancient Greek astronomical treatise astronomy book scientific work

On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon is an ancient Greek astronomical treatise that presents one of the earliest known geometric attempts to quantify the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon from Earth.

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All labels observed (1)

Label	Occurrences
On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon canonical	2

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Greek astronomical treatise ⓘ astronomy book ⓘ scientific work ⓘ
approximateDate	3rd century BC ⓘ
author	Aristarchus of Samos NERFINISHED ⓘ
basedOn	angular sizes of the Sun and Moon ⓘ observations of lunar eclipses ⓘ observations of the Moon’s phases ⓘ
circulatedIn	Greek-speaking world ⓘ
commentedOnBy	Pappus of Alexandria NERFINISHED ⓘ later Byzantine scholars ⓘ
concludes	Sun’s diameter is greater than Earth’s diameter ⓘ Sun’s distance is greater than 18 times the distance of the Moon ⓘ Sun’s distance is less than 20 times the distance of the Moon ⓘ
field	history of astronomy ⓘ history of science ⓘ
focusesOn	relative distances of the Sun and Moon from Earth ⓘ relative sizes of the Sun and Moon ⓘ
genre	mathematical astronomy ⓘ
hasPart	geometric propositions ⓘ numerical estimates ⓘ observational assumptions ⓘ
influenced	ancient estimates of cosmic scale ⓘ later Greek astronomy ⓘ
language	Ancient Greek ⓘ
mainSubject	Earth NERFINISHED ⓘ Moon NERFINISHED ⓘ Sun NERFINISHED ⓘ astronomy ⓘ geometry ⓘ
notableFor	argument that the Sun is larger than Earth ⓘ early quantitative model of the solar system ⓘ one of the earliest geometric estimates of celestial distances ⓘ
originalTitle	Περὶ μεγεθῶν καὶ ἀποστημάτων ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης NERFINISHED ⓘ
placeOfOrigin	ancient Greece NERFINISHED ⓘ
presupposes	circular orbits as approximation ⓘ spherical Earth ⓘ
proposes	Sun is much farther from Earth than the Moon ⓘ Sun is much larger than the Earth NERFINISHED ⓘ
relatedWork	Aristarchus’s heliocentric hypothesis NERFINISHED ⓘ
survivesAs	Greek manuscript tradition ⓘ
timePeriod	Hellenistic period NERFINISHED ⓘ
titleVariant	On the Sizes and Distances (of the Sun and Moon) NERFINISHED ⓘ
usesConcept	angular diameter ⓘ similar triangles ⓘ
usesMethod	geometric reasoning ⓘ trigonometric approximation ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Aristarchus of Samos → workAuthored → On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon ⓘ

Hellenistic astronomy → hasNotableWork → On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon ⓘ