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Almagest Book I: Menelaus’ Theorem

So far in these preliminary theorems, we’ve looked at some that were based on triangles and some that were based on circles. We’ll be going one step further with this next one and work with spheres. Thus far, we’ve briefly touched on spheres in this post discussing the celestial sphere. If great circles and spherical triangles aren’t familiar to you, I suggest reading over that post.

But since this is the first time we’ve encountered math in 3D if you’ve been following along, I want to build this up more slowly1 and will be trying to add some 3D elements to make the visualization a bit easier.

So let’s get started.

[L]et us draw the following arcs of great circles on a sphere: BE and GD are drawn to meet AB and AG, and cut each other at Z. Let each of them be less than a semi-circle.

Continue reading “Almagest Book I: Menelaus’ Theorem”

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Almagest Book I: Triangular Lemmas for Spherical Trigonometry

Our next task is to demonstrate the sizes of the individual arcs cut off between the equator and the ecliptic along a great circle through the poles of the equator. As a preliminary we shall set out some short and useful theorems which will enable us to carry out most demonstrations involving spherical theorems in the simplest and most methodical way possible.

In opening the next chapter in Book 1, Ptolemy again gives us a goal to work towards, namely, the length of the chord shown in solid red below2.

But before we do that, we’re going to have to lay out some lemma3 to get us there. There’s going to be several, but for this post, I’m only going to address the first two which come from triangles, whereas the remaining involve circles and a bit of new notation that I’ll want to introduce before getting into them. Continue reading “Almagest Book I: Triangular Lemmas for Spherical Trigonometry”

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Introduction to the Celestial Sphere & Astronomical Coordinates

The goal in the next chapter in the Almagest, Ptolemy’s goal is to is to find the angle between the celestial equator and ecliptic. These are both features on the celestial sphere which, while fundamental to astronomy, are not terms we’ve yet explored (aside from a brief mention in the first chapter of Astronomia Nova). So before continuing, we’ll explore the celestial sphere a bit. In addition, if we’re to start measuring angles on that sphere, we will need to understand the coordinate systems by which we do so. Continue reading “Introduction to the Celestial Sphere & Astronomical Coordinates”