What if a deep space probe slammed into the celestial sphere?

Question

What if Aristotle and Ptolemy were right? What if the Voyagers 1 and 2 crash into the celestial sphere? How would that change our space program and our view of our place in the universe?

Answer 1

Aristotle and Ptolemy didn't say there was a single celestial sphere. They said there were many spheres (one for each visible solar system object), at varying distances from the Earth, and all concentric. All the way out to the one holding the "stationary" stars.

If they were right, then Voyager 2 (the first of the two to launch) would have proved it 30 years ago, when it would have shattered the one containing the Moon. Interestingly enough, that didn't happen. Nor did it happen later when they passed through the "spheres" of Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, etc., etc. Nor when numerous other probes passed through various "spheres" over the twenty years before them.

To hold that the solar system is composed of mostly empty space, with smaller bodies orbiting the much larger Sun at various distances, due to mutual gravitation, is to already reject the idea of "celestial spheres." You don't need to get all the way to the heliopause to do it.

Answer 2

If the Voyager space probes would actually crash into the celestial sphere that Aristotle and Ptolemy theorized, then this would change science in some ways. As you had already said, our space program would undergo the change as it would be impossible for us to pilot our starships beyond the solar system....unless aliens might detonate giant explosions to break the sphere and allow us to travel to the farthest stars as we would. A celestial sphere would change our place in the universe as we would now state that we're alone in the solar system and we're not allowed to go beyond the barrier.

This is the silliest astronomy question that I've ever heard....I've never heard of the celestial sphere that Aristotle and Ptolemy theorized.

Answer 3

I was unaware that Aristotle and Ptolemy made predictions reguarding the Voyager missions.
Are you thinking maybe the stars are painted on a large sphere surounding the Solar System?

Answer 4

When that happens, the eight wires holding the Earth in place will snap and it will fall to the bottom of the celestial sphere, where it will roll around for awhile until it runs out of momentum.

Answer 5

I guess it would prove that Earth really IS held up by four elephants standing on a turtle.