Almost 100 years later, new generation of scientist provided solid evidence for Copernicus's theory. Remarkable among these scientists was the renowned Galileo Galilei of Italy.
In the 1600's, using the telescope, he was the very first person to view mountains on the Moon, a "bump" on either side of Saturn (later found to be the outer edges of the planet's rings), spots on the Sun, moons orbiting Jupiter, and the distinct phases of Venus.
But even though Galileo's discoveries added credibility to the Copernican ideas, the model couldn't still predict planetary motion very accurately.
But then, a German mathematician, Johannes Kepler, thus came up with the next solution to the puzzle.
Using the detailed observations of the movement of the planets, Kepler then discovered what was missing from the Copernican ideas.
The orbits of the planets, he realized, were ellipses and not circles.
So, today, the Sun-centred model of our solar system is used as a guide when we study the whole solar systems.
Below is Kepler's first law which states that the orbit of each of the planet is an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus.
In the 1600's, using the telescope, he was the very first person to view mountains on the Moon, a "bump" on either side of Saturn (later found to be the outer edges of the planet's rings), spots on the Sun, moons orbiting Jupiter, and the distinct phases of Venus.
But even though Galileo's discoveries added credibility to the Copernican ideas, the model couldn't still predict planetary motion very accurately.
But then, a German mathematician, Johannes Kepler, thus came up with the next solution to the puzzle.
Using the detailed observations of the movement of the planets, Kepler then discovered what was missing from the Copernican ideas.
The orbits of the planets, he realized, were ellipses and not circles.
So, today, the Sun-centred model of our solar system is used as a guide when we study the whole solar systems.
Below is Kepler's first law which states that the orbit of each of the planet is an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus.