Heliocentric theory

Heliocentric theory. Proposed by Nicolás Copernicus , one of the most important astronomers in history, with the publication in 1543 of the book De_Revolutionibus_Orbium_Co elestium, which is based on the astronomical model that holds the sun as the center of the solar system Heliocentrism, proposed since ancient times by Aristarchus of Samos .

This publication marked the beginning of a revolution in astronomy , by indicating the falsehood of Claudius Ptolemy ‘s geocentric theory that the Sun , the stars and the other planets orbited the Earth. This information was extracted from the article Geocentric System on this same page.

Summary

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• 1 History
• 2 Fundamental hypotheses of the Copernican Theory
• 3 Significance of the heliocentric theory
• 4 See also
• 5 External links
• 6 Sources

History

Aristarchus of Samos was actually the one who first proposed the heliocentric theory. The theory developed by Aristarchus was based on the distance between the Earth and the Sun , proposing that the Sun had a much greater measurement than the Earth than for the Earth . For this reason, Aristarchus proposed that it was the Earth that revolved around the Sun and not the other way around.

Later, in the 16th century , Nicholas Copernicus formulated the theory again, supported by even more precise mathematical calculations, which made the difference from Aristarchus’ theory, publishing the book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium in 1543 .

These ideas of Copernicus and the publication of the aforementioned book marked the

Copernicus’ heliocentric theory

beginning of what was called the scientific revolution . Not only an important change in astronomy , but in the sciences in general and particularly in the worldview of civilization. Since the publication of his book and the refutation of the geocentric system defended by Greek astronomy, civilization breaks with the idealization of the unquestionable knowledge of antiquity and launches with greater vigor in search of knowledge. This theory paved the way for scientific-technical advances in cosmonautics.

Copernicus adopted the idea of ​​a moving Earth to solve the planetary problem that, in his opinion, was not satisfactorily resolved. In the heliocentric system it was much easier to correctly calculate planetary positions, and that is why Copernicus did not hesitate to break with a tradition of more than 2,000 years of an Earth at rest. Heliocentrism had already been described in ancient times by Aristarchus of Samos , who had based himself on simple measurements of the distance from the Earth to the Sun , which determined a size of the Sun much larger than that of our planet. For this reason, Aristarchus proposed that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around, making him the first proponent of the heliocentric model.

Fundamental hypotheses of the Copernican Theory

1: The world (universe) is spherical.

2: The Earth is also spherical.

3: The movement of the celestial bodies is regular, circular and perpetual or composed of circular movements. There are several types of movements:

3.1: Diurnal movement: Caused by the rotation of the Earth in 24 hours and not the entire universe.

3.2 Annual movement of the Sun: Caused by the movement of the Earth around the Sun in one year.

3.3: Monthly movement of the Moon around the Earth.

3.4: Planetary motion: Caused by the composition of its own motion and that of the Earth. The retrogradation of the movement of the planets is only apparent and not a true movement, and is due to the translational movement of the Earth around the Sun.

4: The sky is immense compared to the magnitude of the Earth.

5: The order of the celestial orbits. After criticizing the order that Ptolemaic astronomy assigned to the planets, he gives the correct order of their distance from the Sun.

Significance of the heliocentric theory

There is no doubt that the 2000 years of geocentric theory did not end suddenly after the publication of Copernicus’s book, but rather the transition between both systems was gradual, governed by a social need inspired by the new Renaissance and Neoplatonist airs that were in the air.