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 Aristarco de Samos .
This publication marked the beginning of a revolution in astronomy , indicate to the falsity of the geocentric theory of Claudius Ptolemy consisting of the sun , the stars and other planets orbited Earth. This information was extracted from the article Geocentric system on this same page.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 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 , stating that the Sun had a much greater measure than the Earth than for the Earth . For this reason, Aristarchus proposed that it was the earth that revolved around the Sun and not vice versa.
Later, in the 16th century , Nicolás Copernicus formulated the theory again, supported by even more precise mathematical calculations, which made the difference from Aristarchus’ theory, publishing in 1543 the book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium .
These ideas of Copernicus and the publication of the aforementioned book marked the
Heliocentric theory of Copernicus
beginning of what was called scientific revolution . Not only an important change in astronomy , but in science in general and particularly in the worldview of civilization. After the publication of his book and the refutation of the geocentric system defended by Greek astronomy, civilization broke with the idealization of unquestionable knowledge of antiquity and launched itself with greater impetus 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 solved. In the heliocentric system it was much easier to make the correct calculation of the planetary positions, and for this reason Copernicus did not hesitate to break with a tradition of more than 2000 years of an Earth at rest. Heliocentrism had already been described in ancient times by Aristarchus of Samos , who had been based 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 it was the Earth that revolved around the Sun and not vice versa, being 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. Several types of movements are distinguished:
3.1: Diurnal motion: 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 translation 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 relative 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.
Transcendence 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 that the transition between the two systems was gradual, governed by a social need inspired by the new Renaissance and Neoplatonic airs or that were breathed.