Copernican System

- was formulated by Nicolas Copernicus, and

was published in 1543.

-in astronomy, model of the solar system centered on

the Sun, with Earth and other planets moving around it.
 Nicolas Copernicus
-Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)
rediscovered the heliocentric model
(Aristarchus). He found to his dismay that it
better fit the observed facts than the
geocentric model.
 Seven points of the Copernican system:

1 5
The celestial spheres do not have one common
center. The Earth is not at the center of everything. The motion of the stars is due to the
Earth rotating on its axis.
2
Earth is not the center of the universe, only the
center of gravity and the lunar orbit.
6
The motion of the Sun is the result of the Earth’s
3 motions. (rotation and revolution)

All the spheres orbit the Sun

7
4 The retrograde and forward motions of planets is
The stars are very much farther away caused by the Earth’s motion.
than the Sun.
 Copernicus Model
-was not well accepted by the scholars or the
public.
-continued to gain acceptance as the years
passed. Earth’s orbit of the Sun could’nt be
proven until the unmanned probes of the
1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The fact that the Earth
moves at all was proven by parallax in the 19th
century. From Aristarchus belief until actual
proof took over 2000 years.