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Tycho Brahe collected extensive observational data on planetary movements, particularly Mars, which Johannes Kepler later used to develop his laws of planetary motion. Brahe's accurate measurements allowed Kepler to show that planetary orbits are elliptical, not circular as previously believed, providing evidence against the Earth-centered theory.
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What is contribution of Kepler?
Kepler used Tycho Brahe's data to establish the heliocentric theory of the solar system.
What was Tycho Brahe nationality?
Tycho Brahe was Danish.
Is there anything named after Tycho Brahe?
Yes, Tycho Brahe has a crater on the Moon named after him called "Tycho Crater." Additionally, the element "hafnium" was named after the Latin name for Copenhagen, where Tycho Brahe's observatory was located.
When did Tycho Brahe make his observations?
Tycho's main work was done at the end of the 1500s and into the 1600s.
Why did take Kepler so many extra years to determine the elliptical orbits of the planets?
Kepler started when he got full access to Tycho's measurements of the planets' positions, after Tycho died in 1601. Kepler's full theory including details of the elliptical orbits of the six known planets was published eight years later. Eight years is not too long when you consider his theory was right, in other words it's the theory we use today (with the details of the orbits slightly refined by modern measurements), and it replaced the Ptolemaic theory that had been in use for 1500 years and the Copernican theory that had been around for 66 years. When you think Kepler was starting with a blank sheet of paper and had to calculate all the horribly complicated geometrical details from scratch, without even a slide-rule, eight years is not bad and it is right that he is considered one of astronomy's great founding fathers.
