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Both systems have the Sun at the centre, but Copernicus stuck to the ancient model of circles and epicycles to explain the planets' orbits.

Kepler on the other hand used new measurements by Tycho Brahe to suggest, after a lot of detailed calculations, that the planets move in elliptical orbits.

The difference between an ellipse and a circular orbit with an epicycle is extremely small in the case of planetary orbits which have a low eccentricity factor. It was not until Tycho came along that measurements of sufficient accuracy were available for Kepler to make his discovery.

Later the elliptical orbits were explained theoretically, after the discovery of the law of gravity and the laws of motion. This eventually led to Kepler's theory being generally accepted as right, which it still is.

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Carlos Mante

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2y ago

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Q: What is the main difference between Kepler's system and the Copernicus system?
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