Copernicus proposed a new model of the planets as they move among the stars, and it was published in 1543, the year he died.
The model was similar to Ptolemy's model that had been used for 1400 years, in that it used circles and epicycles. The difference was that the new theory had the Sun at the centre instead of the Earth.
Copernicus said it was a simpler model, and it was in a sense. It had just as many or even more epicycles to allow for the eccentricity of the planets' orbits and their inclination to the ecliptic (as now understood), but the epicycles were reduced in size, in some cases by a lot.
In the Ptolemaic model each planet had its major epicycle approximately equal to the size of the Earth's orbit (as we know know), while Copernicus's model used much smaller epicycles.
However both models were rejected when Kepler came up with his idea that the orbits are ellipses, and, later, Newton's discoveries showed why they have to be ellipses. So the earlier models were consigned to the history books - except for the idea of having the Sun at the centre.
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543 , proposed his version of the heliocentric (Sun-centered) organization of the universe.(from De revolutionibus orbium coelestium)Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe.All this is suggested by the systematic procession of events andthe harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts,as they say, 'with both eyes open'.
Nicolaus Copernicus first said that but when he did at first no one believed him until sometime after his death.
Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to see the phases of Venus in 1610, providing evidence for the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Copernicus.
It is believed that Nicolaus Copernicus first proposed the heliocentric theory.
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543 , proposed his version of the heliocentric (Sun-centered) organization of the universe.(from De revolutionibus orbium coelestium)Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe.All this is suggested by the systematic procession of events andthe harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts,as they say, 'with both eyes open'.
Nicolaus Copernicus first said that but when he did at first no one believed him until sometime after his death.
Nicholas Copernicus
Nicholas Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the concept of a sun-centred universe in the 16th century.
Claudius Ptolemy wrote the first book of astronomy
The earliest known proposal that the Sun was at the center of our solar system while the planets moved around it was by Aristarchus of Samos, a Greek mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 3rd century BC. (Others may have proposed it earlier, but no reference to them remains after 2400 years.) However, the views of Aristotle proved easier to accept. It wasn't until Copernicus developed the same theory (probably independently) based on more accurate and complete observational data that the heliocentric view of the solar system was widely accepted.
Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to see the phases of Venus in 1610, providing evidence for the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Copernicus.
It is believed that Nicolaus Copernicus first proposed the heliocentric theory.
Nicolaus Copernicus < NOVA NET ANSWER
The astronomer credited as the first to theorize that the planets orbit around the Sun (heliocentrism) is Nicolaus Copernicus. He developed the heliocentric model of the solar system, which proposed that the Sun was at the center and the planets, including Earth, revolved around it in circular orbits. This theory was a departure from the earlier geocentric model, which posited that Earth was at the center of the universe and everything orbited around it. Copernicus's work laid the foundation for the modern understanding of the solar system's structure and motion.