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Newton

Copernicus is credited for hypothesizing the heliocentric solar system. Kepler had the equations to determine the orbits, but didn't know "why" these figures worked. Galileo's observations confirmed these things, but it was Newton's laws of motion that explained the "why."

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15y ago
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9y ago

It was Johannes Kepler who published his new model of the planets' orbits in 1609.

He was aiming to describe the planets' positions as measured in a new set of observations by Tycho Brahe using new equipment with greater accuracy than ever before.

Kepler took the idea of placing the Sun at the centre from Copernicus's earlier model, but he found that the planets' positions could be modelled more accurately by using the novel idea of elliptical orbits.

Accuracy of the predicted positions was the only reason, at the time, to think that Kepler's model was better than the earlier ones. They would use the new model to make predictions on a certain date for all the planets, and on that date they would find that the planets were where they should be.

However after later discoveries by Isaac newton and others it was understood that the elliptical orbit is a natural consequence of the force of gravity from the Sun, which was and is far more massive than any of the planets.

Today Kepler's model is the basis for all calculations for objects in the solar system, with tiny corrections from Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

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9y ago

Isaac Newton

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Q: Which astronomer discovered the orbit of planets?
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Related questions

Astronomer who discovered that planets orbit in an ellipserather than a perfect circle?

Kepler


What early astronomer discovered why planets stay in orbit?

Nicolaus Copernicus discovered why planets stay in orbit when he found that the planets revolve around the sun. He is credited with starting the Scientific Revolution through this discovery.


Which astronomer discovered that the planets orbit the sun in oval shaped paths called ellipses?

Kepler discovered that the planets orbit the sun in oval shaped paths called ellipses.


Who is the astronomer that discovered planets revolve in an elliptical orbit?

It was Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 who produced the Laws of Planetary Motion in 1618.


Who is the astronomer who discovered planets follow elliptical orbit?

Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, discovered that planets follow elliptical orbits around the Sun, rather than perfect circles. This discovery is known as Kepler's first law of planetary motion and was a significant advancement in our understanding of the solar system.


Who was the Astronomer who realized that planets were traveling in elliptical orbit was?

it was Kepler


Who astronomer disproved the idea that planets move in a circular orbit?

kepler


Which astronomer discovered why planets stay in their orbits?

Isaac Newton


What early astronomer discovered why planets stay in their orbits?

Newton


What early astronomer discovered why planets stay you their orbits?

Newton discovered this with his Universal Theory of Gravity.


Who explained why planets stay in their orbit?

Sir Isac Newton was the scientist who discovered why the planets stay in orbit.


Which astronomer was first credited as the first to theorize the planets orbit around the sun?

Aristarchus of Samos