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How did Galileo's observations of Jupiter's moons support Copernicus theory?
The discovery did not support Copernicus's theory directly but it raised doubts about the ancient theory of Ptolemy that said that all objects in the sky are in orbit round the Earth. Galileo was an aggressive supporter of Copernicus's theory but eventually it was Kepler's theory that became accepted and is still used today. Both Copernicus and Kepler placed the Sun at the centre but Kepler's elliptical orbits are supported by the later theory of dynamics.
Why did it take so long for Copernicus' ideas to become widely accepted?
Copernicus's model of the solar system was published in 1543. This model had the Sun at the centre and was taken up by Galileo in a way that caused a big row with the catholic church. Kepler produced a later model in 1609 that eventually replaced all the earlier models. It used Copernicus's idea of placing the Sun at the centre, but it used the novel idea of elliptical orbits. From a scientific point of view, whether the Earth or the Sun is at the centre is not a highly significant part of the theory. However it is of religous significance because it involves interpretation of the scriptures, and this is how Galileo's intervention led him into trouble. Newton's discoveries in gravity and the laws of motion showed that elliptical orbits, with the Sun at the centre, could be explained by theory, and so we use Kepler's model today, and everyone accepts that including the Church.
Who finally proved Copernicus theory of a Heliocentric universe?
The modern theory is the one devised by Johannes Kepler. It uses the heliocentric idea, as Copernicus's model did, but Kepler rejected the circles and epicycles used by Copernicus and Ptolemy before him, and used elliptical orbits for the planets instead. Kepler's model was published in 1609, and it was realised quite quickly that it represented the movements of the planets more accurately than the old models. But the old models were not bad and their inaccuracies were demonstrated only after Tycho Brahe built new, accurate measuring systems in the late 1500s. Kepler used Tycho's observations. With 3 systems in play that were all reasonably accurate there was no way of deciding the best one, although Kepler's model was slightly better. But in the late 1600s Isaac Newton had built on previous work to produce the law of gravity and the laws of motion. He was able to show that a planet in the Sun's gravity field must move in an elliptical orbit. This was the clincher that made people accept Kepler's model.
The astronomer who agreed with the heliocentric theory and was imprisoned for his investigations was?
I am actually doing a report on Copernicus. He took back what he said but right as he was dying they found out that he was right and his last words were. " I knew the sun was the center, all along."
Who was Copernicus and what was heliocentric theory?
Nicholas Copernicus 1473-1543 was a Polish priest and astronomer who created an alternative model of the planets, known as the heliocentric theory, which put the Sun at the centre, instead of the Earth as generally accepted at that time.He knew it would get him into trouble with the church, and his book 'De Revolutionibus' was not published until the year he died. The theory with the Sun at the centre was similar to the old Ptolemaic system with its collection of circles and epicycles allowing for the changes in distance and the changes in planets' speeds, and their departure from the ecliptic.His theory was taken up by Galileo in a famous dispute with the church. At around the same time Tycho Brahe made new more accurate observations of the planets from Denmark, and these were used by Johannes Kepler to produce a new model published in 1609.Kepler's model is the one we use today, and it has the Sun at the centre, like the Copernican model, but all the other details of Copernicus's theory were rejected in favour of elliptical orbits.
