What is the HELIOCENTRIC theory of Copernicus

In today's lesson from a teacher we are going to explain what the heliocentric theory or heliocentrism is. Theory that states that the planets move around the Sun and that this is the center of the universe.

This astronomical model was proposed by the Greek mathematician and astronomer Aristarco de Samos (S. IV- III a. C.) and it was defended by mathematicians, philosophers and astronomers such as Plutarco de Queronea (S.I d. C.) or Archimedes of Siracursa (S.III d. C.). However, it was Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) with work On the turns of the celestial orbs (1531/32) who spread it from the 16th century. Directly clashing with the majority theory that defended the geocentric model of Aristotle (If you. C.) and Claudius Ptolemy (S.II d. C.): the earth is the center of the universe and the stars revolve around the earth in circular orbits.

Pay attention because in a PROFESSOR we explain what the heliocentric theory consists of and its evolution throughout history.

Index

1. Background of the heliocentric theory
2. What is the heliocentric theory and who proposed it?
3. How was the heliocentric theory proved?
4. Isaac Newton and heliocentrism

The first references we find the heliocentric theory in the Greek world and in the figure of Aristarchus of Samos (S. IV- III a. C.). This astronomer was the first to challenge geocentric theory established by Aristotle and established that the Sun was larger than the Earth, that the Earth was further from the Sun than from the Moon, that the stars and the Sun were fixed in space and that the rest of the bodies revolved around the Sun.

However, Aristarchus' theory it was highly criticized by its own contemporaries and progressively forgotten. At the same time, the geocentric theory of Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy was the most accepted.

In the Europe of the XV-XVI centuries it was giving a whole cultural transformation and mental that allowed questioning and breaking the schemes established during the Middle Ages. And precisely, one of the clearest cases was that of Nicolaus Copernicus and his heliocentric theory that disproved the geocentric theory defended by the Church.

Thus, Copernicus he broke with a belief established for 2000 years and after twenty-five years of research (1507-1532), he argued that the correct model was the heliocentric theory. This theory was based on 7 main ideas:

• The center of the universe is the Sun.
• The celestial bodies revolve around the Sun through circular orbits and in a regular-perpetual way.
• The planets have three types of movements: daily or diurnal rotation, the annual revolution and annual inclination on their axis.
• The universe and the Earth are spherical.
• The stars remain fixed.
• A new order of the planets that revolve around the Sun is established based on their proximity: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
• The dimensions of the universe are greater and the distance between the Sun and the Earth also.

All this was collected in his masterpiece On the turns of the celestial orbs (1531/32), published posthumously in 1543 by the publisher Andreas Osiander. However, the publication of this revolutionary work It was the basis for the development of the theories of Galileo, Kleper or Newton and for the imposition of the heliocentric model against the geocentric one.

Although Copernicus in the 16th century laid the first stone of the heliocentric theory, it would not be until 100 years later when his model began to be better known. The person responsible for this was the astronomer Galileo Galilei(1563-1642).

Galileo he came to perfect and complement the heliocentric theory and for this he was based on the study of the work of Copernicus and on his own observation of the universe with the telescope (1609-1610). Thus, in his workSidereus nuncius (1610) he established that:

• The stars are not perfect spherical bodies, because when observing the Moon he saw he could see an orography composed of craters.
• He observed the phases of Venus and the four satellites that revolved around Jupiter (Io, Europa, Callisto and Gaminides-Gallian satellites-) and not around the Sun. Thus confirming that the Earth was not the center of the universe.

Later, Johannes kleper (1571-1630), supporting the heliocentric theory published the well-known Three Laws of Kleper. Which, reinforced the theses of Copernicus and Galileo:

1. First law or law of orbits: the planets revolve around the Sun through elliptical orbits and the Sun remains in one of the foci of the orbit.
2. Second law or law of the areas: the planets move at different speeds.
3. Third law or law of periods: the time it takes a planet to rotate around the sun = The further a planet is from the Sun, it moves slower and takes longer to rotate around the star.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) culminated the development of the heliocentric theory with the publication of Principle (1687) in which it establishes Law of universal gravitation according to which all separate bodies are attracted by a gravitational force directly proportional to their mass, that is, the smaller the bodies, the lower their attraction and the greater their mass, their attraction also it is.

Thus, in planetary masses that gravitation would be greater, responsible for the planets turning in their orbit and for the perfect balance of these in their orbits. Therefore, gravitation is responsible for the planets to rotate.

In short, thanks to these astronomers and philosophers, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries our solar or planetary system was shaped, which establishes that the sun is a star, that all astronomical bodies revolve around him gravitationally and that the planetary system is made up of the Sun, planets (major and dwarf), satellites and minor bodies (comets, asteroids, meteoroids and trans-Neptunian objects).

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Díaz León, J., Brief history of astronomy, Guadalmazán, 2021.