MODELS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM By Ariel Mccullough

MODELS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM By: Ariel Mccullough and Aimee Knight

Geocentric • In a geocentric model of the solar system, the Earth claims the center. • This Earth-centered model was widely accepted for nearly 1, 500 years.

Ptolemaic Model � Claudius Ptolemy constructed an Earthcentered model of the solar system around A. D. 140. � This model, along with many others of its time, assumed that Earth was not only the center of our solar system, but the center of the entire universe.

Heliocentric • In a heliocentric model of the solar system, this Sun can be found in the center. • This model was developed by a Greek scientist by the name of Aristarchus.

Copernican Model � Nicolas Copernicus further developed the heliocentric model in 1543. � Copernicus worked out the placement of the known planets and their movement around the Sun.

Brahe and Kepler � In the late 1500 s the astronomer Tycho Brahe worked with his assistant Johannes Kepler to determine the shape of the planet’s orbits. � They discovered that the orbits were not circular, but were elliptical.

Galileo’s Evidence � The Italian scientist Galileo Galilei made revolutionary discoveries about Venus and Jupiter in 1610. � With this information he convinced others that the heliocentric model was correct.

Newton’s Gravity � With the discovery of gravity and inertia, Isaac Newton explained the motions of the planets and their moons. � This supported both Kepler and Galileo’s models of the solar system.

Geocentric and Heliocentric Theories