Tag Archives: Kepler

To Be Circular, or Elliptical: That Was Kepler’s Question

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Europa

Johannes Kepler was an astronomer and mathematician best known for his development of the three laws of planetary motion. The first reflected a major upheaval in astronomical thought at the time: that planetary orbits are elliptical, with the Sun located at one of each orbit’s two foci, rather than perfectly circular. The second is that […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Andrew Cascio

Johannes Kepler: As a young apprentice of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler had years of naked-eye observations to make discoveries with. Between the discrepancies surrounding Tycho’s observations and the Copernican belief that planetary orbits are perfect circles, Kepler surmised that planetary orbits are ellipses. He took his discoveries and named three laws of planetary motion that […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 1, 2023 by cuia2

Johannes Kepler (Birth date – December 27th, 1571, Death date – November 15th, 1630) Kepler was important to astronomy because he rejected the tens of thousands year old belief that the Earth was the center of the universe and planets orbited in perfect circles. He instead created Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion, which suggest […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 1, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler, who lived from 1571 to 1630, revealed three laws of planetary motion which explain the motion of the planets in the solar system. The first law concerning orbits states that all planets move around the Sun in an elliptic orbit. The second law, the “area law,” implies that a planets angular […] Continue reading →

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historical astronomers in context

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Emma Williams

Johannes Kepler (born December 27, 1571– died November 15, 1630) contributed to the field of astronomy by the formulation of his 3 Laws of Planetary Motion, which were later derived and formalized by Isaac Newton. The laws are 1) that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun at one focal point, 2) that a […] Continue reading →

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Kepler Supernova

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Kaitlyn Lane

The image above is of Kepler’s Supernova, which Johannes Kepler is credited with discovering with his description of the stellar object in his De Stella Nova. As stars progress through their main sequence lifetime and beyond and use up more of their hydrogen in nuclear fusion, they can fuse heavier and heavier elements. More massive […] Continue reading →

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Separation of Church and State (of Astronomy)

Posted on February 10, 2022 by alexbawa

Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) was a massively important astronomer because he was the first to recognize that orbits were not perfect circles, but in fact ellipses. This was particularly significant because it allowed accurate predictions that supported the heliocentric model. He also found that orbiting objects move faster when closer to the object they […] Continue reading →

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Johannes Kepler in Context

Posted on February 10, 2022 by jordanekstein

Johannes Kepler was born December 27th 1571 and died November 15th 1630. Some of his most prolific discoveries lied in the three major laws of planetary motion. The first law concluded that planets move around the sun in an elliptical orbit. The second is that the time it takes for a planet to move around […] Continue reading →

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Johannes Kepler in Historical Context

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Quint Gfroerer

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) revolutionized astronomy and improved upon the works of previous astronomers (including Copernicus and Tycho) in multiple ways. Kepler was able to develop a mathematical model of the universe that was heliocentric and was both more accurate and simpler than that of Ptolemy, whose geocentric model with […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 9, 2022 by isaachuggins

Johannes Kepler: December 27, 1571 to November 15, 1630 (Image from Wikimedia Commons) Born in Germany during the 16th century, Kepler was born to a poor Lutheran family. However, his views on both a heliocentric solar system and his personal beliefs contradicting the Lutheran Faith in the Formula of Concord resulted in him alone in […] Continue reading →

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