Geocentrism to Heliocentrism of the Solar System
The models of our solar system have dramatically changed over time based off new evidence and technological advancements. This analytical essay will analyse the evidence and technological advancements in which the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system were developed upon.
The geocentric model of the solar system, figure 1, was proposed by Claudius Ptolemy in 150A.D and claims that Earth is centred in the solar system and all celestial bodies orbit around it. This model was supported by observations of the sun, moon and stars moving across the sky in an east to west motion. However, in 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus reviewed the model discovering errors in Ptolemy’s use of epicycles, which could only be explained with the heliocentric model of the solar system.
The heliocentric model, figure 2, was proposed by Copernicus and claims that the sun is centred in the solar system and all other celestial bodies, including Earth, orbit around it. This model is strongly supported through respectable evidence from Copernicus’s retrograde motion, Galileo’s telescopic evidence, Kepler’s and Newton’s laws of motion and stellar parallax. This collection of evidence resulted in the replacement of
…show more content…
Early astronomers used their naked eye to study the heavens, observing no parallax which supported the geocentric model that Earth was unmoving. This inference was logical because if Earth isn’t moving, stellar parallax shouldn’t be evident. However, without the technological advancement of the telescope they were unable to see the infinitesimal parallactic shifts that occurred, that proved the accuracy of the heliocentric model. Eventually utilising the telescope, stellar parallax was recorded and prompted the geocentric model’s review and contributed to supporting the heliocentric