The discussion centers on the historical evolution of the understanding that the Sun is not the center of the universe, a concept initially proposed by Copernicus. Key figures include Tycho Brahe, who suggested a geocentric model with the Sun orbiting Earth, and later, Galileo and Johannes Kepler, who contributed to the heliocentric model. The realization that the Sun is merely one of many stars in the universe developed gradually, influenced by the decline of church doctrine and advancements in observational astronomy, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Edwin Hubble's work further established the vastness of the universe and the absence of a central point.
PREREQUISITESStudents of astronomy, historians of science, and anyone interested in the evolution of cosmological theories and the transition from religious to scientific explanations of the universe.
MeJennifer said:The sun is very close but not exactly in the center of the solar system. Gravitation causes not only the planets but also the sun to revolve a little bit.
Claude Bile said:I don't think one person "discovered" that we are not at the centre of the universe, this was a view that evolved as the influence of church doctrine (which said that we ARE at the centre of the universe) faded and the scientific method gained momentum. Eventually once all the religious hyperbole was discarded, it became obvious that we probably weren't at the centre of the universe, or indeed, whether it even makes sense to define a centre for a universe that is infinite in extent - an infinite universe was a view that was not seriously challenged until Edwin Hubble's work.
Claude.
You may want to research the history of stellar parallax. In the early 19th century, instrumentation was advanced enough to allow annual observations from the extrema of Earth's orbit to estimate the distances to the closest stars. Variations in stellar parallax (and the inability to see ANY parallax in more distant stars) would have spelled the death-knell for any residing notion that the stars were fixed on a celestial sphere. To the contrary, the stars surrounding us are at various distances.Izzhov said:Ok, let me rephrase the question again. Who proved that the stars didn't revolve around the Sun?
Not that I'm advocating Wikipedia as the definitive authority ... if anybody has more reliable sources it would be nice to hear about them.wikipedia said:The thinking that the heliocentric view was also not true in a strict sense was achieved in steps. That the Sun was not the center of the universe, but one of innumerable stars, was strongly advocated by the mystic Giordano Bruno; Galileo made the same point, but said very little on the matter, perhaps not wishing to incur the church's wrath. Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the status of the Sun as merely one star among many became increasingly obvious. By the 20th century, even before the discovery that there are many galaxies, it was no longer an issue.