-
Aristarchus was the first known person to propose a heliocentric model, suggesting that the Earth orbits the Sun over 1,000 years before Copernicus. -
Ptolemy developed the geocentric model, placing Earth at the center of the universe. His work in the Almagest shaped astronomy for over 1,000 years. -
Copernicus revived the heliocentric theory in his book “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium”, revolutionizing how we view the cosmos. -
Using a telescope, Galileo discovered moons orbiting Jupiter and phases of Venus, providing strong support for the heliocentric model. -
Kepler formulated the three laws of planetary motion, proving that planets orbit the Sun in ellipses, not perfect circles. -
Newton published Principia Mathematica, where he introduced the law of universal gravitation — explaining why planets move as they do. -
Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, expanding our known solar system and proving that new planets could still be found. -
Einstein’s theory of relativity transformed our understanding of space, time, and gravity explaining phenomena Newtonian physics could not. -
Hubble discovered that galaxies are moving away from us, showing that the universe is expanding the foundation of the Big Bang theory. -
Rubin found that galaxies rotate too fast for visible matter alone providing strong evidence for the existence of dark matter.