Discovery of the Solar System

Abstract:

This page is part of NASA's website "From Stargazers to Starships". It discusses the evolution of scientific thought concerning the nature of the solar system, beginning with the earth-centered solar system advocated by Hipparchus and Ptolemy. Ptolemy's idea that the sun and planets moved around the Earth persisted for nearly a thousand years until Copernicus and Galileo, using his newly-invented telescope, began to understand that the Earth and its companion planets all orbited in around the sun. The site features text, pictures, a scientific illustration showing retrograde motion, and links to other relevant sites.

Subject:

Science and Technology

Grade Level:

Secondary, Post-secondary

Collection:

NASA