heliotsentrism

Heliocentrism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the solar system. This is in contrast to the geocentric model, which places the Earth at the center. The idea of a heliocentric system was first proposed by Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century BCE, but his theories were largely rejected by ancient astronomers in favor of the geocentric model championed by Ptolemy.

The concept of heliocentrism was revived in the 16th century by Nicolaus Copernicus, whose work "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is often considered the starting point of the Scientific Revolution. Copernicus's model, though still containing some geocentric elements like circular orbits, provided a simpler explanation for the retrograde motion of planets. Later astronomers like Johannes Kepler refined the heliocentric model by proposing elliptical orbits, and Galileo Galilei's telescopic observations provided further empirical evidence supporting the Sun-centered view. Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation provided the physical explanation for why celestial bodies orbit the Sun. Heliocentrism is now the universally accepted model for our solar system.