How did Galileo support that we live in a heliocentric system?
2007-03-22 15:28:58 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
He couldn't fully show that the Earth revolved around the sun, which is why still people didn't believe him, he was however able to show that at least one planet, Venus, revolved around the sun, people couldn't really argue with him on that one. Now I'm not sure if he was the one who proved Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun.
2007-03-22 15:37:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The retrograde orbits of the outer planets and the moons revolving about them.
For these orbits to exist in a geocentric system, the orbits would have to be ridiculously complex. Apply Ockum's Razor to find a simpler solution (and read Copernicus' works) and heliocentrism makes more sense.
Read: "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan for the best explanation
2007-03-22 22:34:57 · answer #2 · answered by Matthew P 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Galileo saw things in the sky which flatly disagreed with the popular wisdom. The way the stars and constellations "moved" either violated all the laws of mechanics - or, they weren't moving around "us".
2007-03-22 22:37:49 · answer #3 · answered by Richard S 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
His observation of the 4 large moons of Jupiter orbiting Jupiter and not the Earth was the clincher.
2007-03-22 22:31:14 · answer #4 · answered by stargazergurl22 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋