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17th century astronomer Johannes Kepler discovered the elliptical shape of the planets' orbits around the Sun, which he described in his first law of planetary motion. Newton later explained this in his law of universal gravitation.
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer who discovered that the Earth and planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits. He gave three fundamental laws of planetary motion. He also did important work in optics and geometry.
Johannes Kepler determined that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun in the early 17th century. His observations and mathematical calculations led to the formulation of his three laws of planetary motion.
Kepler discovered that the planets move in elliptical orbits and he published three laws of planetary motion that explained the details of the ellipses. Kepler's work used observations done by Tycho Brahe, and subsequent observations confirmed that Kepler's laws were correct (they still are). No-one knew why until the later discoveries of the laws of motion and the laws of gravity about 70 years later.
I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Johannes Kepler.
Johannes Kepler proposed that these planets orbit the sun in ellipses, not circles. That is why we have Kepler's Law of Planetary Motion.
17th century astronomer Johannes Kepler discovered the elliptical shape of the planets' orbits around the Sun, which he described in his first law of planetary motion. Newton later explained this in his law of universal gravitation.
He is best known for his laws of planetary motion.
It was Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 who produced the Laws of Planetary Motion in 1618.
That they followed elliptical orbits.
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer who discovered that the Earth and planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits. He gave three fundamental laws of planetary motion. He also did important work in optics and geometry.
Johannes Kepler corrected Copernicus by stating that the planets revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits, not in circular orbits. That became one of Kepler's laws of planetary motion. Altogether, Kepler formulated three "laws of planetary motion" based on the heliocentric model of Copernicus.
Johannes Kepler is credited with forming the mathematics of elliptical orbits.
Johannes Kepler determined that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun in the early 17th century. His observations and mathematical calculations led to the formulation of his three laws of planetary motion.
Johannes Kepler developed the laws of planetary motion.However he was German not Austrian.
Through years of research, and a lot of trial and error, Kepler was able to show that three laws accurately describe planetary motion. He was never able to explain WHY these laws worked, he only knew they DID.