Kepler started when he got full access to Tycho's measurements of the planets' positions, after Tycho died in 1601. Kepler's full theory including details of the elliptical orbits of the six known planets was published eight years later.
Eight years is not too long when you consider his theory was right, in other words it's the theory we use today (with the details of the orbits slightly refined by modern measurements), and it replaced the Ptolemaic theory that had been in use for 1500 years and the Copernican theory that had been around for 66 years.
When you think Kepler was starting with a blank sheet of paper and had to calculate all the horribly complicated geometrical details from scratch, without even a slide-rule, eight years is not bad and it is right that he is considered one of astronomy's great founding fathers.
Johannes Kepler
Kepler discovered the orbits of the solar system are elliptical.
Johannes Kepler.
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.
Kepler discovered that the planets orbit the Sun in elliptical shapes. This means that their orbits are not perfect circles, but instead are stretched out ovals with the Sun located at one of the foci of the ellipse.
Johannes Kepler.
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler
Kepler developed the Laws of Planetary motion, which include the orbits of planets being elliptical.
He showed that the planets traveled in elliptical orbits
Kepler showed that the orbits of the planets are elliptical, with the Sun at one of the focal points. This discovery led to his laws of planetary motion, which describe how planets move in their orbits.
Kepler discovered the orbits of the solar system are elliptical.
Kepler
It was Johannes Kepler.
Planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits. These orbits are elongated and follow Kepler's laws of planetary motion, which describe the shape and dynamics of the planetary orbits.
Johannes Kepler.
Johannes Kepler