1618-1621: Printing of Johannes Kepler’s Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae [96]

Art Piece: The Seven Planets, Johann Sadeler I, Netherlandish, c. 1585 [86]

Paper: GW Ori: circumtriple rings and planets [69]

Kepler is notable for his astronomical works, particularly for his three laws of planetary motion [97]. Kepler’s three laws are typically [88]: 1) the plants move in orbits which are elliptical around the sun, 2) the time needed to traverse any arc of any said planetary orbit is proportional to the area of the sector between the central planet body and that arc, and 3) there is a relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times and the cubes of the radii of their orbits. This third law is often referred to as the “harmonic law,” [99] and the first version of it was introduced in this text by Kepler, his Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae, which essentially adds [107] to the ideas of Copernicus (hence his name in the title). Kepler’s Epitome was actually a collection of multiple books, all discussing [98] astronomy, physics, and planetary motion. These works of Kepler’s were highly influential — especially his three laws of planetary motion — and represented a further paradigm shift for astronomy. Building upon the works of those like Copernicus, Kepler was able to expand upon these ideas and also bring his own new theories into the public consciousness in order to help usher in a new age [64] of astronomy. The art piece above [86] is aptly titled “The Seven Planets,” and was created in c. 1585. This was during the lifetime [89] of Kepler (Kepler lived from 1571 to 1630), and is indicative of the changing ideas surrounding astronomy — we previously did not concretely know of planets other than ours, but then we soon came to know other planets as well, right within our own solar system! This is analogous to the work that Kepler himself did — we previously were not equipped with these three laws of planetary motion, but later thanks to Kepler, we were able to become familiar with these laws and use them to gain insight about the microcosm of the cosmos that we call home. The scientific paper above [69] is also indicative of what we were able to do as a result of these paradigm shifts in astronomy occurring. The paper discusses a triple star system named GW Ori, with recent studies identifying dust rings within the system. We would not have been able to gain this knowledge, make these discoveries if not for the work of Kepler and his contemporaries facilitating revolutions in how we see the cosmos and ourselves.