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China, 780 BC: The First Record of a Total Solar Eclipse 

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China, 780 BC: The First Record of a Total Solar Eclipse 

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2,803 years ago, in 780 BC, Chinese observers viewed and recorded a total solar eclipse. Their recordings are known as the first reliable record of a total solar eclipse (illustrations have been found dating back earlier, however, they are unreliable).

Source: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/chinese-astronomy

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Aristotle, who lived around 384-322 BC, was a Greek philosopher who developed the first geocentric model of the solar system. The geocentric model depicted the Earth as the non-moving center of the universe, with all other bodies in the sky revolving around the Earth. He also proposed that each planet orbited the Earth in perfect circles. Although his model was seen as a revolutionary during the time, it has now been proven as very flawed. This is as the Earth isn't indeed the center of the universe, and instead is the one revolving around the Sun. The orbits of planets are also not perfectly circular. His depiction of the planets' orbits made it inaccurate when it came to modeling the path that planets traveled. Aristotle's model was recognized as a huge scientific advancement at the time, however, has since been recognized as very inaccurate.

(Sources: California Science HMH Dimensions; "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)

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Ptolemy, an Alexandrian astronomer living from 100-170 AD, helped further develop the geocentric model. He improved Aristotle's model by explaining retrograde motion. He claimed that planets moved around in small circles known as epicycles alongside their orbit around Earth. This explained why the planets appeared to sometimes move backwards. His model was accepted by most scientists for around 1,000 years. Ptolemy's theory was not accurate, however. This is due to the fact that epicycles have since been disproven; instead of each planet orbiting in a perfect circle and then moving in a secondary epicycle, each planet simply orbits in an elliptical manner. The epicycles may have explained why some of the planets appeared in the spots that they were at certain times, however, are inaccurate at depicting the movement of planets. Elliptical orbits much more accurately describe the movement and positioning of planets.

(Sources: California Science HMH Dimensions; "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)

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Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish mathematician and astronomer that lived from 1473 to 1543. He was one of the first people to create and support the heliocentric model of the solar system, which depicted planets orbiting around the sun rather than everything orbiting around Earth. This was obviously more accurate than the geocentric model, however, his model does also have inaccuracies. Copernicus believed that the sun was the center of the entire universe; as we now know, the sun is only at the center of our solar system, which is one of many in the entire universe. Secondly, he depicted all of the planets orbiting at the same speed in their epicycles, making their orbits circular. This made his model unable to accurately predict how the planets would move. So, Copernicus did create the basis for a much more accurate model of the solar system, however, his model was still riddled with inaccuracies.

(Sources: California Science HMH Dimensions; "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)

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Johannes Kepler, who lived from 1571 to 1630 in Germany, was an astronomer who helped develop the heliocentric model of the solar system. His main contribution to the model was the correction of the shape of each planetary orbit. He realized that it would make more sense for the orbits to be ellipses rather than perfect circles, and was able to back it up using math. Kepler's model of the solar system was not 100% complete, however, as obviously the sun is at the center of our solar system rather than the universe.

(Sources: California Science HMH Dimensions; "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)

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Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer who lived from 1564 to 1642, helped develop and improve the heliocentric model of the solar system. His main contributions came due to his invention of the telescope, which allowed himself and his peers to analyze the sky with their own eyes. With the telescope, Galilei was able to help prove the inaccuracies of the geocentric model, as well as prove the idea that planets had elliptical orbits. He was able to analyze the four moons of Jupiter, which clearly didn't orbit the Earth. This disproved the theory that everything in the universe revolved around Earth, as believed until the heliocentric model was accepted. Galilei also discovered that Venus goes through phases, similar to our moon does. Due to the way that Venus is positioned in each phase, Galilei was able to prove that the heliocentric model was more accurate, as it accurately predicted the alignment of each planet. With the invention of the telescope, Galileo Galilei was able to innovate the field of astronomy, with many new advancements and discoveries soon following.

(Sources: California Science HMH Dimensions; "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)

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Modern Understanding of the Solar System (Twenty-First Century)

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Modern Understanding of the Solar System (Twenty-First Century)

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In the twenty-first century, with much better technology and resources, we now know that both the geocentric and heliocentric models are inaccurate. The geocentric model is obviously more wrong, however, the heliocentric isn't 100% correct either. This is as the sun isn't the center of the whole universe, as once believed; it is instead the center point of our solar system. The sun is also in orbit around the same point as Earth is, which is simply the center of mass of our solar system. The sun has 99.87% of all mass in the solar system, however, which is why the system's center of mass is essentially the center of the sun. That is why the sun doesn't appear to be in orbit; it is simply so small that it isn't very noticeable. So, in conclusion, it is now understood that the geocentric solar system model is completely wrong, and that the heliocentric model is only right after much revision.

(Source: "How we Figured Out The Earth Goes Around the Sun," SciShow Space)