Kepler, Galileo, the telescope and its consequences

Abstract

In the beginning Copernicus' system of the world did not have empirical confirmation. In this situation, Kepler's research, as well as the astronomical observations with the telescope, invented in 1608, played a decisive role. Under the assumption of the central position of the Sun, Kepler discovered the elliptical orbital motion of the planets as a base of the computation of noticeably improved ephemerides. The first telescopic observations - Jupiter's moons, phases of Venus, sunspots, surface features of the moon, gave important arguments for Copernicus' system. Galilei was one of the first who used the telescope for astronomical research. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH&Co. KGaA, Weinheim.