Celestial mechanics

Three people, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler et Isaac Newton were the forefathers of what came to be known as “celestial mechanics”, which calculates the movements of the objects in the Solar System.

Tycho Brahe made observations of the positions of the planets in the sky with a degree of precision unheard of at the time (1600).

These highly precise observations over a lengthy period of time subsequently enabled Johannes Kepler to determine that the planets follow elliptical orbits and that, in these orbits, the planets travel more rapidly when they are close to the Sun. The equations defining this motion are the three Kepler’s laws.

Isaac Newton showed that these movements were governed by the Gravitational attraction between the planets and the Sun.