Can we say that today solar system is heliocentric as proposed by Copernicus?

Question

Can we say that today solar system is heliocentric as proposed by Copernicus?

Answer 1

Yes, we can say it today.  We could say it then, too, but we'd be burned at the stake.  

Answer 2

Not only is it today, but it has been for the last 4.5 billion years or so. Our scientific knowledge has been changing a lot faster than the Solar System has.

Answer 3

Yes and no.

Available evidence strongly supports a system in which the planets orbit the Sun, as in the heliocentric model. However, Copernicus still tried to use perfect circles for planetary orbits, requiring an absurdly complex system of orbits on orbits on orbits to account for the observed motion of the planets. It was not until Kepler proposed eliptical orbits that the system was simplified, and it is the Keplerian version we use today.

Answer 4

Actually, I was first to suggest heliocentrism.

I'm a lot older than I look.

Answer 5

Yes it is heliocentric but our model and his have major differences.  Kepler showed the orbits to be ellipses.  Our model doesn't possess one epicycle.  Retrograde motion is easily explained without the use of epicycles.  And our model has more planets, moons, and other stuff.  

Answer 6

Not as proposed by Copernicus, no. His proposal had circular orbits for the planets. In reality, the planets have elliptical orbits. (In some cases, it's true that the eccentricity is so low, that if you drew such a circle to scale on your floor, you wouldn't be able to see how it differs from a circle. But still, the orbits are elliptical.)

But aside from that important difference, yes.  

Answer 7

You've already heard about the modifications to the Copernican model (i.e. Kepler's elliptical orbits instead of circular orbits)...

However, Copernicus was not the first person to suggest the heliocentric model.

Pythagoras, Philolaus and Aristarchus were all proponents of the heliocentric model.

see: http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Whi...

and:

http://physics.gmu.edu/~jevans/astr103/C...

for more info