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Dec 27, 1571
Birth of Kepler
December 27th, 1571, Johannes Kepler was born in Weil der Stadt which is now part of the Stuttgart Region in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. He had 2 brothers and 1 sister. -
Nov 13, 1577
Keplers exposure to astronomy
Kepler was lucky enough to have been born in a time were 2 rare celestial events were happening. In 1577, at 6 years old, he witnessed the Great Comet of 1577. At age 9, he witnessed a lunar eclipse. Both times, although very young, Kepler mentally recorded what he saw. -
The Cosmographic Mystery
Keplers first published writting were called The Cosmographic Mystery. In the book, he elaborated on Copernicus's heliocentric model of the solar system. -
Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion
Kepler went to work for Tycho Brahe in 1600. over 10 years, he developed the laws of motion. Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion can be stated as follows: (1) All planets move about the Sun in elliptical orbits, having the Sun as one of the foci. (2) A radius vector joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal lengths of time. (3) The squares of the sidereal periods (of revolution) of the planets are directly proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun. -
Explanation of Keplers work
Kepler came up with the first 2 laws in 1609 and his 3rd law in 1619.
Here is a video explaining the 3 laws of planetary motion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htxGvdQbl5w -
Death of Kepler
After become sick, Kepler died on November 15th, 1630. His grave site was destroyed by by the invading Swedish army 2 years later. -