• Question: Who made up the name Solar System and in which year?

    Asked by thanu05 to Alexis, Dr D, Helen, Jasmine, Mario on 19 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Alexis Barr

      Alexis Barr answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      Now I’m not sure who actually came up with the name Solar System but a scientist called Galileo Galilei was the first person to describe objects in the Solar System back in the 1600s.
      Galilei, Johannes Keppler and Isaac Newton used physics to show that the earth orbits around the sun (and not the other way around which people used to think).

    • Photo: Andrew Devitt

      Andrew Devitt answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      The discoveries were mostly made with the invention of lenses. Without them you couldn’t make telescopes. The lenses also let us see cells too. But Alexis is probably right. It all kicked off in the 1600s. But I think it was Copernicus in the 1400 who first suggested that we travel around the sun. I guess this might count as inventing the ‘solar system’

Comments

  • Photo: Dr D

    Dr D commented on :

    Just done some reading on the web. It is amazing! A chap called Samos who lived 310-230 BC (!) first proposed we move around the sun. You learn something new every day. I love science!