Question

distinguish between geocentric and heliocentric theory​

Answer 1

The answer took a while for astronomers to figure out, leading to a debate between what is known as the geocentric (Earth-centered) model and the heliocentric (Sun-centered model). ... The Earth was in the center of it all (geocentric), with these planets revolving around it.

Answer 2

Geocentric and Heliocentric Models. The Copernican (Heliocentric, or Sun-centered) Model of the Solar System. Nicolaus Copernicus. Polish astronomer, mathematician, and canon. Modeled the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the five known planets in the skies above, using a heliocentric system of orbits.

The Copernican heliocentric model wasn't much more accurate than the Ptolemaic geocentric model – it didn't even do away with the need for epicycles. ... The epicycles werestill a pesky annoyance because the planets were thought to move around the sun in a uniformly circular motion.

Geocentric means the Earth is at the center. The prefix geo means of the Earth. Thus geometry is the measure of the earth, geology is the study of the earth, etc... Heliocentricmeans the sun is at the center.


Kepler's work in astronomy was new in part. Unlike those who came before him, he discarded the assumption that planets moved in uniform circular motion, replacing it with elliptical motion. Also, like Copernicus, he asserted the physical reality of a heliocentric model as opposed to a geocentric one.