Theories of the Medicean Planets Deduced from Physical Causes

travels from West to East. In this path, if they do not move in a perfect circle, they at least move in a motion very close to it. However, these orbits do not have the Sun or any other globe as their center. Instead, they center on a small point at a distance from those bodies. Because of this, their paths are called eccentric circles eccentric: an orbit where the central body is not at the geometric center.

Furthermore, all planets have three distinct periods. The first is called the restoration original: "restitutionis," referring to the sidereal period or the time taken to return to the same spot relative to the stars. This is the time it takes for the planet to return to the same position in the universe or world space. This is usually measured relative to the fixed stars. These movements occur within a zone we call the Zodiac, or the circle of signs. The second is the period of anomaly anomaly: the irregular movement of a planet caused by its non-circular path. This begins at the highest apse apse: the point in an orbit furthest from the center body. This is the point in the planet's orbit furthest from the Sun or the Earth. The period lasts until the planet returns to that same spot.

This period of anomaly is generally slower in every case than the periodic motion of restoration among the fixed stars. From this, we can conclude that the line of the apse is not stable. It does not stay in one place among the fixed stars. Instead, it is carried in a continuous and very gentle motion from West to East. There is also a third period, which is the period of latitude. Through this, the planets deviate from the Ecliptic, which is the path of the Sun itself, moving sometimes toward the North and sometimes toward the South. It is clear that this period is completed in a shorter time than the restoration among the fixed stars. This indicates that the nodes nodes: the two points where a planet crosses the plane of the Sun's path are not fixed. Instead, they continuously move backward against the order of the other stars. However, the inclination between the planetary orbit and the Ecliptic is assumed to be fixed and unchangeable.

I do not intend to discuss the motions of the Moon in great detail here, as our predecessors have already provided much information on that subject. However, I believe it is necessary to briefly recall the many varieties
Fig. 1.

of the Moon's motions. I do this because of their similarity to the revolutions of the Jovian stars original: "iouialium syderum," the four large moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo. Without knowing the Moon's motions first, those revolutions could never be understood accurately. Therefore, let us imagine T to be the globe of the Earth. We assume it is placed in the plane of the Ecliptic, where the Sun is also located. We also place it at the center of the Zodiac and the circle of signs. Let an eccentric circle ABPD be drawn around the Earth. This circle is eccentric to the Earth itself, and its center is C. Regarding this eccentric...