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Aphelionoriginal: Aphelis; the point in an orbit farthest from the sun.
Orbit of SATURN Middle
Perihelionoriginal: Perihelis; the point in an orbit closest to the sun.
THE CUBE
Kepler placed the Cube between the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter because the ratio of the spheres inscribed in and circumscribed around a cube closely matched the ratio of these two planets' distances from the sun.
Aphelion
Orbit of JUPITER Middle
Perihelion
THE TETRAHEDRON
The Tetrahedron (a four-sided pyramid) was placed between Jupiter and Mars.
Tycho’s Path of the Sun
original: Tychonij Iter Solis. This refers to the astronomical system of Tycho Brahe, where the Sun revolves around the Earth while the other planets revolve around the Sun. Kepler, though a Copernican, often had to reconcile his data with Tycho’s observations.
G A B C H
OF MARS
OF THE EARTH AND THE MOON
OF VENUS
OF MERCURY
THE OCTAHEDRON
THE ICOSAHEDRON
THE DODECAHEDRON
D E F
The inner planets are separated by the remaining solids: the Octahedron (eight faces) between Mars and Earth, the Icosahedron (twenty faces) between Earth and Venus, and the Dodecahedron (twelve faces) between Venus and Mercury. While Kepler later realized orbits are elliptical rather than perfectly circular, this geometric model was a crucial step in his search for the mathematical laws of the heavens.
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