The three laws of planetary motion were discovered by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.

Quick answer

  • The three famous laws of planetary motion are called Kepler’s laws.
  • They are named after Johannes Kepler, who formulated them in the early 1600s while analyzing extremely precise planetary position data.

Who Johannes Kepler was

  • Kepler (1571–1630) was a German astronomer and mathematician who played a central role in the Scientific Revolution.
  • Using data from the Danish observer Tycho Brahe, he worked out how planets actually move around the Sun, leading to his three laws of planetary motion.

What those “three laws” refer to

  • First law: Planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus.
  • Second law: A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times (planets move faster when closer to the Sun).
  • Third law: The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the Sun.

TL;DR: The three laws of planetary motion were discovered and formulated by Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century.

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