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The Ejs Copernican System model illustrates Copernicus' system of planetary motions. The entire system is centered on the center of Earth's uniform, circular orbit. Sun is placed near, but not at, this center point. The orbit of each planet (other than Earth) consists of a deferent circle, centered on a point some distance from the center (at the eccentric point). Attached to this deferent is the center of a much smaller circle, the epicycle (or epicyclet). The radius of the epicycle is 1/3 the eccentricity of the deferent. The planet moves along the epicycle at a constant angular speed equal to twice the angular speed along the deferent. This model produces retrograde motion and changes in brightness that are always properly correlated with the location of Sun. In this simulation, the planet is assumed to move in the plane of the ecliptic, so its latitude is always zero. You can modify this simulation if you have Ejs installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting "Open Ejs Model" from the pop-up menu item.
Ejs Copernican System model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (Ejs) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_astronomy_CopernicanSystem.jar file will run the program if Java is installed. Ejs is a part of the Open Source Physics Project and is designed to make it easier to access, modify, and generate computer models. Additional Ejs models for astronomy are available. They can be found by searching ComPADRE for Open Source Physics, OSP, or Ejs.
Please note that this resource requires
at least version 1.5 of Java (JRE).
Activities for the Copernican System Model This zip archive contains handouts for two activities that allow students to explore the Copernican System Model. Once activity focuses on the basic structural features of the model and determining orbital periods. The other activity focuses on determining the size …
This zip archive contains handouts for two activities that allow students to explore the Copernican System Model. Once activity focuses on the basic structural features of the model and determining orbital periods. The other activity focuses on determining the size or orbits. Both handouts are provided in LaTeX and PDF formats.
Copernican System Model Source Code
The source code zip archive contains an XML representation of the Ejs Copernican System Model. Unzip this archive in your Ejs workspace to compile and run this model using Ejs. download 207kb .zip
Published: August 18, 2009
previous versions
T. Timberlake, Computer Program COPERNICAN SYSTEM MODEL, Version 1.0 (2009), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9382&DocID=1284).
T. Timberlake, Computer Program COPERNICAN SYSTEM MODEL, Version 1.0 (2009), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9382&DocID=1284>.
Timberlake, T. (2009). Copernican System Model (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. Retrieved December 14, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9382&DocID=1284
Timberlake, Todd. "Copernican System Model." Version 1.0. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9382&DocID=1284 (accessed 14 December 2024).
%0 Computer Program %A Timberlake, Todd %D August 18, 2009 %T Copernican System Model %7 1.0 %8 August 18, 2009 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9382&DocID=1284
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