Nicolaus Copernicus: Questioning the Center of Our Solar System | Leo & Layla | PragerU Kids

[Music] this is so cool yeah I guess too bad it's homework I'd rather just enjoy it and not have to take a ton of notes about it come on Leo watching a lunar eclipse and recording what happens is a great idea it's way better than my homework are you even looking wa isn't it beautiful I thought the moon would be dark inside the Earth's Shadow but it's all red I know Mars must be close by the red planet filled with creepy looking martians Mars are you sure uh yeah once in a while Mars comes by and makes the Moon look red and angry my friends were talking about it at lunch today that doesn't sound right we should investigate ourselves investigate sounds like more homework count me out are you sure I mean I could go back in time and talk to a famous Astron all by myself you know what I'll come along after all every investigation needs a space expert have it your [Music] way wow this place looks so cool look at that cedral right over there we must be in Europe hundreds of years ago good gracious who are you and what are you doing in my Observatory my name is ilila and this is my brother Leo we just arrived here from outer space take us to your leader Leo cut it out we're from the future but we're looking for some info about outer space judging by all these sketches of the solar system I'm guessing you're an astronomer V yes Nicholas cernus At Your Service cernus I learned about you in History Class didn't you help everyone understand how the solar system works well I haven't convinced everyone but I'm working on that you see my duties in town and n a cathedral take up most of my day so I've been working here in this Observatory at night for years I've been studying the night sky recording what I see and perfecting my theory a heliocentric model of our solar system heliocentric what's that I means that every planet including our own orbit Sun Helio meaning sun and Centric meaning Center that's so great Theory Mr cernus stick with it trust me yes of course I Dan questions the future children right anyway Mr cernus we need your help we just watched the moon turn red during a lunar eclipse Splendid a rare and divine sight it was amazing but we're not sure why it happened my brother heard from his classmates that it's because Mars is nearby but I don't buy that and I'm not sure where to start hey hey can you tell us how your theory about planets orbiting the Sun first started why of course I've spent an entire lifetime developing it as a young man I was an assistant to a great astronomer in Italy this allowed me to study with the best astronomers and compare what they thought to my own observations but let me start at the beginning you mean when God created the universe not that beginning I'll put it this way on certain nights it looks like some stars are brighter than normal look closely and you seeds that are actually planets over months and years the planets make different patterns across the sky over a thousand years ago a mathematician named toy saw these patterns and had an idea Mars Venus Jupiter the stars and even our sun are moving in circles around the earth to this day people in Europe believe this geocentric or Earth centered the but if you ask me it's incorrect H what made you think that well to test toi Theory I asked what if it was true is the Earth is the fix center of our universe and if everything else circles around it what does that tell us about what we see at night that would mean Earth is pretty important right certainly that's why many people are afraid to imagine the universe in a different way but if Earth is its Center then many other things don't make sense like what by the Stars they're much farther ways into planets and as they're circling us too they have to be moving incredibly fast the farther away the faster they must be moving I've seen a shooting star before but that sounds like a shooting Universe yeah our sun is a star and it's not moving around some small planet that's correct a better explanation is that the stars are fixed and our planet is rotating on its axis and that was just one problem another is that sometimes the planets change direction in the night Sky they change direction how is that possible it isn't but that's what it looks like night after night they're going one way but then for a few nights they go the other way that's why ancient astronomers called the planets vandus actually the W planet in Greek means Vander they were very observant but their model of planets revolving around Earth in A Perfect Circle falls short of an explanation sounds like another puzzle for your new Theory to solve no doubt and I struggle with this one for many years what could possibly explain it but then I thought perhaps every planet including ours is moving around the Sun just not at the same speed because we're moving faster than M we pass it every few years and for a little while Ms looks like it's changing direction ah that makes sense I certainly think so my heliocentric model does a much better job explaining what we see night after night that's why I've written a short book about it my my little commentary very impressive you've put a lot of work into developing your theory do you think it will change how people see the Universe I hope so Leela a true and accurate model of the universe will help us see God's Mighty Works in a greater way I'm not sure how popular my ideas will be or if anyone aside from my stargazing friends will accept them wait you mean you've done all this work and people may not even believe you that's a bummer all in good time Leo and it's a a good reminder that ideas aren't correct simply because everyone believes them do your own research test your own theories and let evidence not popularity determines the truth I will Mr cernus all right Mr space expert what do you think about the red moon now H I think I need to test the theory I heard from my friends I mean if Mars turns the moon red the Mars would have to be really close by very interesting but sounds like you're on the right track to figuring it out thanks now that I'm curious I should probably head home I've got a red moon mystery to solve of course farewell God speed goodbye thanks I did it Leila I found out why the moon turned red it's incredible amazing stupendous slow down Leo tell me what happened first I looked at a calendar of where the planets are the moon's not that far from us but we're not even close close to Mars right now so it can't be Mars turning the moon red exactly my friends at school are wrong because right now Mars is on the other side of the solar system so it had to be something else making the moon red what did you find light from the sun sunlight but during a lunar eclipse our planet blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon it turns out not all of it sunlight still reaches the moon around the edges of Earth as the light passes through the Earth's atmosphere it gets bent the red wavelengths of light are less affected than the others and that's what makes it red it's kind of like the light we see during a Sunset and it covers the part of the Moon that's facing us well done Leo looks like curiosity and a little hard work paid off oh that's nothing just another day in the life of a space [Music] expert if you like time traveling with Leo and Leila watch more of their Adventures at Prager kids.com and parents don't forget to subscribe