Astronomical Images : Lunar motion according to Copernicus

Giovanni Antonio Magini

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Giovanni Antonio Magini (1555-1617) graduated from the University of Bologna in 1579 and in 1588 obtained a mathematics chair there, famously defeating Galileo. Magini published extensively and had strong astrological interests. In his <i>Theorica lunae</i>, Magini attempted to formulate a geocentric system in accordance with the <i>Prutenic Tables</i> (the tables calculated by Erasmus Reinhold on the basis of Copernicus' <i>De revolutionibus orbium coelestium</i>). Although Magini followed Copernicus in many mathematical aspects of planetary motions, he did not accept his heliocentrism. Magini's rearrangement of planetary spheres was mentioned by Kepler in his <i>Apologia </i>against Ursus. In this work, Magini presented both the Copernican arrangement of the spheres, and his own. This figure shows the lunar motion according to Copernicus. Notice the two epicycles: the major one centred at E and the minor one at F.</p>