Johannes Kepler explained to kids

Johannes Kepler was a mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 1600s. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion. These laws describe how planets move around the sun. Kepler also discovered that the orbits of planets are elliptical, not circular. Kepler was born in Germany in 1571. His father was a mercenary, and his mother was a herbalist. When Kepler was a teenager, his parents sent him to study at a seminary. However, Kepler was more interested in mathematics and astronomy than in religion. In 1600, Kepler became an assistant to the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Brahe had collected a lot of data about the planets and stars. After Brahe died, Kepler used this data to develop his laws of planetary motion. Kepler published his first law of planetary motion in 1609. This law states that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun. The sun is located at one of the ellipse's focal points. Kepler published his second law of planetary motion in 1619. This law states that a planet's speed is not constant. A planet moves fastest when it is closest to the sun and slowest when it is farthest from the sun. Kepler published his third law of planetary motion in 1619. This law states that the farther a planet is from the sun, the longer it takes to orbit the sun. Kepler died in 1630. He is considered one of the most important astronomers in history.