Leonardo da Vinci’s fascination with space and nature was not limited to the moon, or even a specific celestial body. While da Vinci had a keen interest on the moon and focused quite heavily on its physical properties, he had devoted a vast amount of time to exploring the movements and nature of the solar system we reside in. His immense amount of intellectual curiosity led to one of his most significant discoveries, the lack of movement of the sun. He stated in his notebook “IL SOLE NO SI MUOVE,” which translates to “the sun does not move.” In addition to this statement, he concluded that the earth is not the center of the circle of the sun, nor is it the center of the universe. It is unclear if these thoughts were shared with others or if they just remained in his notebooks for only Leonardo to view. It is obvious that these insights were much too advanced for da Vinci’s time, like many of his other accomplishments and inventions. With this in mind, if he had shared his ideas, they most likely would have been rejected and forgotten only to be proved correct 40 years later by a man named Nicolaus Copernicus. Today, Copernicus is considered to be the astronomer that discovered the sun’s apparent lack of movement.

Sources:

"Leonardo da Vinci." Giants of Science. https://careers.knoji.com/the-major-accomplishments-of-leonardo-da-vinci/.  Accessed 28 Feb. 2018.

"I Leonardo." Ralph Steadman Art Collection. Public Domain. http://www.ralphsteadmanartcollection.com/collection-view.asp?collection.... Accessed 28 Feb. 2018.