Google creates doodle to mark 540th birthday of Copernicus

Google creates doodle to mark 540th birthday of CopernicusInternet giant, Google has created a doodle to mark the 540th birth anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus, who was a scientist and mathematician during the Renaissance era. The doodle on the company's flagship online search home page is an animated heliocentric model that was created by the astronomer from Poland.

The doodle shows sun at the centre of the universe with planets revolving around it. When the user clicks on the doodle, the search engine takes the users to the search results for Nicolaus Copernicus. The doodle shows only five planets which were known at that time, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The doodle also shows the moon revolving around the sun. The logo of the company can be seen in the backdrop and the second O has been replaced by the sun. Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February, 1473 in Poland.

He argued popular beliefs of that time and said that earth was not the centre of the universe and it revolved around the sun in "De revolutionibus orbium coelestiu" or On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres.

Copernicus' treatise was not published until 1543 due to opposition from various sections including religious institutions. Kepler and Galileo extensively used his treatise in their works. Copernicus died on 24 May 1543.