Tycho, putting forward his scheme for the structure of the solar system in 1583, retains from the ancient Ptolemaic system the idea of Earth as a fixed center of the universe around which the Sun and Moon revolve, but he holds that, as in the newer system of Copernicus, all other planets revolve around the Sun.

In both the Tychonic and the Ptolemaic systems, an outer sphere containing the fixed stars is considered to revolve every day around the Earth.

The Tychonic theory explains the observed variations of phase of Venus, for which the Ptolemaic system had no explanation.

A system somewhat similar to Tycho's had been proposed in the 4th century BC by the Greek philosopher Heracleides Ponticus, who thought that at least Mercury and Venus (it is uncertain if Heracleides included other planets) went around the Sun.