Johannes Kepler. Portrait of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), the German astronomer who devised the three fundamental laws of planetary motion. These laws were based on detailed observations of the planets made by Tycho Brahe and himself. Kepler's 1st law states that the planets orbit the Sun in elliptical paths, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. The 2nd law states that the closer a planet comes to the Sun, the faster it moves. Kepler's 3rd law states that the ratio of the cube of a planet's mean distance from the Sun to the square of its orbital period is a constant. Newton used these ideas to formulate his theory of gravity. Engraving published between 1833-1837.