Answer: Paths of the planets follow an elliptical orbit around the sun
Step-by-step explanation:
Copernicus's model of the universe (heliocentric theory) was refuting the long life geocentric theory (the Earth as the center of the universe) proposed by Ptolemy and accepted by the Catholic Church.
However, the heliocentric theory did not explain why planets orbit the Sun at different speeds at different times, because this model used only circular orbits.
Years later, the astronomer Johannes Kepler refined the Copernicus' heliocentric theory with the introduction of elliptical orbits with the formulation of his three laws of planetary motion.
Where Kepler’s 1st Law is a clear example:
The orbit of a planet around the Sun, is in the form of an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci of that ellipse.