How to Use heliocentric in a Sentence

heliocentric

adjective
  • Galileo proposed the heliocentric theory that the Earth goes around the sun.
  • Then, the space rock will return to a heliocentric orbit, which is an orbit around the sun.
    — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
  • Still, scientists believed that the test just might be able to change the pair’s heliocentric orbit, too.
    — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2026
  • By that time there was little dispute over the heliocentric nature of the solar system.
    — Jeffrey Wilkerson, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2016
  • The second stage of the rocket will conduct a total of three engine burns to send the car to a heliocentric orbit around the sun.
    — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 6 Feb. 2018
  • And perhaps the church leaders were slightly more at ease with the new heliocentric model of the solar system.
    — Danuta Hamlin, Fox News, 18 Feb. 2024
  • Of course, there's also the matter of Young's role in this, as the Hawks are playing a near heliocentric system around him.
    — Morten Jensen, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022
  • But more than that, teams continue to lean into heliocentric offensive engines.
    — Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2026
  • What Osiander and others found heretical was the very notion of a heliocentric universe.
    — Rob Reid, Ars Technica, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The Mavericks don’t have a true number two star, which allows Doncic to be the sun in the heliocentric offense.
    — Tom Rende, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2022
  • One player can take over a game on the offensive end, but there is no such thing as a heliocentric defense (with apologies to Joel Embiid).
    — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • For higher-altitude launches, some rockets also put their stages into a heliocentric orbit, which is described in this paper.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 26 May 2026
  • The heliocentric speed is defined as the meteor’s speed relative to the sun, which is a more accurate way to determine an object’s orbit.
    — Megan Marples, CNN, 13 Apr. 2022
  • And once any lingering stages used to propel a spacecraft have been spent, they're discarded in Earth's orbit or drift off and eventually join a heliocentric orbit.
    — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 23 Sep. 2020
  • But his pace for a midseason suspension — and then some — will be costly to the Mavericks, ever reliant on their heliocentric superstar.
    — Dallas News, 17 Nov. 2022
  • The positions of the heavenly bodies could be modeled exquisitely using the geocentric model, in a way that the heliocentric model could not reproduce.
    — Big Think, 30 Oct. 2025
  • He's lionized for advocating a heliocentric view of our solar system, spurning Church doctrine and becoming a heretic.
    — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, 25 Sep. 2018
  • Indiana lacks a heliocentric offensive focal point, and Carlisle expects different players to lead the team in scoring throughout the season.
    — Andy Yamashita, The Indianapolis Star, 6 Nov. 2021
  • He was known for his work in astronomy, especially regarding the heliocentric theory.
    — Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 30 Aug. 2024
  • Thus a heliocentric solar system might well have been a constant of astronomical thought from Babylon and classical Greece onwards.
    — The Economist, 5 July 2018
  • The heliocentric model was advanced by Nicolas Copernicus back in the 1500's.
    — Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 18 Feb. 2014
  • The on-ball creation from LaVine, and the heliocentric offense being built around Jokic, would be a beautiful synergetic match from an on-court standpoint.
    — Evan Sidery, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
  • That allowed the defense to remain set and spaced with more ease and didn’t capitalize on the attention and threat Doncic can create — even without possession — as the heliocentric star of the offense.
    — Dallas News, 2 June 2022
  • Shortly after its discovery, the object left Earth orbit in 2003, returning to a heliocentric orbit.
    — Doug Adler, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2020
  • Briggs is a singular, heliocentric talent unlike few others in Southern Section girls’ basketball.
    — Eric Sondheimer columnist follow, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2022
  • Brunson’s ability to play this heliocentric style means the threshold for ball handling the Knicks need around Brunson is far lower than what the Timberwolves need with Edwards.
    — Mat Issa, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
  • Typically, during interplanetary missions, a rocket's upper stage is sent into a heliocentric orbit, keeping it away from the Earth and its Moon.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2022
  • Galileo fully and publicly supported the Copernican theory of a heliocentric universe, and condemnation from the Vatican was swift and harsh.
    — Gary Simon, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Hughes is also insulated from playing the sort of heliocentric hockey that was required of him in Vancouver, and which began to draw the ire of Canucks fans as his tenure wound down earlier this season.
    — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Eventually, more data, combined with more expansive thinking, ushered in a better model—a heliocentric solar system based on elliptical orbits.
    — Dan Rockmore, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heliocentric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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