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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
Giordano Bruno was a Catholic priest in the 16th century. He believed Copernicus' idea that the Earth orbits the Sun. He also believed that each of the stars is a sun. And he further believed that every star has its own planets. He wrote a book about this. All of this was considered heresy by the Catholic Church. And so, Bruno was excommunicated, imprisoned, tortured, refused to recant, and on Feb. 17, 1600 was burned to death at the stake.
Of course the Earth does go around the Sun. Every star is a sun. And many of the stars do have planets. So far, 66 stars, outside the Solar System, are known to have planets.