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In this paper, I approach Hegel's philosophy under the banner of a "Keplerian Revolution", the implicit reference being, of course, to Kant's supposed Copernican philosophical revolution. Kepler had been an early supporter of the Copernican paradigm in astronomy, but went well beyond his predecessor, and so is invoked here in an attempt to capture some of the important ways in which Hegel attempted to go beyond the philosophy of Kant. To make these issues more determinate, however, Hegel's Keplerian orientation will not be presented in its contrast to Kant's "Copernicanism" as such, but as contrasted with that of another early follower of Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, and this Brunian orientation will be used to characterize Kant's philosophy as seen from Hegel's rival Keplerian point of view. Interpreting Hegel as a philosophical Keplerian will require that we broach those worrisome aspects of Kepler's astronomy, namely his support for Plato's cosmology and the tradition of the "music of the spheres", but this will be shown to have connections to Hegel's own approach to logic. This in turn will help shed light on the meaning of Hegel's form of idealism and, in particular, on its usually unacknowledged Platonic dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the transformation of the "heart of the world" concept and its influence on the understanding of what causes planetary motion. It begins with Aristotle's conception of the sphere of the fixed stars and that of commentators such as Simplicius, Averroes, and Aquinas. The focus then shifts to the notion of a mobile Sun positioned between the upper and lower planets in the geocentric tradition of Macrobius, medieval, and Renaissance thinkers. We then examine the transition to the Copernican Sun, which is both stationary in terms of its central geometric position but also perceived as the "natural" or vital center of the universe. These ideas are then traced from Copernicus and Rheticus to Kepler and Galileo. We will conclude with some considerations concerning Giordano Bruno and William Harvey, and the intriguing connection between the circulation of the blood and the Sun's role as the heart of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Distributed Space Systems (DSS) are gaining prominence in the space industry due to their ability to increase mission performance by allowing cooperation and resource sharing between multiple satellites. In DSS where communication between heterogeneous satellites is necessary, achieving autonomous cooperation while minimizing energy consumption is a critical requirement, particularly in sparse constellations with nano-satellites. In order to minimize the functioning time and energy consumed by the Inter-Satellite Links established for satellite-to-satellite communication, their temporal encounters must be anticipated. This work proposes an autonomous solution based on Supervised Learning that allows heterogeneous satellites in circular polar Low-Earth Orbits to predict their close-approach encounters given the Orbital Elements. The model performance is evaluated and compared in two different scenarios: (1) a simplified scenario assuming Kepler orbits and (2) a realistic scenario assuming Simplified General Perturbations 4 orbital model. The obtained results demonstrate a Balanced Accuracy exceeding 95% when compared to realistic data from an available database. This work represents a promising initial stage in developing an alternative approach within the field of DSS.

One of the key concepts in modern science is force (F). In present studies on the history of dynamics, Patricius is either completely omitted or only cursorily mentioned. The aim of this text is to show that Patricius's concept of the soul, as he developed it in his Nova de universis philosophia from 1591, comes close to the modern (i.e. Newtonian) understanding of force. This should support the more general position that one of the most intriguing aspects of Patricius's philosophy is his contribution to the emergence of modern science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kepler published Mysterium Cosmographicum in 1597 constructing his cosmological model based on the five regular polyhedra. Such a creative but weird idea was almost consistent with empirical evidence. Furthermore, following the Pythagorean belief about the connection between music and astronomy, Kepler delved into looking for what things having to do with the planetary movements have the harmonic consonances. This article claims that Kepler's model is a 3M (mathematical, musical, and metaphysical) model and demonstrates how it had been constructed. Furthermore, I explore the reasons behind Kepler's departure from the 3M model and his subsequent consideration of a non-circular orbit, ultimately presenting the Three Laws of Planetary Motion as a consequential outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of the authors’ research on the cosmological views of Johannes Keppler in his Latin treatise Harmonices Mundi. The authors discuss the background of composing the treatise concerning the philosophical, religious, and cultural contexts of that period, and give a brief overview of the structure of the treatise, Kepler’s theory and his third law of harmony. The paper demonstrates the connection and reception of philosophical ideas on the harmony of the world in Kepler’s treatise and ancient philosophers, such as Pythagoras, Plato, and Proclus. This shows that Kepler’s philosophical and scientific views largely depended on his theological background. The authors discuss the perception of ancient cosmological ideas in Kepler’s Harmonices Mundi relating to Pythagorean tetractys, five Platonic solids or regular polyhedral, and cosmic harmony as well as Proclus’ theoretical mathematics.

In this paper, I approach Hegel’s philosophy under the banner of a “Keplerian Revolution”, the implicit reference being, of course, to Kant’s supposed Copernican philosophical revolution. Kepler had been an early supporter of the Copernican paradigm in astronomy, but went well beyond his predecessor, and so is invoked here in an attempt to capture some of the important ways in which Hegel attempted to go beyond the philosophy of Kant. To make these issues more determinate, however, Hegel’s Keplerian orientation will not be presented in its contrast to Kant’s “Copernicanism” as such, but as contrasted with that of another early follower of Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, and this Brunian orientation will be used to characterize Kant’s philosophy as seen from Hegel’s rival Keplerian point of view. Interpreting Hegel as a philosophical Keplerian will require that we broach those worrisome aspects of Kepler’s astronomy, namely his support for Plato’s cosmology and the tradition of the “music of the spheres”, but this will be shown to have connections to Hegel’s own approach to logic. This in turn will help shed light on the meaning of Hegel’s form of idealism and, in particular, on its usually unacknowledged Platonic dimensions.

Planets orbiting binary stars—circumbinary planets—play a paramount role in our understanding of planetary and stellar formation and evolution, dynamical interactions in many-body systems, and the potential for habitable environments beyond the Solar System. Each new discovery holds immense value and inherent fascination both for the astronomical community and for the general public. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the 1500+ citations of the discovery papers for the 14 known transiting circumbinary planets and the dozens of related press-releases in major news outlets. This article reviews the observational and theoretical aspects related to the detection and confirmation of transiting circumbinary planets around main-sequence binaries from space-based surveys, discusses the associated challenges, and highlights some of the recent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Copernican inextricable revolution is scrutinized in the distinctive context of intense interaction and profound interpenetration of Aristotelean and Ptolemaic subtle theoretical languages. It is elicited that already within the Ptolemaic sophisticated research program the mathematical exactness increasingly deviated from the blunt tenets of Aristotelean qualitative physics though well-grounded empirically. Aristotelian - Ptolemaic heathen cosmology could not help but be exposed to repeated severe attacks during the European Middle Ages since it apparently confronted the stout principles of monotheism not admitting the strict demarcation line between the celestial and mundane realms. All seemingly different worlds should have one and the same Creator. Henceforth the Copernican startling breakthrough should be evaluated in the refined scope of further clarification of the tremendous gap between astronomy and physics and the subsequent commencement of effective efforts to eradicate it in the favorable monotheistic social-cultural context of Christian Weltanschauung enforcement. The posterior indispensable contributions of Galileo Galilei, Johann Kepler, René Descartes and Isaac Newton incarnated the stiff milestones of the mathematics descent from sublime Skies to sinful Earth and the reciprocal ascent of Earth physics in comprehending the distinctive Divine phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kepler's discoveries were permitted by his remarkable insight to place the Sun at the focus of an elliptical planetary orbit. This coordinate system reduces a 2-dimensional orbit to a single spatial dimension. We consider an alternative coordinate system centered on the "image focus," which is the symmetrical (mirror) counterpart of the "real focus" occupied by the Sun. Our analytical approach provides new purely geometric formulae and an exact relationship for the dynamic property of orbital time. In addition, considering the mirror symmetry of the ellipse leads to a simple approximation: the radial hand of an orbital clock rotates counterclockwise at a nearly steady angular velocity 2π/T about the "image focus," where T is the orbital period. This approximation is a useful pedagogic tool and has good accuracy for orbits with low to moderate eccentricities, since the deviation from the exact result goes as eccentricity squared. Planetary comparisons are made. In particular, the angular speeds of Mercury and Jupiter are highly variable in the geocentric and heliocentric reference frames, but are nearly constant in the image focus reference frame. Our findings resolve whether the image focus is the location for observing uniform motion of an elliptical orbit, and pertain to their stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planets orbiting binary stars—circumbinary planets—play a paramount role in our understanding of planetary and stellar formation and evolution, dynamical interactions in many-body systems, and the potential for habitable environments beyond the Solar System. Each new discovery holds immense value and inherent fascination both for the astronomical community and for the general public. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the 1500+ citations of the discovery papers for the 14 known transiting circumbinary planets and the dozens of related press-releases in major news outlets. This article reviews the observational and theoretical aspects related to the detection and confirmation of transiting circumbinary planets around main-sequence binaries from space-based surveys, discusses the associated challenges, and highlights some of the recent results.

According to selective, retentive, scientific realism, past empirical success may be explained only by the parts of past theories that are responsible of their successful predictions being approximately true, and thus theoretically retained, or approximated, by the parts of posterior theories responsible of the same successful predictions. In this article, we present as case study the transit from Ptolemy's to Kepler's astronomy, and their successful predictions for Mars' orbit. We present an account of Ptolemy's successful prediction of Mars' orbit from Kepler's perspective, and scrutinize whether the theoretical elements responsible for Ptolemy's empirical success are approximately retained in Kepler. In order to give to the realist the best chances, we try different strategies. We conclude that all fail and thereby this case constitutes a prima facie strong anomaly for selective retentive realism. Structural realists may call preservation of structure to the rescue, but the existing notions of structure do not work. In absence of a new notion that works, the burden of the proof lies on the realist side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar um estudo sobre alguns aspectos geométricos e físicos na primeira parte da obra Astronomia Nova de 1609, tendo em vista fornecer subsídios aos professores que queiram abordar a história da astronomia em suas disciplinas de nível básico ou superior. Tendo este foco, veremos como Kepler entendia algumas equivalências entre os sistemas de mundo em discussão em sua época e apresentaremos um estudo de um dos experimentos que Kepler propõe e analisa geometricamente. Neste, percebemos um pequeno erro de cálculo que não foi explorado na literatura pesquisada e, mais que isso, nos permitiu entendermos sobre o uso das construções geométricas em sua época e a ideia de equivalência que Kepler tem em mente.

Optical Intersatellite Links (OISLs) are being considered for future Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations. Thanks to OISLs, the constellation incorporates improved clock synchronization and precise ranging among the satellites, which are essential features to achieve accurate time and orbit determination. High data rate communications within the space segment also reduce ground segment dependency, by means of decentralized access to information. However, the dual optimization of data and navigation performance metrics requires a careful assignment of OISLs to the available laser communication terminals on-board. To this end, we present a contact plan design scheme based on a degree constrained minimum spanning tree heuristic applied to such OISL-enabled GNSS (O-GNSS) constellations. Results on the Kepler system, a novel GNSS proposal, show that a fair distribution of connectivity among the constellation can be ensured while optimizing its range-based position estimation capabilities (PDOP). A PDOP improvement of 85 % is reached on average by the optimized contact plan with respect to a generic scheduler that disregards the geometrical distribution of the chosen links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two early unpublished texts (a Disputation in favor of Copernicus of 1593 and the Apologia pro Tychone against Ursus of 1600), Kepler argued with the Pythagoreans that, contrary to Aristotle (De caelo, ii, 13), the geometrical center of the cosmos coincides with its natural center. Since the Sun is the body that occupies this central position, Kepler conceives it as the heart of the world and the principle of planetary motion. In the following study, we examine how Kepler further develops this pivotal theme in a letter to Herwart von Hohenburg of 25 March 1605 and later in the Dissertatio cum nuncio sidereo (Prague, 1610) as well as in a German translation and critical commentary of the Aristotelian chapter, which ultimately remained unpublished as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kepler’s discoveries were permitted by his remarkable insight to place the Sun at the focus of an elliptical planetary orbit. This coordinate system reduces a 2-dimensional orbit to a single spatial dimension. We consider an alternative coordinate system centered on the “image focus,” which is the symmetrical (mirror) counterpart of the “real focus” occupied by the Sun. Our analytical approach provides new purely geometric formulae and an exact relationship for the dynamic property of orbital time. In addition, considering the mirror symmetry of the ellipse leads to a simple approximation: the radial hand of an orbital clock rotates counterclockwise at a nearly steady angular velocity 2π/T about the “image focus,” where T is the orbital period. This approximation is a useful pedagogic tool and has good accuracy for orbits with low to moderate eccentricities, since the deviation from the exact result goes as eccentricity squared. Planetary comparisons are made. In particular, the angular speeds of Mercury and Jupiter are highly variable in the geocentric and heliocentric reference frames, but are nearly constant in the image focus reference frame. Our findings resolve whether the image focus is the location for observing uniform motion of an elliptical orbit, and pertain to their stability.

This article aims to present a study of some geometrical and physical aspects in the first part of the work Astronomia Nova of 1609, in order to provide subsidies to teachers who want to address the history of astronomy in their basic or higher education subjects. With this focus, we will see how Kepler understood some equivalences between the world systems under discussion in his time and present a study of one of the experiments that Kepler proposed and analyzed geometrically. In this, we noticed a small miscalculation that was not explored in the researched literature, and more than that, it allowed us to understand about the use of geometric constructions in his time and the idea of equivalence that Kepler has in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents results of precise orbit and Earth parameter determination based on full-scale simulations of a potential future GNSS, with the name of Kepler, recently proposed by the German Aerospace Center. The space segment of the system consists of 24 Galileo-like Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites and 6 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with ultra-stable optical clocks. All spacecraft carry terminals for two-way optical inter-satellite links (ISLs) enabling high-rate data communication, constellation-wide clock synchronization and precise absolute ranging. The clock synchronization is assumed to create an extremely stable reference time scale based on ensemble of the optical clocks. A series of simulation scenarios are defined, starting from the Galileo constellation as benchmark, and gradually incorporating additional features including LEOs, ISLs and synchronized clocks to assess the impact on orbits, singnal-in-space range errors (SiSREs) and a geodetic quality Earth parameters like polar coordinates, length of day (LOD) and geocenter coordinates. Precise orbit determination (POD) is done at the observation level using the same standards and setups as in real data processing with ground network containing up to 18 stations. The MEO SiSRE, the most relevant to navigation applications, obtained for the Kepler constellation with perfect models and 18 ground stations was found to be 0.009 cm, 160 times better than 1.4 cm found for Galileo. It was demonstrated, that for operational POD for the Kepler system the ground network can be significantly reduced to only two stations if Earth rotation parameters are to be estimated, or to just one otherwise. A SiSRE value of 0.037 cm was obtained with two stations, and 0.018 cm with one station. For more realistic results a number of modeling errors are being considered. These concern observations – multipath, GNSS code hardware delays and ISL range biases, the dynamics – solar radiation pressure (SRP), gravity field, air drag, MEO antenna thrust, Earth tide potential, and the geometry – ocean loading and phase center offsets (PCOs) of space GNSS antennas. Any other satellite and station equipment contribution to mismodeling has been disregarded. It is shown, that for the Kepler the modeling errors are clearly visible in ISL observation residuals, in contrast to Galileo case, where they are to a large extent absorbed by the large number of estimated clock parameters. This was exploited to efficiently mitigate the dynamic modeling errors by estimation of empirical accelerations. With this setup the MEO SiSRE of 5 cm was obtained for Galileo and 0.3 cm, 0.4 cm and 0.7 cm for Kepler with 18, two and one ground station, respectively. The key to obtaining such low values are ISLs and synchronized satellite clocks. In the Kepler constellation with a single ground station the ISL range biases (RBs) up to 5 mm and 20 mm increase the SiSRE to 0.74 cm and 1.67 cm. Estimation of the ISL RBs is not recommended in the presence of modeling errors since they are significantly biased, which leads to increase of SiSRE to 2.2 cm. The Earth parameter determination, based on global network of 124 observing IGS stations, also benefits significantly from the Kepler constellation. The initial results show that the impact of modeling errors on Earth parameters can, as with POD, be effectively reduced in the Kepler system. The 30 cm error in integrated LOD, which has an impact on UT1-UTC, obtained for Galileo due to combined modeling errors could be reduced to 0.5 cm for the Kepler system. The same is true for the Z-coordinate of the geocenter, whose 14 mm error in the MEO-only solution could be reduced to 0.2 mm in the Kepler solution. The Earth parameters completely free of bias are obtained when the number of the modeling errors is reduced to only two: MEO SRP and PCOs. The ISL range biases up to 5 mm were found to have negligible impact on the estimated EPs. The largest differences (up to 0.2 mm) are found for UT1-UTC, for all other parameters they do not exceed 0.02 mm. The estimation of PCOs, being an integral part of Earth parameter determination, also benefits enormously from the Kepler design. It was demonstrated, that using only ten days of data they could be estimated with millimeter accuracy for MEOs and sub-millimeter accuracy for LEOs in all three spacial directions even in the presence of ISL range biases of up to 5 mm. Such accuracy of PCOs is not achievable with the Galileo constellation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noticias falsas, afirmaciones engañosas, bulos, medias verdades, mentiras… Para vencer al virus de la desconfianza, alimentado por las falsas noticias de salud que circulan por internet -y más en tiempos de coronavirus-, la receta es acudir a los expertos, como son los científicos y los profesores, actividad que comparten Hipócrates, Agustín de Hipona y Kepler. Desde nuestro punto de vista, los tres están entre esas fuentes de prestigio para informarse bien de los acontecimientos y descubrir las falsas noticias (fake news) de las que, por regla general, la gente se entera por un tuit o una notificación que salta de pronto en la pantalla de su smartphone. A nuestro entender, las bases de la información veraz no las ofrece la tecnología como un fin en sí mismo. Es el espíritu de las profundas convicciones lo que define la objetividad subyacente en los hechos comprobables.

This article attempts to understand the extent to which, and the terms in which, it was possible to speak of sensory vision as a psychic representation before Johannes Kepler inaugurated the new optics in his famous Paralipomena ad Vitellionem (1604). The following argument is taken as a starting point: That it is only within this new paradigm, dissociating the physical process of vision from its psychic treatment, one can legitimately speak of vision as a mental construction or a representation. After examining this question in the light of several ancient and medieval theories, the article reaches a different conclusion. The question of vision as a mental representation dates as far back as Aristotle, conferring to the internal senses (phantasia, common sense) the major function in elaborating the content of perception. Additionally, some theories under neo-Platonic influence, such as those of Augustine or Avicenna, clearly conceive direct vision as a psychic representation. In Paralipomena ad Vitellionem, Kepler distinguishes optics as a physical science of light from the psychology of perception; but the latter has already a long history, as does the idea of vision as a mental representation.

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In context of the discussions of the history of renaissance and modern natural philosophy, the name of Johannes Kepler is inflected relatively little, if ever. He is often referred as a naturalist, astronomer, and mathematics, more than natural philosopher. My intention of this study is, in the context of the current philosophical discussion, to recall the character of Kepler, in view of the forthcoming 450th anniversary of his birth, through his metaphysical-theological opinions in the work entitled The Six-Cornered Snowflake. Detailed examination of this issue will show that Kepler's work about snowflake is one of unique and original examples to observe philosophical background of his naturalistic theory. Kepler's goal was analysis and explanation of the cause of the hexagonal shape of snowflakes. The results of this problem shed new light on his teachings. So, we can understand Kepler in a deeper framework of the context of modern philosophy and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmos has always sparked human curiosity to unveil and speculate its fascinating secrets. This curiosity has ultimately opened a window to other worlds. After years of observation, computation, and data analysis, scientists have revealed the diversity in exoplanets that have been helpful in the characterization and further investigation of biosignatures and technosignatures. This article presents some of the scientific advances made in extraterrestrial planetary science that guarantees to search through the thick clouds of the mysterious planets in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific workflows integrate data and computing interfaces as configurable, semi-automatic graphs to solve a scientific problem. Kepler is such a software system for designing, executing, reusing, evolving, archiving and sharing scientific workflows. Electron tomography (ET) enables high-resolution views of complex cellular structures, such as cytoskeletons, organelles, viruses and chromosomes. Imaging investigations produce large datasets. For instance, in Electron Tomography, the size of a 16 fold image tilt series is about 65 Gigabytes with each projection image including 4096 by 4096 pixels. When we use serial sections or montage technique for large field ET, the dataset will be even larger. For higher resolution images with multiple tilt series, the data size may be in terabyte range. Demands of mass data processing and complex algorithms require the integration of diverse codes into flexible software structures. This paper describes a workflow for Electron Tomography Programs in Kepler (EPiK). This EPiK workflow embeds the tracking process of IMOD, and realizes the main algorithms including filtered backprojection (FBP) from TxBR and iterative reconstruction methods. We have tested the three dimensional (3D) reconstruction process using EPiK on ET data. EPiK can be a potential toolkit for biology researchers with the advantage of logical viewing, easy handling, convenient sharing and future extensibility.

Many late-type stars across the Milky Way exhibit observable pulsations similar to our Sun that open up a window into stellar interiors. The NASA Kepler mission, a space-based photometric telescope, measured the micro-magnitude luminosity fluctuations caused by solar-like oscillations of tens of thousands of stars for almost 10 years. Detailed stellar structure, evolution, and oscillation theoretical work established in the decades before, such as predictions about mode mixing in the interior of red-giant stars, among many others, now had voluminous precision data against which it could be tested. The overwhelming result is the general validation of the theory of stellar oscillations as well as stellar-structure models; however, important gaps in our understanding of interior physics was also revealed by Kepler. For example, interior rotation, convection, and mixing processes are complex phenomena not fully captured by standard models. This review explores some of the important impacts Kepler observations of solar-like oscillations across the cool end of the H-R diagram has had on stellar astrophysics through the use of asteroseismology.

The article explores Johannes Kepler's abortive attempts to produce an opulent, decorative art object to accompany the publication of his first treatise, Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596). It was Kepler's hope that this Credentzbecher, so-called because it was designed to resemble a large, ceremonial chalice, would valorize the significance of what he believed to be an epoch-defining discovery concerning the proportional nature of the planetary intervals and serve as a personal introduction to his local sovereign, Duke Friedrich I of Württemberg (1557–1608). The correspondences of Kepler and his circle, some of which have been reproduced and translated here for the first time, reveal in excruciating detail the struggles to negotiate the demands, and exacting standards, of the Stuttgart court and Kepler's difficulty working with the local goldsmiths employed by the court to enact his vision. Though met with skepticism and destined for failure, the model, its design, and the misunderstandings its failure revealed, poignantly display the sometimes-insurmountable gap between artisanal knowledge and scientific ambition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The State Archives of Belgium, in particular, the archives of Archduke Albert VII of Austria, hold a letter which possibly is a copy of the letter, or an excerpt of the letter, of Kepler to Emperor Rudolf II of October 1604 on SN1604, that is, the first letter of Kepler on the subject. Together with this letter, there are other letters on SN1604, written by Johannes Brengger and Michiel Coignet. In one of these letters, the very observation by Brengger which Kepler cites can be found. The letters are in Albert's archive because he asked his Court Mathematician Coignet about the phenomenon. It is less clear why Albert was interested in the phenomenon, given the lack of interest in science at his court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fake news, misleading claims, hoaxes, half-truths, lies... In order to battle the virus of distrust, fed by fake health news circulating on the internet -- particularly in times of coronavirus -- the solution is to resort to experts such as scientists and professors, activities shared by Hippocrates, Augustine of Hippo and Kepler. From our point of view, the three are amongst those highly regarded sources for becoming well informed of events and uncovering fake news which, as a general rule, is spread by a tweet or a notification which pops up on one's smartphone. In our opinion, the basis of truthful information is not offered by technology as an end in itself. It is the spirit of deep convictions that defines the objectivity underlying the verifiable fact [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of analytical chemistry to the exploration of the World Cultural Heritage represents a major challenge in that most protocols and strategies are invasive and require micro-sampling. We report a novel methodology for harvesting material deposited on the surface of ancient documents while avoiding their damage or contamination. The technology here described relates to the capture of metals on these specimens. It is based on the use of plastic films (ethylene vinyl acetate, EVA) impregnated with different metal chelators (sodium 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate, DMPS, meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid, DMSA and ethylene diamino tetra acetic acid, EDTA, as calcium salt), for harvesting from surfaces of different supports potential traces of metals therein deposited. The EVA film technology has been used to explore the pages of a manuscript written by Kepler concerning the movements of the moon and catalogued under the title "Hipparchus" at the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg branch). The EVA-based chelating diskettes were able to capture very significant amounts of different metals, namely: Au, Ag, Hg, As, Pb, suggesting that Kepler, well known as astronomer, astrologist, mathematician and Lutheran theologian, might have started practicing alchemy, a pseudo-chemical science he had learned from his colleague Tycho Brahe in Prague. Image 1 • The EVA film technology for monitoring traces of past life in manuscripts. • An Eva diskette with chelating agents for harvesting metals. • As, Pb, Ag, Au, Hg metal quantitation discovers potential Kepler's work on alchemy. • Four types of EVA films expand our ability of exploring the World Cultural Heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]