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It was known by the ancient Greeks that the orbits were not perfectly circular, but it was Johannes Kepler with his 'Laws of Planetary Motion' published in 1618 that finally described them correctly as ellipses. Later these provided Newton with the information needed to formulate his law of gravity as an inverse-square law, but to do that Newton had to invent what we call calculus.
For over 1000 years astronomers described the orbits by using circular orbits and epicycles. An epicycle was a small circle whose centre travelled round a large circle while the planet lay on the epicycle. As the centre of the epicycle went round a full circle, the planet also travelled once round the epicycle. This explained very well (almost correctly) the planetary orbits, with each planet going closer to and further from the Sun once during each rotation.
The difference between an ellipse and an orbit that uses an epicycle is extremely small when the ellipse's eccentricity is low, as it is for most of the planets, hence the long-lasting difficulty with this problem.
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What has elliptical orbits?
As an elliptical orbit is any orbit that isn't perfectly circular, everything has an elliptical orbit. The planets Mercury and Pluto have the most elliptical orbits of the planets, and are easily seen to be oval shaped. Comets also have highly elliptical orbits.
Who introduced elliptical orbits?
Johannes Kepler introduced the concept of elliptical orbits in the early 17th century. His laws of planetary motion replaced the previously held idea of perfect circular orbits. This advance in understanding planetary motion led to the development of modern celestial mechanics.
Are the orbit of planets circular and How may their path be best described?
No, the orbits of planets are not perfectly circular but are elliptical in shape. The path of planets around the Sun can be best described using Kepler's laws of planetary motion, which state that planets move in elliptical paths with the Sun at one of the foci of the ellipse.
Do all planets have eliptical orbits?
No, not all planets have elliptical orbits. While most planets in our solar system have nearly circular orbits, some planets, like Mercury and Pluto, have more elliptical orbits. Additionally, exoplanets outside our solar system can have a variety of orbital shapes.
Why your planets revolve in elliptical orbit rather than circular orbit?
Planets revolve in elliptical orbits due to the gravitational influence of other bodies in the solar system. As planets interact with each other, their orbits can become elongated or slightly off-center, leading to elliptical shapes rather than perfect circles. This is a result of the complex dynamics of the solar system.
