GK
SOLAR SYSTEM
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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a path the shape of a circle.
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a path the shape of an ellipse.
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a path the shape of a spiral.
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similar-sized orbits.
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Detailed explanation-1: -Kepler’s First Law states that the orbit of each planet around the Sun is an ellipse. The Sun’s center is always at one of the orbital ellipses’ foci. The planet’s orbit is elongated, which means that the planet’s distance from the Sun changes as it travels around its orbit.
Detailed explanation-2: -Now, it turns out that the orbits of the planets are pretty circular. It’s hard to see the difference with your eye. But they are actually ellipses, and this was first worked out in the early 1600s by Johannes Kepler. However, Kepler didn’t come up with the idea of the Earth going around the Sun.
Detailed explanation-3: -Assuming an ideal two body case such as Sun and Earth, both are orbiting around the barycenter in two elliptical orbits. These two orbits are similar in geometry and scaled proportional to their relative distance from the barycenter.