SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -3. Why does the orbit take the shape of an ellipse or circle? Explanation: A satellite rotates about the earth in either a circular or an elliptical path. Circles and ellipses are geometric figures that can be accurately described mathematically.

Detailed explanation-2: -Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle. It is elliptical, or slightly oval-shaped. This means there is one point in the orbit where Earth is closest to the Sun, and another where Earth is farthest from the Sun.

Detailed explanation-3: -The elliptical nature of Earth’s orbit is due entirely to the original force which tossed it away from the solar disc (now the sun). If the momentum of this toss had been greater, the Earth’s orbit would have been more highly elliptical, or it might have been tossed completely out of the solar system forever.

Detailed explanation-4: -An elliptical orbit can be useful to a communications satellite because it allows the satellite to travel over a specific region for a long portion of its orbit, and it is only out of contact with that region for a short time when it is zipping quickly around the other side of the Earth.

Detailed explanation-5: -Knowing then that the orbits of the planets are elliptical, johannes Kepler formulated three laws of planetary motion, which accurately described the motion of comets as well. Kepler’s First Law: each planet’s orbit about the Sun is an ellipse. The Sun’s center is always located at one focus of the orbital ellipse.

Detailed explanation-6: -An elliptical orbit is officially defined as an orbit with an eccentricity less than 1. Circular orbits have an eccentricity of 0, and parabolic orbits have an eccentricity of 1. So circular orbits technically ARE elliptical. But parabolic orbits are NOT elliptical.