Why Are Planetary Orbits Elliptical?

For a very long time, from Ptolemy to the age of Copernicus, it was widely believed and accepted that planets in our Solar System revolved in a perfectly circular path. Because the circle was presumed to be an ideal shape for planetary bodies to orbit. But then in the seventeenth century in his seminal book Astronomia Nova, Johannes Kepler rebutted this very idea. He put forth his own theory pertaining to planetary motion. He theorized that planetary bodies orbit in an elliptical path with the Sun sitting at one of the foci of that ellipse. In this video we will try to understand what makes these planetary orbits elliptical.

References:
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-orbit-58.html
http://www.cso.caltech.edu/outreach/log/NIGHT_DAY/elliptical.htm
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/



#science #funfacts #ellipticalorbits



SUBSCRIBE to get more such science videos!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcN3IuIAR6Fn74FWMQf6lFA?sub_confirmation=1

Follow us on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/abc_science

Follow us on Facebook!
https://facebook.com/sciabc

Follow our Website!
https://www.scienceabc.com