alleryStart learning →What shape does each planet's orbit about the Sun take, and where does the Sun sit?
AAn ellipse, with the Sun at one focus
BA circle, with the Sun at its centre
CAn ellipse, with the Sun at its centre
DA parabola, with the Sun at the vertex
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. An ellipse, with the Sun at one focus
1. Kepler's first law states that each planetary orbit is an ellipse.
2. The Sun does not sit at the centre of that ellipse but at one of its two foci.
3. An ellipse has two foci, and only one of them is occupied.
4. A circle is the special case in which the two foci coincide.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion_
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