Keplers Laws can be used to calculate the elleptical orbits but thats only calcualting, not the reason.
Gravitational Force is the only significant force acting on a Planetary object orbiting another body (example Earth - Sun). This Force is calculated using F = G*M1*M2/(r*r) where G is the gravitational constant, M1 and M2 the respective masses of the two bodies and r is the distance between them.
This force F would be acting from center of mass of one body to the center of mass of the the other body, which would be a straight line and thus this Gravitational Force along with the Centrifugal Force (acting perpendicular to the Gravitational Force) should result in a circular orbit (one center).
But this is not the case, all planetary orbits are Elleptical (two centers). Also in a elleptical orbit the distance between the two bodies keeps changing, shouldn't this cause a variance in the Gravitational Force? And therefore this should make the orbit unstable?
2006-08-29
19:20:29
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12 answers
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asked by
ashokgopala
1
in
Astronomy & Space