2006-10-05 22:35:43 · 4 answers · asked by mimiru 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Not really no. Kepler's first law was deduced from observations. Kepler figured out that the planets' movements in the sky were best explained if the orbit of a planet about a star is an ellipse with the star at one focus.
By now we know better. Although Kepler's law is a very could approximation if you don't look to closely, in reality the mayor axis of the ellips turns about the sun too, albite very slowly. This is due mainly to perturbation of the orbit by the other planets.
2006-10-05 23:21:38 · answer #1 · answered by cordefr 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can derive all of Kepler's Laws from Newton's Laws of Motion and Newton's Law of Gravitation. Of course, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity is a better description of gravity - it more accurately predicts the precession of the perihelion of Mercury than Newtonian gravity, for example.
2006-10-06 09:49:20 · answer #2 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a LAW. They don't make those things up you know. That pretty much means it's been proven.
And the name is spelled Kepler.
2006-10-06 05:45:20 · answer #3 · answered by MrZ 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The name is Kepler, and the proof is mathematical inevitability.
2006-10-06 05:38:35 · answer #4 · answered by Jack 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋