planetary motion
Worlds circling stars
Planetary motion is the movement of planets through space, particularly their orbits around stars.
The term often refers to the laws governing such movement, formalized by Kepler in the 17th century: planets travel in ellipses, sweep equal areas in equal times, and their orbital periods relate mathematically to their distances from the sun.
The professor lectured on planetary motion and gravitational forces.
- orbitCurved celestial path
- elliptical orbitOval-shaped celestial path
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- gravitational pullAttractive force between masses
- apsidal precessionRotation of orbital orientation
astronomy · ellipse · heliocentrism · perihelion · two-body problem · three body problem · orbital mechanics · heavenly bodies · Tycho Brahe · Ptolemaic system · moon · Kepler · angular momentum · eccentricity · Newton · centripetal force · wobble · trajectory
- solar systemsun, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
- spinningspin, rotate, revolve, whirl, twirl
- Astronomy HistoryCopernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Ptolemy
- classical physicsNewton, Newton's laws, Newtonian physics, force, gravity
- physics simulationfluid dynamics, rigid body, collision detection, ragdoll physics, momentum
- ancient astronomyepicycles, stars, deferent, celestial sphere, geocentric
planetary motionfixed position
Unchanging spatial placement
immobility · motionlessness · rest · stillness · fixed stars
motion, planet, motive, motivation, motionless, motivated, planets, motions, planetary