← Lessons Kepler's First Law The Law of Ellipses

"The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci."

Semi-Major Axis (a)

Half the longest diameter. Determines orbit size and period.

Eccentricity (e)

0 = perfect circle, near 1 = very elongated. Describes how "squished" the ellipse is.

Foci (F1, F2)

Two special points inside every ellipse. The Sun sits at one focus.

Perihelion & Aphelion

Closest and farthest points from the Sun. The planet speeds up at perihelion and slows at aphelion.

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