ASTRON 1142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Semi-Major And Semi-Minor Axes, Big Bang, Ellipse
28 Aug 2018
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The milky way galaxy will be x years old because we are y km away from the big bang and moving at a rate of z km/sec: test: test the prediction through formulas and other scientific theories. The orbits of the planets are ellipses with the sun as the central focus. Semimajor axis: (a) size of the longest axis. Eccentricity: (e) shape of the ellipse (deviation from a perfect circle) Perfect circle would have eccentricity of 0. Orbit of mars: a = 1. 5237 e = 0. 0934. The line joining the sun and the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times. Planets move fastest at perihelion (closest point to the sun) Planets move slowest at aphelion (farthest point from the sun) Kepler"s 2nd law provides a geometric description of the change in speed. Planets have to have the same area of their triangle with points a=starting. Point, b=sun location, c=ending point for the same amount of travel time.
