Focus of Earth's elliptical orbit

In summary, the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a perfect circle but an ellipse with two foci - one at the Sun and the other in space. This is due to the conservation of angular momentum and a slight perturbation can turn a circle into an ellipse. While all circles are ellipses, not all ellipses are circles. It would take a lot of energy to make Earth's orbit completely circular, but it is not impossible.
  • #1
avito009
184
4
If the orbit of the Earth has only one focus which is the Sun then why can't it move in a circular path. Since a circle has only one focus and that is at the centre. Why is the sun the only focus when the path of Earth is an ellipse?
 
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  • #2
The sun is a focus.
Excentric orbits have to do with angular momentum conservation. Check out Kepler
 
  • #3
avito009 said:
If the orbit of the Earth has only one focus which is the Sun
The orbit of the Earth is an ellipse and has two foci, one of which is located at the sun.

Edit: A moment too late.
 
  • #4
Does this have any relation to the fact that the smallest distance in space time is an ellipse? its not a straight line?
 
  • #5
avito009 said:
Does this have any relation to the fact that the smallest distance in space time is an ellipse? its not a straight line?
An ellipse in three space and a geodesic in four dimensional space-time are not the same thing. There is a relationship, but it would be far better to understand the classical model first before trying to tackle the model according to general relativity.
 
  • #6
A random orbit is much more likely to be an ellipse than a circle. That's because there are many more ellipses than circles, and any slight perturbation will change a circle into an ellipse.

One focus is in the sun. The other focus is in space.
 
  • #7
One focus of the Earth's orbit is located at the Earth-Sun barycenter.
 
  • #9
avito009 said:
[...] then why can't it move in a circular path.

[In case this concept was lost somewhere in the rest of the posts]

A circle is a special case of an ellipse. In other words, all circles are ellipse, just a special ones where both foci happen to be in the same place.

Earth's orbit (in particular) is not about to become completely circular any time soon; it would take a lot of energy to change its orbit significantly. But as far as Earth's orbit goes, it's not too terribly far from being circular, meaning it already has a pretty low eccentricity, comparatively speaking.

But there is nothing that says an orbit of a body, generally speaking, cannot be circular*. Orbits can be circular. Of the infinitely many eccentricities an orbit can have, a circle is one possibility (hence why it is called a "special case").

*(I'll restrict this statement to a "two-body problem" such one star and one planet in the system, and such that the gravitation of any other bodies can be ignored.)
 

What is the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit?

The focus of Earth's elliptical orbit is the point around which the planet revolves. In this case, the focus is the Sun.

Why is the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit important?

The focus of Earth's elliptical orbit is important because it determines the shape of the planet's orbit and influences its distance from the Sun. This, in turn, affects the amount of sunlight and heat that the Earth receives, which is crucial for maintaining life on the planet.

How does the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit change over time?

The focus of Earth's elliptical orbit remains constant over time. However, the orientation of the orbit with respect to the Sun does change due to the gravitational pull of other planets in the solar system. This phenomenon is known as precession and occurs over a period of approximately 100,000 years.

What is the difference between the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit and its center?

The focus of Earth's elliptical orbit is the point around which the planet revolves, while the center of the orbit is the midpoint between the two foci (plural of focus). The distance between the focus and the center is known as the eccentricity of the orbit, which is a measure of how elliptical the orbit is.

Can the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit ever change?

No, the focus of Earth's elliptical orbit cannot change. The laws of physics dictate that once an object is in orbit, it will continue to move in the same path unless acted upon by an external force. Therefore, the focus of Earth's orbit will remain fixed at the Sun unless there is a significant disruption in the solar system.

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