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I blame Aristotle. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, believed that circles are "perfect" and that since everything in the heavens was perfect, that all celestial movement must also be perfect; therefore, circles.
In truth, Aristotle may have been the wrong-est man to ever live. His insistence on things that were clearly wrong probably held back the progress of the human race for 10 centuries. His medical notions - mostly incorrect - contributed significantly to early mortality for 1500 years. Aristotle believed that women had fewer teeth than men did; apparently, he never thought to look in his wife's mouth to CHECK.
In reality, all orbits are ellipses, and Aristotle was wrong - about this, and about virtually everything else he ever said.
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∙ 14y ago
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Are the orbits of earth and moon perfect circles?
does the moon have daytime and nightime
Are all planetary orbits ellipses?
Yes, every closed orbit is an ellipse. Circles are "perfect" ellipses, but no natural orbit could be perfectly circular.
What date did Johannes Kepler discover ellipses?
Kepler did not discover ellipses. In 1605 he discovered that the orbits of the planets were ellipses rather than perfect circles.
The moon rbits or circles the sun?
The moon orbits the Earth, which orbits the sun.
Concerning the planetary orbits why was Copernicus somewhat inaccurate?
He suggested the orbits were circles.
Does the earth make a perfect circle when it goes around the moon?
No,First, the Moon goes round the Earth, not the other war round.Second, all orbits are ellipses not circles.
What is the difference between Copernicus and Kepler description of planetary orbits?
Kepler realised the planets orbits are not circles; they are ellipses.
When Copernicus first created his Sun centered model of the universe it did not lead to substantially better predictions of planetary positions than the Ptolemaic model?
Copernicus used perfect circles for the orbits of the planets.
Are the orbits of the earth and the moon predict circles?
It is an elliptical orbit for both.
How does Kepler's first law of planetary motion overthrow one of the basic beliefs of classical astronomy?
Uniform circular motion basically says that all orbits are perfect circles with the orbiting body on the circumference and the primary at the centre. However, Kepler identified that orbits are not perfect circles; they are ellipses with the primary at one focus. While the actual shape of the orbit is very close to circular, the mathematics behind each shape are very different. Because they say different things, they are contradictory.
What is perigee in relation to shuttle orbit?
Perigee is the point in the orbit that is closest to the earth. Satellite orbits are never perfect circles, they are ellipses, some closer to circular than others. The opposite of perigee is apogee.
What is the perfect form of think?
Present perfect - have/has thought. Past perfect - had thought. Future perfect - will have thought.
