Wednesday, January 9, 2019

newtonian mechanics - Are planets actually moving in elliptical orbits around the Sun or do they move in circular orbits around their center of mass?


In every derivation of Kepler's Laws that I have seen, we assume that the sun is stationary. However, in other places I have read that celestial bodies move about their barycentre (center of mass). So are planets actually moving in elliptical orbits around the Sun or do they move in circular orbits around their center of mass?




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