Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
E31644
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion are three fundamental principles that mathematically describe how planets orbit the Sun in ellipses, sweep out equal areas in equal times, and relate their orbital periods to their distances from the Sun.
Observed surface forms (10)
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astronomical law
ⓘ
physical law ⓘ physical law ⓘ physical law ⓘ set of physical laws ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
ⓘ
surface form:
harmonic law
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion ⓘ
surface form:
law of ellipses
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion ⓘ
surface form:
law of equal areas
|
| appliesTo |
exoplanets
ⓘ
objects in bound Keplerian orbits ⓘ planets in the Solar System ⓘ satellites ⓘ |
| approximateFormulationStartYear | 1605 ⓘ |
| approximatePublicationYear | 1609 ⓘ |
| assumes |
Sun at or near focus of planetary orbits
ⓘ
two-body problem approximation ⓘ |
| basedOn |
observations of Mars
ⓘ
observations of Tycho Brahe ⓘ |
| describes |
relationship between orbital period and semi-major axis
ⓘ
shape of planetary orbits ⓘ variation of orbital speed ⓘ |
| explainedBy | Newton’s law of universal gravitation ⓘ |
| field |
astronomy
ⓘ
astrophysics ⓘ celestial mechanics ⓘ |
| formulatedBy | Johannes Kepler ⓘ |
| furtherPublicationYear | 1619 ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | Scientific Revolution ⓘ |
| implies | conservation of angular momentum for orbital motion ⓘ |
| involvesConcept |
areal velocity
ⓘ
ellipse ⓘ focus of an ellipse ⓘ orbital period ⓘ semi-major axis ⓘ |
| mathematicalForm | T^2 ∝ a^3 ⓘ |
| numberOfLaws | 3 ⓘ |
| part |
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Kepler’s first law
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Kepler’s second law
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Kepler’s third law
|
| precededBy |
Copernican system
ⓘ
surface form:
Copernican heliocentric model
|
| publishedIn |
Astronomia nova
ⓘ
Harmonices Mundi ⓘ |
| refinedBy | Newtonian mechanics ⓘ |
| statement |
A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
ⓘ
The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the foci. ⓘ The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit. ⓘ |
| usedFor |
calculating orbital periods
ⓘ
designing spacecraft trajectories ⓘ predicting planetary positions ⓘ relating orbital size to orbital period ⓘ |
Referenced by (17)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Kepler’s first law
this entity surface form:
law of ellipses
subject surface form:
Kepler’s second law
this entity surface form:
law of equal areas
subject surface form:
Kepler’s third law
this entity surface form:
harmonic law
this entity surface form:
Kepler's first law of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's second law of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's third law of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's third law of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
→
part
→
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Kepler’s first law
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
→
part
→
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Kepler’s second law
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
→
part
→
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Kepler’s third law
this entity surface form:
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
this entity surface form:
Kepler's laws of planetary motion