Elliptical Orbit Simulator: Kepler's Laws in Action

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Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

This simulator demonstrates Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion, particularly the first two laws:

1. The Law of Ellipses: The path of each planet around the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.
2. The Law of Equal Areas: A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

Observe how the planet moves faster when it's closer to the sun (at perihelion) and slower when it's farther away (at aphelion). This demonstrates Kepler's second law.

The elliptical shape of the orbit showcases Kepler's first law. In reality, most planetary orbits are much less eccentric (more circular) than shown here, but the principle remains the same.