3.

Planetary Orbits

Planetary Geology
 Ancient Greek
Planets made perfect circular orbits,
with Earth at the center.

2
 Greek Myth
Heavens must be geometrically perfect.

Heavenly objects must move

in perfect circles.

They must encircle the Earth.

3
 Pythagoras
(582–500 BC)
Earth orbits the central fire.

There is counter–Earth just

inside the terrestrial orbit.

4
 Copernicus
(AD 1473–1543)
Copernicus’s model made
great improvement.

Unfortunately it is still incorrect

because the model relied on
circular orbits.

5
 Scientific Revolution
1546 – 1601 1571 – 1630 1564 – 1642

bare–eyed accurate prediction telescopic observations

measurements with elliptical orbits of confirmed
of planet motions planetary bodies Kepler’s propositions

Tycho Johannes Galileo

Brahe Kepler Galilei

Prior to early 17th century, humans believed that celestial bodies follow circular orbits.
Kepler was unable to explain Tycho’s observation with circular orbits.
Kepler found that the planets travel around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
6
 Kepler’s First Law Motion

Kepler’s law applies to the motion of

a small body around a large body.
Nothing at
the other focus Eccentricity (𝑒)
Aphelion distance 𝑎 (1 + 𝑒)

Perihelion
Aphelion

Perihelion distance 𝑎 (1 − 𝑒)

Semi–major axis (a) Sun at

one focus

7
 Kepler’s Second Law Speed

As a planet moves around its orbit,

it sweeps out equal areas in equal time.

The orbit speed is not constant

(as in a circular orbit).

Perihelion
Aphelion

slower faster

8
Kepler’s Third Law Orbit

𝑑 It is an equilibrium state
between centrifugal acceleration and
gravitational acceleration.

It is not the mass, but the distance

that is the most pivotal factor
in a planetary system.

𝑀𝑝 𝑉𝑝2 𝐺 𝑀𝑆 𝑀𝑝 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 2 𝜋 𝑑
= 𝑉𝑝 = =
𝑑 𝑑2 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑇𝑝
2 𝑑2 2 𝑑3 2𝜋
𝐺 𝑀𝑆 4 𝜋 4 𝜋
2
𝑉𝑝 = 𝑉𝑝2 = 𝑇𝑝2 = 𝜔= ∝ 𝑑 −3/2
𝑑 𝑇𝑝2 𝐺 𝑀𝑆 𝑇𝑝

9
Kepler’s Third Law 106
105

Period 2, (yr 2)
Eight planets (Mercury, Venus, 104
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, 103
Uranus, Neptune) and 102
five dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, 101
Haumea, Makemake, Eris)
all satisfy the Kepler’s Law. 100
10-1
10-2
10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
Distance3, (AU3)

10
 This equation is valid
for bodies in orbit around the Sun.
Kepler’s Third Law 𝑇𝑝 period of the planets in Earth years
2 𝑑 semi–major axis in AU
4 𝜋 1 2 𝐺 Gravitational constant
𝑇𝑝2 = 𝑑3 𝑇𝑃 = 𝑑3 (= 6.67408  10–11 m3 kg–1 s–2)
𝐺 𝑀𝑆

Steam

Lava surface

Fracture

Solid lava
Liquid magma Obstacle

Heat

Water

11
 Binary Stars

Center of mass

It is common to observe binary stars, two stars orbiting a common center of mass.
They do satisfy the Kepler’s Law.
12
 Assignment 3-1 The Solar System

Neptune has a semimajor axis of 30.110 AU and an eccentricity of 0.009456.

01 What are Neptune’s perihelion and aphelion distances?

Pluto has a semimajor axis of 39.48 AU and an eccentricity of 0.2488.

02 What are Pluto’s perihelion and aphelion distances?
Will Pluto ever hit Neptune?

Icarus has a semimajor axis of 1.078 AU and an eccentricity of 0.8269.

03 What are Icarus’s perihelion and aphelion distances?
Will Icarus ever hit Earth?

Eris has a semimajor axis of 67.781 AU and an eccentricity of 0.44068.

04 What are Eris’s perihelion and aphelion distances?
Will Eris ever hit Pluto?

13
 Assignment 3-2 The Spacecraft Juno

The spacecraft Juno had a highly eccentric orbit,

01 allowing very close passes of the spacecraft to the planet.

In one orbit, Juno got as close as 75,800 kilometers to Jupiter.

In other occasion, Juno passed as far as 2,771,000 kilometers from Jupiter.

How many kilometers will Juno travel in one orbit? (Use the Ramanujan’s approximation
for the perimeter of an ellipse where 𝑎 and 𝑏 are semi–major and semi–minor axes).

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 ≈ 𝜋 [3 𝑎 + 𝑏 − 3𝑎 + 𝑏 (𝑎 + 3𝑏)]

𝑏 = 𝑎 (1 − 𝑒 2 )

14
Angular Velocity (𝜔) Rotational

It is a speed of Earth’s rotation.

Direction of 𝜔 is perpendicular
to the plane of rotation.

𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2𝜋
𝜔𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = = 7.272 × 10−5 𝑠 −1
24 × 60 × 60 𝑠

15
 Rotational Angular Velocity of Planets
1.E+00
1.E-01 Mercury
Venus
Angular Velocity (s–1)

1.E-02
Earth
1.E-03 Mars
1.E-04 Jupiter
1.E-05
Saturn
Uranus
1.E-06 Neptune
1.E-07
1.E-08 The Moon
Pluto
1.E-09
1.E-10
1.0E+06 1.0E+07 1.0E+08 1.0E+09 1.0E+10 1.0E+11 1.0E+12 1.0E+13
Radius (m)

There is no apparent correlation between rotational angular velocity (𝜔) and radius of Planets.
16
Angular Momentum (𝐿) Rotational

It describes how the material moves around

a reference point (center of Earth)
with mass 𝑚, radius 𝑟, velocity 𝑣,
moment of inertia 𝐼, and angular velocity 𝜔.

2
𝐿 = 𝐼Ԧ × 𝜔 = 𝑚 𝑟 2 𝜔
5
𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐿 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 7.051 × 1033 𝑘𝑔 𝑚2 𝑠 −1

𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2
𝐿 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = × 5.972 × 1024 𝑘𝑔 × (6.371 × 106 𝑚)2 × (7.272 × 10−5 𝑠 −1 ) 17
5
 Rotational Angular Momentum of Planets
1.0E+44
1.0E+42 Mercury
1.0E+40 Venus
1.0E+38
Earth
Mars
L (kg m2 s-1)

1.0E+36
Jupiter
1.0E+34 Saturn
1.0E+32 Uranus
1.0E+30 Neptune
1.0E+28
The Moon
1.0E+26 Pluto
1.0E+24
1.0E-12 1.0E-09 1.0E-06 1.0E-03 1.0E+00 1.0E+03 1.0E+06 1.0E+09
Mass (1024 kg)

There is a linear relation between rotational angular momentum (𝐿) and mass of Planets.
18
Angular Velocity (𝜔) Orbital

It is a speed of Earth’s orbital rotation

around the Sun.

The earth orbits the sun once every year.

𝑂𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡 2𝜋
𝜔𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = = 1.991 × 10−7 𝑠 −1
365.24 × 24 × 60 × 60 𝑠

19
 Orbital Angular Velocity of Planets
1.E+00
1.E-01 Mercury
Venus
Angular Velocity (s–1)

1.E-02
Earth
1.E-03 Mars
1.E-04 Jupiter
1.E-05
Saturn
Uranus
1.E-06 Neptune
1.E-07
1.E-08 The Moon
Pluto
1.E-09
1.E-10
1.0E+06 1.0E+07 1.0E+08 1.0E+09 1.0E+10 1.0E+11 1.0E+12 1.0E+13
Distance (m)

There is a clear inverse correlation between orbital angular velocity (𝜔) and distance of Planets.
20
 Orbital Angular Velocity of Satellites
1.E+00
1.E-01

Angular Velocity (s–1)

1.E-02
1.E-03
1.E-04
Charon
1.E-05
Phobos
1.E-06 Deimos
1.E-07 Jovian Satellites
1.E-08
1.E-09
1.E-10
1.0E+06 1.0E+07 1.0E+08 1.0E+09 1.0E+10 1.0E+11 1.0E+12 1.0E+13
Radius (m)

There is a clear inverse correlation between orbital angular velocity (𝜔) and distance of Satellites.
21
Angular Momentum (𝐿) Orbital

It describes how the Earth orbits around the

Sun with mass 𝑚, distance 𝑅, velocity 𝑣,
moment of inertia 𝐼, and angular velocity 𝜔.

𝐿 = 𝐼Ԧ × 𝜔 = 𝑚 𝑅 × 𝑣Ԧ = 𝑚 𝑅2 𝜔

𝑂𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡
𝐿 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 2.661 × 1040 𝑘𝑔 𝑚2 𝑠 −1

𝐿 𝑂𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡
𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 5.972 × 10 24 𝑘𝑔 × (1.496 × 1011 𝑚)2 × (1.991 × 10−7 𝑠 −1 )
22
 Orbital Angular Momentum of Planets
1.0E+44
1.0E+42 Mercury
1.0E+40 Venus
1.0E+38
Earth
Mars
L (kg m2 s-1)

1.0E+36
Jupiter
1.0E+34 Saturn
1.0E+32 Uranus
1.0E+30 Neptune
1.0E+28
The Moon
1.0E+26 Pluto
1.0E+24
1.0E-12 1.0E-09 1.0E-06 1.0E-03 1.0E+00 1.0E+03 1.0E+06 1.0E+09
Mass (1024 kg)

There is a linear relation between orbital angular momentum (𝐿) and mass of Planets.
23
 Orbital Angular Momentum of Satellites
1.0E+44
1.0E+42
1.0E+40
1.0E+38
L (kg m2 s-1)

1.0E+36
1.0E+34 Charon
1.0E+32 Phobos
1.0E+30
Deimos
Jovian Satellites
1.0E+28
1.0E+26
1.0E+24
1.0E-12 1.0E-09 1.0E-06 1.0E-03 1.0E+00 1.0E+03 1.0E+06 1.0E+09
Mass (1024 kg)

There is a linear relation between orbital angular momentum (𝐿) and mass of Satellites.
24
 Angular Velocity
Mercury
1.E+00
Orbital angular velocity (planets) Venus
1.E-01 Rotational angular velocity (planets) Earth
Mars
Angular Velocity (s–1)
1.E-02 Rotational angular velocity (Sun)
Orbital angular velocity (Satellites) Jupiter
1.E-03
Saturn
1.E-04 Uranus
1.E-05 Neptune
1.E-06
The Moon
1.E-07
Pluto
1.E-08 Charon
1.E-09 Phobos
Deimos
1.E-10
Jovian Satellites
1.0E+06 1.0E+07 1.0E+08 1.0E+09 1.0E+10 1.0E+11 1.0E+12 1.0E+13

Radius (m) or Distance (m)

25
 Angular Momentum
Mercury
1.0E+44
Venus
1.0E+42
Earth
1.0E+40 Mars
1.0E+38 Jupiter
Saturn
L (kg m2 s-1)

1.0E+36
Uranus
1.0E+34
Neptune
1.0E+32
1.0E+30 The Moon
1.0E+28 Pluto
1.0E+26 Charon
Phobos
1.0E+24
Deimos
1.0E-12 1.0E-09 1.0E-06 1.0E-03 1.0E+00 1.0E+03 1.0E+06 1.0E+09
Jovian Satellites
Mass (1024 kg)

What are the outliers?

26
 Outliers of Angular Momentum

Venus The Moon Pluto Charon

Low LRotation High LOrbit High LOrbit Low LOrbit
Axial tilt of 177.4°

27
 Angular Momentum (kg 2 –1
m s )

LOrbit
LRotation 1.93  1043
LRotation 1.14  1042
6.89  1038

28
 Exoplanets
1.0E+46
1.0E+45
1.0E+44
Exoplanets satisfy the conservation of
1.0E+43
angular momentum law.

L (kg m2 s-1)
1.0E+42
1.0E+41
The formation of Star–Planets 1.0E+40
System seems to be a common 1.0E+39
phenomenon in the Universe. 1.0E+38
1.0E+37
Observations in the Universe 1.0E+36
can be explained by the 1.0E+35
conservation of angular momentum. 1.0E+34
1.0E+22 1.0E+23 1.0E+24 1.0E+25 1.0E+26 1.0E+27 1.0E+28 1.0E+29 1.0E+30

Mass (kg)

Data retrieved from http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/ on July 25, 2022 29

Assignment 3-3 The Solar System

53 53
(16) (9)

27
13
(1)
2
1
0 0

Number of satellites 30
 Assignment 3-3 The Solar System

Mass ratio is a relative mass normalized to Earth’s mass.

01 Calculate the mass ratio of planets. In the next slide,
plot a diagram of number of confirmed satellites as a function of mass ratio.

What is a general relation between the number of satellites a planet has compared to its
mass?

02 If there is a general trend, suggest a reason for the relation.

31
Assignment 3-3 The Solar System
60

Number of Confirmed Satellites

50

40

30

20

10

0
0.05 0.5 5 50 500
Mass / MassEarth 32