Final answer:
Johannes Kepler's first law states that the orbits of the planets are elliptical with the Sun at one focus. This law marked a shift from the belief in circular orbits and underscored.The answer to this is A.Yes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion
The question asks whether Kepler's first law of motion states that the orbits of the planets are elliptical, with the Sun at one focus and an arbitrary point in space as the other. The answer to this is Yes. According to Kepler's first law, each planet moves around the Sun following an elliptical path with the Sun located at one of the two foci of the ellipse, not a point in space. This was a significant advancement from the prior assumption that orbits were perfect circles.
The elliptical orbit means that the distance between a planet and the Sun varies over time. The closest point in the orbit to the Sun is known as the perihelion, while the farthest point is called the aphelion. The Sun's position at one of the foci of the ellipse gives rise to these variations in distance.
Kepler derived this law by analyzing the meticulous observations of planetary positions made by Tycho Brahe. His laws revolutionized the understanding of celestial mechanics and paved the way for Isaac Newton's later work on gravity.