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Elliptical Orbits
Kepler's first law states planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits. The sun is the focus of all movement. This law also applies to the moon's orbit around the Earth, as well as artificial satellites' movement around the Earth. The law even applies to the electromagnetic forces inside an atom. With planets, the reason the orbit is elliptical, rather than round, is because of the gravitational pull of other planets within our solar system.
Radius Vector
Kepler's second law, which expands on his first, specifies that all planets are consistent in their distance from the sun. This law was handy for Isaac Newton when he surmised gravitational pull as the reason for the planets' distance from the sun. But Newton expanded on Kepler's law, saying that if the size of a planet or the sun were to change, the distance of the celestial body would change. This is because mass determines the amount of gravitational pull.
Sidereal Periods
In his third law, another expansion of previous law, Kepler stated all planets follow a specific path around the sun, and they complete this cycle over the same distance from the sun at all times. He also noted that the pattern continues at the same speed throughout each cycle. In other words, each planet always takes one year to completely circle the sun at a consistent distance. He also noted that with a greater elliptical orbit, the faster the planet will orbit the sun.
Kepler's Work
Kepler's laws were published in 1609 and 1619. He also studied optics, discovered two regular polyhedra in 1619, determined why honeycombs are shaped the way they are in 1611, proved how logarithms work in 1624 and helped developed calculus in 1615 and 1616. Kepler wrote letters to people that are considered to be the equivalent of scientific papers. He was a devout Christian who believed God created the universe with a mathematical formula.