A planet travels about its sun in an ellipse whose semimajor axis has length a.

a. Show that r = a(1 - e) when the planet is closest to the sun and that r = a(1 + e) when the planet is farthest from the sun.

b. Use the data in the table in Exercise 76 to find how close each planet in our solar system comes to the sun and how far away each planet gets from the sun.

Data from Exercise 76

Use the data in the table below and Equation (6) to find polar equations for the orbits of the planets.

Transcribed Image Text:

Aphelion (farthest from sun) a Planet Sun Perihelion (closest to sun)