Question

The planets revolve around the sun in an elliptical path known as ________.
A. circle
B. orbit
C. bands
D. stages

Answer 1

Hint:Sun being the centre of our solar system, produces an effect on the movement of all the celestial bodies around it including the planets. All planets including earth rotate on their own axis. Along with rotation, planets also revolve around the Sun in a particular direction and speed.

Complete answer:
The path or trajectory taken by a planet to revolve around the sun to complete one revolution is called an orbit. The orbit of any celestial body or a planet in space is affected by the force of gravity of other celestial bodies around it. In other words, an orbit is the relative path of one body with respect to another body. All planets orbit around the sun in an elliptical path which is on the same orbital plane.
When there is a great difference in the masses of two celestial bodies, the smaller body tends to orbit around the larger body. However, if two bodies have nearly the same mass then both bodies will orbit around a common point.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note:Johannes Kepler in the 1600s explained the orbiting theory of planets around the sun. He postulated that the orbits of all the planets are governed by planetary motion. The distance of Earth closest to the Sun is approximately 91 million miles (147 million kilometres) and is called perihelion whereas, the farthest distance from sun is nearly 95 million miles (152 million kilometres) and called aphelion. An elliptical orbit is also called a Kepler orbit. It has an eccentricity of less than 1.