Closed Orbits

Adhitya Chandra — Kradigan Astronomy

Prerequisites: Kepler’s Laws, Basic Calculus

In a two-body system, there are four possible types of orbit: circles, ellipses,
parabolas, and hyperbolas. In polar coordinates, all these orbits are described
by the conic section equation

r 1s
e cos θ
(1)

where s and e are constants of the motion. Here we will look at the motion
of the reduced mass µ in closed orbits (i.e. circles and ellipses), and analyze the
implications of that motion for real-world systems.
We start with circular orbits, the simplest type of orbit. In this case r is
constant, and we can easily solve the conic section equation to find that s  r
and e  0. However, in the derivation of Kepler’s first law, we defined s as

L2
s (2)
GM µ2
Substituting r for s into this equation and solving for L, we find the expres-
sion for the total angular momentum of the system:
?
L  µ GM r
The general expression for the angular momentum in the center of mass
reference frame was L  µ⃗r  ⃗v . In a circular orbit, the velocity of the reduced
mass has no radial component (otherwise, r would be changing), so the vector
equation reduces to the scalar equation L  µrv, where v is the speed of the
reduced mass. Equating our two expressions for angular momentum and solving
for v, we get
c GM
r
v 
The energy of a two-body system is written as

E  21 µv2
GMr µ
Plugging in our expression for speed and simplifying, we get

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Closed Orbits Kradigan Astronomy

E 
12 GMr µ
As the radius of the orbit increases, the energy of the orbit also increases.
Therefore, it takes energy to raise the reduced mass up to a higher orbit. We
can also calculate the period of the orbit; that is, the time it takes µ to complete
one full revolution and return to its initial position. At a constant speed, the
time it takes for an object to traverse a given distance is T  d{v, where d is
the speed of the object. In this scenario, the period of the reduce mass is
cr
 a  2π
d 2πr 3
T
v GM {r GM
Squaring both sides to get rid of the square root, we get a relation between
the period and radius of a circular orbit:
2
T2  GM
4π 3
r

As the radius of a circular orbit increases, the orbital period also increases,
both because the reduced mass has to travel more distance to complete a revo-
lution, and because µ is moving more slowly on its path. In the real world, r is
the distance between the two masses in the system, and both masses complete
a revolution about their common center of mass in a time T described by the
above equation.
Circular orbits are rather boring, and that is just a result of their simplicity.
Elliptical orbits are much more interesting, and as a bonus, more realistic. In
an elliptical orbit, the center of mass M is located at one of the foci, usually
called the primary focus. r must be finite for all values of of θ in order for the
orbit to be closed. Using equation 1, this restriction implies that

1 e cos θ 0
for all possible values of θ. Without loss of generality, we can assume e is
non-negative. (As an exercise, show that this restriction is reasonable.) Also,
the case of e  0 corresponds to a circular orbit, which we can ignore in a
discussion of elliptical orbits. Combining all of these restrictions, we find that
elliptical orbits correspond to values of e of

0 e 1
Within this range, e corresponds to a property of an ellipse called the ec-
centricity. The eccentricity is defined as the ratio between between the focal
distance (i.e. the distance between the foci of the ellipse) and the major axis.
At an angle θ  π {2, equation 1 reduces to

r s

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Closed Orbits Kradigan Astronomy

Figure 1: An arbitrary ellipse. The center of mass lies at the primary focus
F . The horizontal and vertical radii of the ellipse are the semi-major and semi-
minor axes a and b, respectively. The focal distance is related to the major axis
by a factor of e.

Figure 1 shows the geometric structure of an ellipse with some important

quantities. In geometric contexts, s is referred to as the semi-latus rectum,
and in astronomical contexts, θ is referred to as the true anomaly. At a true
anomaly of zero, µ reaches its closest approach to the center of mass, and the
point at which this occurs is called the pericenter. Based on the figure, r at
pericenter is

r  a
ae  ap1
eq
while based on the conic section equation, r at pericenter is

r 1 s
e cos 0
1se
Equating these two expressions and rearranging, we arrive at an expression
for the semi-latus rectum for ellipses:

s  ap1
e2 q
This expression can be inserted into the conic section equation, which gives
us a speciallized form of the equation that applies to only ellipses:

 1ap1 e
cos
e q
2
r (3)
θ
All real-world closed orbits are elliptical, and the eccentricity of an orbit
gives a quantitative measure for how elongated an orbit is. For example, the
eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is about 0.0167, which is very

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Closed Orbits Kradigan Astronomy

Figure 2: An infinitesimal change dθ in the true anomaly results in a change dx

in the position of the reduced mass. In this diagram, r is different for the two
points, but in the limit as dθ approaches zero, the r values approach the same
value.

close to circular. On the other hand, Halley’s comet has an eccentricity of about
0.97, which indicates an extremely elogated orbit.
Equation 3 gives us a complete picture of the path of the reduced mass,
but it gives us no temporal information. At what speed does µ move on the
orbit? How long does it take to complete one full orbit? These questions can
be answered with a deeper consideration of angular momentum.
Figure 2 depicts the effect of a change in the true anomaly on the position
of the reduced mass. We can find the area of the triangle formed by the focus
M and the initial and final positions of the reduced mass. In the limit, this area
is expressed as

dA  ⃗r  d⃗x
1
2
which comes from the fact that the area of a triangle is equal to one half of
the base times the height. In the limit, the area of this triangle apporaches the
area of the sector of the corresponding sector of the ellipse, so we can treat the
cumulative area A as the area of a given sector of the ellipse. Taking the time
derivative of both sides, we get an expression for the rate of change of the area
swept out by a line from M to µ:
dA
dt
 12 ⃗r  ⃗v

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Closed Orbits Kradigan Astronomy

This expression is very similar to the one for angular momentum L  µ⃗r  ⃗v .
We can therefore substitute L into the expression to get
dA
dt
 2µ
L

Because the angular momentum is a constant quantity in this system, dA{dt

must also be a cconstant quantity. The result is that the line connecting M
and µ sweeps out equal areas in equal times. This statement is called Kepler’s
second law. The speed of the reduced mass has an inverse relationship with
its distance from M . The reduced mass is at its greatest speed at and around
pericenter, while it is at its lowest speed at and around the apocenter; that is,
the furthest separation from M .
Using Kepler’s second law, we can find an equation for the period of an
elliptical orbit. The period of the orbit should be equal to the area of that
orbit, divided by the rate of change of that area:

T  AdA {dt  L{2µ

ellipse πab

where b is the semi-minor axis of the ellipse. Looking at Figure 1, we see a

right triangle with sides b, a, and ae. We can use the Pythagorean theorem to
find an expression for b as a function of a and e:

a2  b2 a2 e2 ñba
a1
e 2

Substituting this into the equation for the period, we get

?
2πµa2 1
e2
T 
L
Squaring both sides of this equation gets rid of the square roots and gives

µ a p 1
e2 q
2 2 4
T2  4π
L2
We can write the semi-latus rectum s of the orbit in two ways:

L2
ap1
e2 q  s 
GM µ2
Solving for L2 gives us an equation for the angular momentum of a elliptical
orbit:

L2  GM µ2 ap1
e2 q
Substituting into our equation for the period gives us
2 3
T2  4πGMa (4)

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Closed Orbits Kradigan Astronomy

Figure 3: A general two-body system, composed of two masses A and B in orbit

about their common center of mass F .

The orbital period of a system is a function only of the semi-major axis

and the total mass of the system. The eccentricity has no effect on the period
whatsoever. The observation that the square of the period is proportional to
the cube of the semi-major axis is known as Kepler’s third law.
All of the results derived here were applied to the simplified one-body system
consisting of M and µ, but they still apply to the real-world system of A and
B. (As an exercise, show that all of Kepler’s laws apply to both bodies in a
two-body system. Hint: use the center of mass equation.) Kepler’s laws serve
as the basis for all celestial mechanics, and they allow us to predict to great
accuracy the orbits of the planets.