Orbits of celestial bodies

The accurate measurements of Tyco Brahe, analyzed by Johannes Kepler, showed that the orbits were in fact elliptical, with the Sun as one of the foci of the ellipses.

Since then, all drawings of the solar system have shown extremely elliptical orbits! But how elliptical are the orbits really? This program will help you find out!

Just select one of the celestial bodies from below and click on "Plot". The tool will first draw the correct orbit (in black) and then superimpose a perfect circle (in red). If any region shows two coloured pixels, then clearly that indicates a region where the two differ! If you wish you can reverse the order of drawing by selecting "Reverse Order".