Solar Sytem, Kepler's Law of

Planetary Motion, Twilight

 Topics
• Solar System
• Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion and Their Application
• Concept of Twilight : Civil, Nautical, Astronomical
• Conditions for Twilight All Night
• Circumpolar Bodies
 Our Solar System

• Our Solar System Comprises of Sun and 8 planets revolving around it in elliptical orbits ; Sun is
considered as the center of Our Solar System
• These are Mercury, Venus Earth, Mars (Inner planets), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus , Neptune
(Outer planets) in order of their increasing distance from Sun
• The 1st 2 which are closer to Sun than earth are known as Inferior planet
• The remaining 5 which are away from Sun than Earth are known as Superior Planets
• All Planets revolve around the Counter- Clockwise direction
 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion
• There are 3 laws that govern the planetary motion
• These are able to explain the way in which planets revolve around the Sun
Kepler’s 1st Law
1. All Planets revolve around the Sun in
ELLIPTICAL ORBITS
2. The Sun is situated at one of the foci of this c d
orbit
3. An Ellipse is a locus of all the points so that a
b
the sum of distance from a point to the 2 e
f
foci is always constant
Which means Distance
a+b=c+d=e+f
4. The Sun is present at one of the Foci while a
Planet revolves around the sun
 2nd Law
1. As Sun is present at one of the foci of this
ellipse
2. The radius vector of a planet sweeps
equal out equal area in equal intervals of
time
Radius vector means anywhere in the orbit the
line joining the planet and the Sun
• For Equal Areas to be swept in equal
intervals of time, the planet when it is
closest to Sun (Perihelion; About

91.4 million miles) shall move faster

in its orbit as compared to when it is
Farthest from Sun (Aphelion; About

94.5 million miles)

 3rd Law
1. A relation exists between the Time that a
planet takes to orbit around the Sun and
its Distance from the Sun
2. Farther a planet is from the sun more time
it takes
3. Mathematically this relation is expressed
as
T2 ∝ D3
Where T is the time period of revolution &
D is its distance from the sun , i.e., Length,
radius of the Semi major axis of its orbit
 Twilight
1. Twilight is the light received from
sun when it is below the Horizon
2. The Sun being so bright, although
is below the horizon, however, its
illumination is still there in the
atmosphere
3. A part of this light is scattered in
the upper layers of the
atmosphere for sometime before
the Sunrise and after Sunset that
illuminates the earth surface
 Twilight
1. This arc of 18o before sunrise and after Sunset is divided in 3 parts and are known as -
a) Civil b) Nautical c) Astronomical

Twilight

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight
 Question
1. Why in lower latitudes Twilight appear to be shorter as compared to observer being in
higher latitudes

Solution
Assume that
• there is an observer in lat. 10 deg N & another is in 40
deg N
• The Declination of the sun is 20 deg N or its polar
distance is 70 deg
• Now for Observer in 10 deg the NP1 or ZQ1 is Lat.
• Now for Observer in 40 deg the NP2 or ZQ2 is Lat.
• Now from the sketch it is evident that the length of the
arc between RH & Twilight Belt (18deg below horizon) is
shorter for the observer in 10 deg as compared to the
one in 40 deg
 Question
1. What are the conditions necessary for
a) Twilight to occur b) Twilight to remain all night
c) Continuous day light d) Continuous night

Solution
• For twilight to Occur Sun must be below horizon which means there must be night.
• This will happen
– Either Latitude of Observer & Declination of Sun are of Opposite name OR
– If Latitude of Observer & Declination are of Same Name then their sum should be less than 90o

• So for twilight to happen all night

– Sun must set
– It should also not go below the 18o below Rational Horizon

• For above to happen Latitude and Declination should be of same name and
• Lat + Dec + 18o ≧ 90o
 Question
1. What are the conditions necessary for
a) Twilight to occur b) Twilight to remain all night
c) Continuous day light d) Continuous night

Solution
• For Day or night to be there throughout Now if Lat & Declination are

For Continuous Daylight For Continuous Night

1. Latitude of Observer & 1. Latitude of Observer &
declination of Sun to be of same declination of Sun to be of
name Different name
2. Lat. + Declination ≧ 90o Lat. + Declination ≧ 90o