Since bodies like planets moving around sun perform uniform circular motion where gravitation provides the necessary centripetal force, so the orbits should be circular for the gravitational force to be central but as we know the paths are not perfectly circular but elliptical. Why this is so?
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Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/69997/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic May 09 '17 at 19:26
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The moons orbit is also elliptical with and eccentricity of 0.0549. – M. Enns May 09 '17 at 19:34
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1A circle is merely a special kind of ellipse. – Jon Custer May 09 '17 at 19:35
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The paths do not always have to be elliptical. If there are any tidal forces at all, the orbit will tend to go circular.
Bill Alsept
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