02-18-2006, 07:28 AM
LemmingofGlory,Feb 17 2006, 09:25 PM Wrote:Uh, several things here...
A rotation is when something spins on its axis. Revolution is when one thing orbits another. Planets revolve around the sun; they don't rotate around it. For Earth, we count one revolution to be one year and one rotation to be one day.
"Ovular" relates to ovaries. An orbit that is oval is said to be elliptical. In general, orbits are elliptical. Kepler (correctly) suggested this several hundred years ago, and Newton's calculus and physics backed him up on this. The rumor you heard was invented by someone with medieval notions of basic celestial mechanics.
-Lemmy
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Shows how much I paid attention to the initial "planet 'X'" article I guess. I take most everything I hear with a grain of salt; it's like they say, "the proof is in the pudding."
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin