What does Kepler's first law state about a planet's orbit?

Kepler's first law, known as the Law of Ellipses, states that the orbit of a planet around the Sun is an ellipse, with the Sun located at one of the foci of that ellipse. This fundamentally changed our understanding of celestial motions, as it replaced the long-held belief that planetary orbits were perfect circles.

In an elliptical orbit, the distance between the planet and the Sun varies; when the planet is closer to the Sun, it moves faster, and when it is farther away, it moves slower. This relationship is crucial for understanding how the gravitational pull of the Sun affects the speed and path of a planet.

The other options present incorrect interpretations of celestial mechanics. The first option describes a circular orbit, which is a specific case of an ellipse but does not encompass the generality of Kepler's first law. The third option inaccurately depicts orbits as irregular shapes with no defined focal point, which misrepresents the precise nature of gravitational orbits. The fourth option incorrectly suggests a straight-line trajectory towards the Sun, which contradicts the predictable and curved paths that define planetary motion in our solar system. Thus, affirming that the correct interpretation of Kepler's first law is that planets travel in elliptical orbits