What is the name given to the path followed by a planet going around the sun?

Answer 1

The general name is 'Orbit.' Kepler's equations define the orbit for the standard two body problem (Sun & planet). Perturbation theory is required to calculate this path in the presence of N>2 bodies (ie other planets and matter). This is a very good approximation presuming the Sun to be a fixed inertial frame.

However, orbit is vague since the Sun and planets are moving around the Milky Way and the Milky Way is also moving. There is no such thing as an inertial frame of reference, so the actual path is called a 'Geodesic' as defined by Einsteins General theory of relativity.

Answer 2

It's an orbit. Orbits were first described accurately by Johannes Kepler who discovered that an ellipse is the closest approximation to the paths followed by the planets.

The planets have elliptical orbits which are not far off being circular, so that the best way of drawing a planet's orbit on a diagram is to draw a circle with its centre at a point away from the Sun. The distance off is the radius times the eccentricity, and the position angle of the centre of the circle is defined by the longitude of perihelion (quoted in planetary data) plus 180 degrees.

Answer 3

The path is called an orbit.

The shape of the orbit is called an ellipse.

Answer 4

orbit