Keplerian Orbits and Dynamics of Exoplanets

Abstract

Understanding the consequences of the gravitational interaction between a star and a planet is fundamental to the study of exoplanets. The solution of the two-body problem shows that the planet moves in an elliptical path around the star and that each body moves in an ellipse about the common center of mass. The basic properties of such a system are derived from first principles and described in the context of detecting exoplanets.