Kepler's equation

In orbital mechanics, Kepler's equation relates various geometric properties of the orbit of a body subject to a central force.

For specific applications of Kepler's equation, see Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
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It was derived by Johannes Kepler in 1609 in Chapter 60 of his Astronomia nova, and in book V of his Epitome of Copernican Astronomy (1621) Kepler proposed an iterative solution to the equation. This equation and its solution, however, first appeared in 9th century work of Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi related to problems of parallax. The equation has played an important role in the history of both physics and mathematics, particularly classical celestial mechanics.

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