Celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to produce ephemeris data. As an astronomical field of study, celestial mechanics includes the sub-fields of orbital mechanics, which deals with the launching and orbits artificial satellites, and lunar theory, a specialty which deals with the complications of the orbit of the Moon. Modern celestial mechanics tends to divide between five broad fields of study: All of the above fields overlap, but are sometimes
Dynamics of the celestial spheres of the planet, which transforms its overall motion from circular to oval, to a moving soul in the planet since the motion is "not a natural motion, but more of an animate one". In various writings, Kepler often attributed a kind of intelligence to the inborn motive faculties associated with the stars. In the aftermath of Copernicanism the planets came to be seen as bodies moving freely through a very subtle aethereal medium. Although many scholastics continued to maintain that intelligences were the celestial movers, they now associated the intelligences with the planets themselves, rather than with the celestial spheres.