Elements

Elements, in Astronomy, are those numerical quantities, and those principles deduced from astronomical observations and calculations, which are employed in the construction of tables exhibiting the planetary motions. They include the greatest, least, and mean distances of the planets from the sun, the eccentricities of their orbits, their mean motions, daily and annual, with the motions of their aphelia, and the inclinations of their orbits to the ecliptic; their masses and densities, &c. See PLANETS, PLANETOIDS, &c.