Aplanet travels in an elliptical path around a star, as shown in the figure. as the planet gets closer to the star, the gravitational force that the star exerts on the planet increases. which statement of reasoning best supports and correctly identifies what happens to the magnitude of the force that the planet exerts on the star as the planet gets closer to the star?

the force remains constant because the mass of the planet remains constant.
a

the force increases because it is part of a newton’s third law pair of forces with the force that the star exerts on the planet.
b

the force decreases because the planet increases its speed as it gets closer to the star.
c

the force fluctuates such that it increases and decreases because the planet does not travel in a perfectly circular path.