3 of 33 of 3 Items

Question
Astronomers discover a new comet that follows a highly elliptical orbit. What is its eccentricity likely to be?(1 point)
Responses

0.1500
0.1500

0.0009
0.0009

0.0014
0.0014

0.9200
0.9200
Skip to navigation

1 answer

In celestial mechanics, the eccentricity of an orbit can range from 0 to just below 1. An eccentricity of 0 indicates a perfectly circular orbit, while an eccentricity close to 1 indicates a highly elliptical orbit.

Since you mentioned that the new comet follows a highly elliptical orbit, the appropriate value for its eccentricity would likely be much closer to 1. Among the options given, 0.9200 would be the most reasonable choice for a highly elliptical orbit.

So, the correct response would be:

0.9200