Question

Astronomers discovered a new comet that follows a highly elliptical orbit. What is its eccentricity likely to be?

a. 0.0014
b. 09200
c. 0.0009
d. 0.1500

Answer 1

The eccentricity of an orbit describes how elongated it is; for a highly elliptical orbit, the eccentricity is typically much greater than that of a circular orbit (which has an eccentricity of 0). A highly elliptical orbit usually has an eccentricity closer to 1.

Among the options provided:

a. 0.0014 (almost circular)
b. 0.9200 (highly elliptical, close to 1)
c. 0.0009 (almost circular)
d. 0.1500 (still more circular than elliptical)

The most appropriate choice for a highly elliptical orbit would be:

**b. 0.9200**