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

Question

Responses

0.0014
0.0014

0.9200
0.9200

0.1500
0.1500

0.0009

Answer 1

In astronomy, the eccentricity of an orbit describes how much it deviates from being circular. An eccentricity of 0 indicates a perfect circle, while an eccentricity between 0 and 1 indicates an elliptical orbit.

For highly elliptical orbits, the eccentricity is close to but less than 1. Typically, an eccentricity above 0.8 is considered highly elliptical.

Based on the provided options, the likely eccentricity for a highly elliptical comet would be:

0.9200

This value indicates a significant deviation from a circular orbit and is consistent with a highly elliptical trajectory.