The eccentricity of a planet's orbit describes
A) its tilt with respect to the plane of Earth's orbit (the ecliptic plane).
B) its shape compared to that of a circle.
C) its motion at any specific point in its orbit as seen from Earth,that is,whether direct,retrograde,or stationary.
D) the tilt of the planet's spin axis with respect to its orbital plane.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eccentricity of a planet's orbit describes the shape of its orbit compared to that of a circle. It is calculated as the ratio of the distance between the foci of the ellipse to the length of the major axis of the ellipse. The closer this value is to 0, the more circular the orbit, whereas the closer it is to 1, the more elongated or elliptical the orbit.

The Eccentricity of a Planet's Orbit Describes