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What does it mean when you say a planet has a highly eccentric orbit?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
"Eccentric" means the same thing in planetary orbital mechanics that it means in anything else: Offbeat, odd, strange in some way. Consider the recently demoted planetoid Pluto. If you think of the sun as a ball in the middle of a page, and then draw a level line form left to right through the sun, the orbits of eight of the planets vary only a bit above or below that line. Pluto's orbit swings 'way above the line on one side of the sun, and conversely 'way below the sun on the other side - an eccentric orbit.
2nd Answer:
"Center" is the root word. With the addition of certain prefixes, "Center" can be described according to whether the circle is perfectly round ("Centric"), or if it has the same center point as another circle ("Concentric"), or if the "Circle does NOT share the same center point as another circle.)
In our manner of speaking, the Sun often serves as the center of nearly circular, concentric orbits. If the Sun is NOT the center of an orbit around it, the orbit is not circular, but elliptical, is said to be "Ec-centric, or just eccentric)
From this, the word, 'Eccentric' has been used for many things that are, well, not quite right - not quite on center. An example would be an eccentric old geezer who puts cigarettes between his lips, but never lights them. The detective, "Monk" on the TV show of the same name, is eccentric.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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What is The orbit of a planet around the sun is a(n)?
If you mean the shape of the orbit, that's an ellipse.
What does eccentricity mean to an astronomer?
A bodies eccentricity is a measure of how circular the orbit of that body is. Perfectly circular orbits have the lowest eccentricity, of 0, whereas orbits such as that of the dwarf planet Pluto are more eccentric. When there are multiple large bodies in an orbit, with smaller bodies orbiting multiple of these, the eccentricities of the smaller bodies are quite high.
What do you call a path that the planet follows to obit around the sun?
The path that the planet follows is simply called the orbit. Orbit can mean 'to revolve around the sun' or it can be referred to as the path itself, e.g. 'Earth is following its orbit.'
When you say a satellite is orbiting a planet you mean what?
It means that it moves around the planet, along a path (orbit) that has the shape of an ellipse.
When a celestial body moves in an orbit around another celestial body?
Its means that if there is a planet, for example: Earth, The Earth is surrounded by the moon....so its actually means that a planet is surrounded by something else/A Planet
When you say that a planet has a highly eccentric orbit you mean that?
It deviates from a perfect circle by a considerable amount.
What is The orbit of a planet around the sun is a(n)?
If you mean the shape of the orbit, that's an ellipse.
What does eccentricity mean to an astronomer?
A bodies eccentricity is a measure of how circular the orbit of that body is. Perfectly circular orbits have the lowest eccentricity, of 0, whereas orbits such as that of the dwarf planet Pluto are more eccentric. When there are multiple large bodies in an orbit, with smaller bodies orbiting multiple of these, the eccentricities of the smaller bodies are quite high.
What planet is the imaginary path that the planet travels on around the sun?
mercury. I think you mean "Orbit".
How long does it take mercury to orbit the planet?
Do you mean how long does it take Mercury to orbit the sun ? 87.969 days
What does it mean by the planet orbit the sun?
It means that the planets go around the sun.
What do you call a path that the planet follows to obit around the sun?
The path that the planet follows is simply called the orbit. Orbit can mean 'to revolve around the sun' or it can be referred to as the path itself, e.g. 'Earth is following its orbit.'
Where can the largest comet be found?
The problem with answering this question is that two of the words used are somewhat vague: what do you mean by 'comet' and what do you mean by 'biggest'?Hale-Bopp has the largest known nucleus of any comet that is clearly and unambiguously a comet.However, 2060 Chiron, also known as 95P/Chiron, is larger than Hale-Bopp and exhibits some comet-like behavior (that's why the two names; the first is a minor planet name, the second is a comet name); it's possible that it could become a short-period comet eventually (within a million years or so).Hale-Bopp has a highly eccentric 2500-year orbit; it's currently somewhere outside the orbit of Neptune and headed outward, which will continue to be the case for the next 1200 years or so.Chiron's 50-year orbit is far less eccentric, but still pretty eccentric; it ranges between roughly the orbits of Saturn and Uranus.
What is a word that means A path the planet travels around the sun?
I assume you mean "around the Sun". That is the Earth's orbit. The plane of this orbit is called the ecliptic.
When you say a satellite is orbiting a planet you mean what?
It means that it moves around the planet, along a path (orbit) that has the shape of an ellipse.
When you say a satellite is orbiting a planet you mean?
It means that it moves around the planet, along a path (orbit) that has the shape of an ellipse.
Which planet orbits the Sun slowest?
If you still consider Pluto to be a planet then Pluto would be the slowest to orbit the sun. If you don't believe Pluto is a planet anymore then Neptune would be the slowest planet to orbit our sun.
