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The planets and all other objects in the solar system move in elliptical orbits round the Sun. That's a sort of "oval", roughly. The shape of the orbits was discovered by Johannes Kepler and published in 1609.

The amount of elongation of an ellipse is measured by a parameter called the eccentricity (a circle is an ellipse with zero eccentricity).

In the case of the eight planets (except Mercury) the eccentricity is low and the shape of the orbit is very close to a circle but with the Sun displaced from the centre by an amount equal to the eccentricity multiplied the the average distance (the semimajor axis).

Mars has the highest eccentricity of all the eight planets other than Mercury. Mars's orbit has a semimajor axis of 1.524 astronomical units and eccentricity of 0.0934. The minor axis of the ellipse is 99.6% of the major axis, so the orbit looks like a circle, but the centre of the circle is 0.142 astronomical units away from the Sun, so Mars's distance varies from 1.382 to 1.666 astronomical units.

Kepler's achievement in discovering that Mars's orbit is an ellipse rather than the offset-circle used in the Ptolemy theory is highly impressive and it depended on the very accurate observations and measurements made by his employer, Tycho Brahe.

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How is science related to planets?

Science is related to planets through the fields of astronomy and planetary science. Scientists use the scientific method to study planets, collecting data through observations and experiments to better understand their composition, behavior, and characteristics. By applying scientific principles, researchers can uncover the mysteries of planets and expand our knowledge of the universe.


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