BY LETTER
Eccentricity
The measure of how an orbit deviates from circular. A perfectly circular orbit has an eccentricity of zero; an elliptical orbit an eccentricity between 0 and 1; a parabolic orbit an eccentricity equal to 1; and a hyperbolic orbit an eccentricity greater than 1.
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Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 24 October 2001.
Initially published on 24 October 2001.
