Elliptical orbits for planets

[mwforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Daniel Ajoy)]

On 5 Mar 2003 at 9:00, Daniel Ajoy wrote:

> And to the original poster, when I was young I tried
> to make astronomically correct planet-paths but you
> should see how much the true eccentricity factors 
> of the ellipses affect the circularity the the paths. 
> It almost can't be noticed. If the true paths were
> very flat (like in teachers' drawings) humans wouldn't 
> survive it.
> 

Here is a site that explains it all:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04jan_1.htm

Ok. Pluto is a "bit" eccentric but not the others 
(graph attached)

Perihelion Distance. closest point to the Sun
Aphelion Distance. farthest point from the Sun

If they had circular orbits the Perihelion Distance and the
Aphelion Distance would be exactly the same.

Daniel

Attachment: planets.gif
Description: GIF image