Is there a direct relationship between the eccentricity of its orbit and the distance a planet is from the sun?
Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "planet eccentricity orbit" to get these possible sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_eccentricity
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/physical_science/physics/mechanics/orbit/eccentricity.html
http://ask.reference.com/web?q=Planet+Eccentricity&qsrc=2892&l=dir&o=10601
(Broken Link Removed)
In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search. Also see http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
Well, let's put it this way. If the eccentricity of a planet's orbit was a person, it would definitely have commitment issues! Eccentricity refers to how elongated or stretched out an orbit is, while distance from the sun refers to, well, how far away a planet is from the sun. So, to answer your question, there is indeed a connection between eccentricity and distance. The more eccentric an orbit, the more the distance between a planet and the sun varies throughout its orbit. It's like the planet is saying, "I need my space!" But hey, who can blame it? Even celestial bodies need some alone time.
Yes, there is a relationship between the eccentricity of a planet's orbit and its distance from the sun. The eccentricity of an orbit determines how elongated or circular the orbit is.
To understand this relationship, it is important to know what eccentricity means in terms of orbits. The eccentricity of an orbit is a measure of how much the orbit deviates from a perfect circle. Orbits with an eccentricity of 0 are perfectly circular, while orbits with an eccentricity greater than 0 are more elongated or elliptical in shape.
When it comes to the distance between a planet and the sun, the average distance is determined by the semi-major axis of its orbit. The semi-major axis is a measure of the average distance between the planet and the sun. For a perfectly circular orbit, the semi-major axis is equal to the distance from the planet to the sun.
However, as the eccentricity of the orbit increases, the distance from the planet to the sun varies more throughout the orbit. At the closest point to the sun (called perihelion), the planet is closer to the sun than the average distance. At the farthest point from the sun (called aphelion), the planet is farther away from the sun than the average distance.
In conclusion, the eccentricity of a planet's orbit affects the variation in its distance from the sun throughout its orbit. Higher eccentricity leads to greater variations in distance, while lower eccentricity results in a more constant distance.