Halley’s Comet and the Earth both orbit the Sun in elliptical paths with the Sun at one focus. The eccentricity of the comet’s orbit is 0.967 and the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit is 0.0167. The eccentricity for the Earth is close to zero, whereas the eccentricity for Halley’s Comet is close to 1. Based on this information, how do the orbits compare?

Halley’s Comet and the Earth both orbit the Sun in elliptical paths with the Sun at one focus. The eccentricity of the comet’s orbit is 0.967 and the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit is 0.0167. The eccentricity for the Earth is close to zero, whereas the eccentricity for Halley’s Comet is close to 1. Based on this information, how do the orbits compare?

Algebra & Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry

13th Edition

ISBN:9781133382119

Author:Swokowski

Publisher:Swokowski

Chapter11: Topics From Analytic Geometry

Section11.2: Ellipses

Problem 67E

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