Milankovitch cycles: Natural causes of climate change
2:32
What is eccentricity?
1:57
Orbital forcing: Eccentricity
3:19
Kepler’s First Law of Motion - Elliptical Orbits (Astronomy)
1:00
Orbital Eccentricity in the Geochron
The orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values between 0 and 1 form an elliptic orbit, 1 is a parabolic escape orbit, and greater than 1 is a hyperbola. The term derives its name from the parameters of conic sections, as every Kepler orbit is a conic section. It is normally used for the isolated two-body problem, but extensions exist for objects following a Klemperer rosette orbit through the galaxy.