What orbital parameter, approximately 0.205 for Mercury, results in the highest eccentricity among major solar system planets?
Answer
Mercury's eccentricity
Mercury possesses the highest eccentricity among the major planets in the solar system, recorded at approximately 0.205. This relatively high value indicates that its path deviates noticeably from a perfect circle, resulting in a significant difference in distance between its perihelion and aphelion points compared to other major planets. In contrast, planets like Earth (0.0167) and especially Neptune (0.0086) have eccentricities extremely close to zero, meaning their orbits are remarkably close to being perfect circles, demonstrating the full range of orbital shapes within the major planetary grouping.
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