Alternate Definitions for Eccentricity

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Term: Eccentricity
Definition:

The amount by which the orbit deviates from circularity: e = c/a, where c is the distance from the center to a focus and a the semi-major axis. If e = 0, the orbit is a circle. If e < 1, the orbit is an ellipse, if e > 1 it is a hyperbola, and if e = 1 it is a parabola. The eccentricity is one of the six orbital elements that define a Keplerian orbit.

Created 2023.04.16
Last Modified 2023.04.16
Contributed by Ryan McGranaghan
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