The table below shows the orbital information for several asteroids. Which has the most circular orbit? Why?
The most circular orbit is the one with the lowest eccentricity (Asteroid 1).
This is because eccentricity 0 is a perfect circle; eccentricity increases as the perihelion distance becomes more difference to the aphelion distance:
e = 1 - Dper/a <- As Dper gets smaller compared to Dap (and therefore a) this gets closer to 1-0 = 1
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