Celestial Mechanics
In celestial mechanics, for bound orbits in a spherical potential, the definition above is informally generalized. When the apocenter distance is close to the pericenter distance, the orbit is said to have low eccentricity; when they are very different, the orbit is said be eccentric or having eccentricity near unity. This definition coincides with the mathematical definition of eccentricity for ellipse, in Keplerian, i.e., potentials.
Read more about this topic: Eccentricity (mathematics)
Famous quotes containing the words celestial and/or mechanics:
“We have reason to be grateful for celestial phenomena, for they chiefly answer to the ideal in man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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