| A | B |
|---|
| ellipse | flattened oval shape |
| major axis | connects points farthest from each other on an ellipse |
| minor axis | connects points closest together on an ellipse |
| location of sun | one focus of the ellipse |
| orbits of planets in our solar system | slightly eccentric |
| eccentricity | measure of the flatness of an ellipse |
| range of possible eccentricities | from 0 to 1 |
| flat line | eccentricity is 1 |
| circle | eccentricity is 0 |
| distance between foci divided by length of major axis | eccentricity formula |
| Kepler's 3rd Law | planets have elliptical orbits with sun at one foci |
| to find eccentricty of planets | look in reference table |
