Top 10 Facts About The Earth

9. The Elliptical Orbit of Earth


It must be known that the orbit of the Earth is not circular but an ellipse. The orbital eccentricity of the Earth is estimated to be 1/60. The eccentricity of 0 indicates that the orbit is round while the eccentricity of 1 indicates that the planet would come near the Sun once and then fly off into the space to not return ever. However, with the 1/60 eccentricity, the Earth revolves around the Sun on an elliptical path with the speed of orbiting increasing when it is near the Sun and slowing when it is farthest from it.