<Tr> <Td> ʻOumuamua </Td> <Td> 1.20 </Td> </Tr> <P> The eccentricity of the Earth's orbit is currently about 0.0167; the Earth's orbit is nearly circular . Venus and Neptune have even lower eccentricities . Over hundreds of thousands of years, the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit varies from nearly 0.0034 to almost 0.058 as a result of gravitational attractions among the planets (see graph). </P> <P> The table lists the values for all planets and dwarf planets, and selected asteroid, comets and moons . Mercury has the greatest orbital eccentricity of any planet in the Solar System (e = 0.2056). Such eccentricity is sufficient for Mercury to receive twice as much solar irradiation at perihelion compared to aphelion . Before its demotion from planet status in 2006, Pluto was considered to be the planet with the most eccentric orbit (e = 0.248). Other Trans - Neptunian objects have significant eccentricity, notably the dwarf planet Eris (0.44). Even further out, Sedna, has an extremely high eccentricity of 6999855000000000000 ♠ 0.855 due to its estimated aphelion of 937 AU and perihelion of about 76 AU . </P> <P> Most of the Solar System's asteroids have orbital eccentricities between 0 and 0.35 with an average value of 0.17 . Their comparatively high eccentricities are probably due to the influence of Jupiter and to past collisions . </P>

Explain what eccentricity is and give the various values of it