IF Earth's orbit were suddenly to become much more eccentric. keeping orbital semimajor axis as is, fixed at 1 AU, but let's imagine shifting both the Earth's perihelion and aphelion points by 0.9 AU, so that at perihelion we were only 0.1 AU from the Sun (much closer than Mercury), but at aphelion we were way out at 1.9 AU from the Sun (considerably farther than Mars).
(a) What would happen to the length of our planet's year - would it get longer, shorter, or stay the same? Explain
(b) When, in reality (that is, with our actual, real, low-eccentricity orbit), does Earth pass through perihelion each year? During what season, and specifically what month? How, if at all, does this connect to the variation in the seasons on our planet? Explain!
(c) In the new, highly-eccentric orbit, at which point in the orbit would you expect our planet to experience the hottest temperatures, and why? Would you expect a different answer depending on whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere? Why or why not?
(d) In the new, highly-eccentric orbit, would you expect the hot seasons and cold seasons to be about equal in duration? If so, why? If not, which season should be longer, and why?
(e) Is our solar system typical in having all of its planets in very low eccentricity orbits? Brefily explain provide source if u look it up