The apparent backward movement of a planet is called

A. Kepler's first law of motion.

B. heliocentric motion.

C. eccentricity.

D. retrograde motion.

A). Kepler's first law of planetary motion ... "Each planet moves

in an elliptical orbit, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse."

B). Heliocentric motion ... motion in an orbit around the Sun.

C). Eccentricity ... what makes an ellipse different from a circle.

The eccentricity of a circle is zero.

The eccentricity of the Earth's orbit is very small.

The eccentricity of a comet's orbit is big.

D). Retrograde motion ... the apparent, temporary, backward

motion of a planet on its path through the stars.