The Ellipse

Common card · No. 353428

The Ellipse, sometimes referred to as President's Park South, is a 52-acre (21 ha) park south of the White House fence and north of Constitution Avenue and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The Ellipse is also the name of the five-furlong (1.0 km) circumference street within the park. The entire park, which features monuments, is open to the public and is part of President's Park. The Ellipse is the location for many annual events. From a mathematical point of view, the Ellipse is truly an ellipse. Its dimensions are 1,058 feet (322 m) for its major axis (east-west) and 903 feet (275 m) for its minor axis (north-south). Its foci are 552 feet (168 m) apart, each 276 feet (84 m) from the center of the ellipse (east and west). Its eccentricity is thus ⁠552/1058⁠ = 0.52.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain