This paper addresses the degree of second-order non-circularity or impropriety of complex random variables and its purpose is to complement previously available theoretical results. New properties of the non-circularity rate (also called circularity spectrum) are given for scalar and multidimensional complex random variables with a particular attention paid to rectilinear random variables, i.e., with maximum circularity spectrum. Finally, the maximum likelihood estimate of the circularity spectrum in the Gaussian case and asymptotic distribution of this estimate for arbitrary distributions are given