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The reference body and the vernal point (♈︎) establish a reference direction and, together with the reference plane, they establish a reference frame. The traditional orbital elements are the six Keplerian elements , after Johannes Kepler and his laws of planetary motion .
An orbital plane as viewed relative to a plane of reference. An orbital plane can also be seen in relative to conic sections, in which the orbital path is defined as the intersection between a plane and a cone. Parabolic (1) and hyperbolic (3) orbits are escape orbits, whereas elliptical and circular orbits (2) are captive.
The chart of orbitals (left) is arranged by increasing energy (see Madelung rule). Atomic orbits are functions of three variables (two angles, and the distance r from the nucleus). These images are faithful to the angular component of the orbital, but not entirely representative of the orbital as a whole.
These differ in their choice of fundamental plane, which divides the celestial sphere into two equal hemispheres along a great circle. Rectangular coordinates, in appropriate units, have the same fundamental (x, y) plane and primary (x-axis) direction, such as an axis of rotation. Each coordinate system is named after its choice of fundamental ...
The reference plane is assumed to be the xy-plane, and the origin of longitude is taken to be the positive x-axis. k is the unit vector (0, 0, 1), which is the normal vector to the xy reference plane. For non-inclined orbits (with inclination equal to zero), ☊ is undefined.
The X/Y plane coincides with Earth's equatorial plane, with the +X axis pointing toward the vernal equinox and the Y axis completing a right-handed set. The ECI reference frame is not truly inertial because of the slow, 26,000 year precession of Earth's axis , so the reference frames defined by Earth's orientation at a standard astronomical ...
The inclination of a celestial object is the angle between its orbital plane and another reference frame such as the equatorial plane of the object's primary. In the Solar System, inclination of the planets is measured from the ecliptic plane, which is the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun. [5]
The image shows the relations between Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity), rotation axis, and orbital plane. The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of Earth. By extension, it is also a plane of reference in the equatorial coordinate system.