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The apsides refer to the farthest (2) and nearest (3) points reached by an orbiting planetary body (2 and 3) with respect to a primary, or host, body (1). An apsis (from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) 'arch, vault'; pl. apsides / ˈ æ p s ɪ ˌ d iː z / AP-sih-deez) [1] [2] is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.
apogee The point at which a body orbiting the Earth (such as the Moon or an artificial satellite) is furthest from the Earth. Contrast perigee. apparent magnitude. Also visual brightness (V). A measure of the brightness of a celestial body as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere. The ...
An event called a "supermoon" occurs when the full Moon is closest to Earth (perigee). The largest possible apparent diameter of the Moon is the same 12% larger (as perigee versus apogee distances) than the smallest; the apparent area is 25% more and so is the amount of light it reflects toward Earth.
Astrophysicist Fred Espenak uses Nolle's definition but preferring the label of full Moon at perigee, and using the apogee and perigee nearest in time rather than the greatest and least of the year. [13] Wood used the definition of a full or new moon occurring within 24 hours of perigee and also used the label perigee-syzygy. [7]
If the argument of perigee is zero, meaning that perigee and apogee lie in the equatorial plane, then the ground track of the satellite will appear the same above and below the equator (i.e., it will exhibit 180° rotational symmetry about the orbital nodes.) If the argument of perigee is non-zero, however, the satellite will behave differently ...
r a is the radius at apoapsis (also "apofocus", "aphelion", "apogee"), i.e., the farthest distance of the orbit to the center of mass of the system, which is a focus of the ellipse. r p is the radius at periapsis (or "perifocus" etc.), the closest distance.
Transatmospheric orbit (TAO): geocentric orbits with an apogee above 100 km and perigee that intersects with the defined atmosphere. [4] Very low Earth orbit (VLEO) is defined as altitudes between approximately 100 - 450 km above Earth’s surface. [5] [6] Low Earth orbit (LEO): geocentric orbits with altitudes below 2,000 km (1,200 mi). [7]
Using, for example, the "mean anomaly" instead of "mean anomaly at epoch" means that the epoch time t must be specified as a seventh orbital element. Alternatively the "time of periapsis passage", T 0, can be specified in place of the typical epoch time. This removes the need to specify the mean anomaly at epoch, as it is assumed to be zero.