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α = angle of inclination. The grade (US) or gradient (UK) (also called stepth, slope, incline, mainfall, pitch or rise) of a physical feature, landform or constructed line refers to the tangent of the angle of that surface to the horizontal. It is a special case of the slope, where zero indicates horizontality. A larger number indicates higher ...
An inclination of 63.4° is often called a critical inclination, when describing artificial satellites orbiting the Earth, because they have zero apogee drift. [3] An inclination of exactly 90° is a polar orbit, in which the spacecraft passes over the poles of the planet. An inclination greater than 90° and less than 180° is a retrograde orbit.
Orbital inclination is the angle formed between the plane of an orbit and the equatorial plane of the Earth. The geographic latitudes covered by the ground track will range from –i to i, where i is the orbital inclination. [4] In other words, the greater the inclination of a satellite's orbit, the further north and south its ground track will ...
The top spins around its own axis of symmetry; this corresponds to its intrinsic rotation. It also rotates around its pivotal axis, with its center of mass orbiting the pivotal axis; this rotation is a precession. Finally, the top can wobble up and down; the inclination angle is the nutation angle.
Inclination (i) — vertical tilt of the ellipse with respect to the reference plane, measured at the ascending node (where the orbit passes upward through the reference plane, the green angle i in the diagram). Tilt angle is measured perpendicular to line of intersection between orbital plane and reference plane.
The polar angle may be called inclination angle, zenith angle, normal angle, or the colatitude. The user may choose to ignore the inclination angle and use the elevation angle instead, which is measured upward between the reference plane and the radial line—i.e., from the reference plane upward (towards to the positive z-axis) to the radial line.
The value of a solar beta angle for a satellite in Earth orbit can be found using the equation = [ + ()] where is the ecliptic true solar longitude, is the right ascension of ascending node (RAAN), is the orbit's inclination, and is the obliquity of the ecliptic (approximately 23.45 degrees for Earth at present).
Dip is the inclination of a given feature, and is measured from the steepest angle of descent of a tilted bed or feature relative to a horizontal plane. [5] [6] True dip is always perpendicular to the strike. It is written as a number (between 0° and 90°) indicating the angle in degrees below horizontal.