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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 orbital plane of ...
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.
The ecliptic or invariable plane for planets, asteroids, comets, etc. within the Solar System, as these bodies generally have orbits that lie close to the ecliptic. The equatorial plane of the orbited body for satellites orbiting with small semi-major axes; The local Laplace plane for satellites orbiting with intermediate-to-large semi-major axes
Their orbits are not coplanar with that of the Earth, but do share its centre as their own common centre, and lie in planes that are only slightly inclined to the Earth's orbital plane. Unlike the Moon's orbital plane, those of the superior planets do not precess. Their inclinations to the Earth's orbital plane do oscillate, however, between ...
The inclination i, of the orbital plane with the fundamental plane (this is usually a planet or moon's equatorial plane, or in the case of a solar orbit, the Earth's orbital plane around the Sun, known as the ecliptic.) Positive inclination is northward, while negative inclination is southward.
An animation showing a low eccentricity orbit (near-circle, in red), and a high eccentricity orbit (ellipse, in purple). In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object [1] such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such ...
Since obliquity is the angle between the axis of rotation and the direction perpendicular to the orbital plane, it changes as the orbital plane changes due to the influence of other planets. But the axis of rotation can also move (axial precession), due to torque exerted by the Sun on a planet's equatorial bulge. Like Earth, all of the rocky ...
In the Solar System, about 98% of this effect is contributed by the orbital angular momenta of the four giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).The invariable plane is within 0.5° of the orbital plane of Jupiter, [1] and may be regarded as the weighted average of all planetary orbital and rotational planes.