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The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy , it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun , moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting other stars , or binary stars .
This equates to an orbital speed of 3.07 kilometres per second (1.91 miles per second) and an orbital period of 1,436 minutes, one sidereal day. This ensures that the satellite will match the Earth's rotational period and has a stationary footprint on the ground. All geostationary satellites have to be located on this ring.
A satellite with an orbital inclination between 90° and 180° (or, equivalently, between 0° and −90°) is said to be in a retrograde orbit. [note 2] A satellite in a direct orbit with an orbital period less than one day will tend to move from west to east along its ground track. This is called "apparent direct" motion.
T = rotational period of the body = Radius of orbit. By this formula one can find the stationary orbit of an object in relation to a given body. Orbital speed (how fast a satellite is moving through space) is calculated by multiplying the angular speed of the satellite by the orbital radius. [3]
An orbit will be Sun-synchronous when the precession rate ρ = dΩ / dt equals the mean motion of the Earth about the Sun n E, which is 360° per sidereal year (1.990 968 71 × 10 −7 rad/s), so we must set n E = ΔΩ E / T E = ρ = ΔΩ / T , where T E is the Earth orbital period, while T is the period of the spacecraft ...
Animation (not to scale) showing geosynchronous satellite orbiting the Earth. A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for ...
The period of the resultant orbit will be less than that of the original circular orbit. Thrust applied in the direction of the satellite's motion creates an elliptical orbit with its highest point 180 degrees away from the firing point. The period of the resultant orbit will be longer than that of the original circular orbit.
Kepler's 3rd law of planetary motion states, the square of the periodic time is proportional to the cube of the mean distance, [4] or , where a is the semi-major axis or mean distance, and P is the orbital period as above.