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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 .
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.
At present, the rate of axial precession corresponds to a period of 25,772 years, [3] so sidereal year is longer than tropical year by 1,224.5 seconds (20 min 24.5 s, ~365.24219*86400/25772). Before the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus in the Hellenistic period , the difference between sidereal and tropical year was ...
Radial velocity curve with peak radial velocity K=1 m/s and orbital period 2 years. The peak radial velocity is the semi-amplitude of the radial velocity curve, as shown in the figure. The orbital period is found from the periodicity in the radial velocity curve. These are the two observable quantities needed to calculate the binary mass function.
Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit . There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same orbit, but certain schemes are commonly used in astronomy and orbital mechanics .
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. The constant of proportionality is given by
The ratio of the square of an object's orbital period with the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit is the same for all objects orbiting the same primary. This captures the relationship between the distance of planets from the Sun, and their orbital periods.
Diagram of an orbit. The plane of the orbit is in yellow, the reference plain is in gray, and the reference direction (vernal point) is the arrow in red.Also labeled are the mean anomaly (M) in pink, the true anomaly in red, the argument of periapsis (ω) and periapsis in purple, the longitude of ascending node (Ω) in green, and the inclination (i) in dark green.