Orbit Archives - Planet Facts https://planetfacts.org/category/space-terms/orbit/ Fun and Interesting Information About the Nine Planets Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:38:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://planetfacts.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-planetfacts_logo-32x32.png Orbit Archives - Planet Facts https://planetfacts.org/category/space-terms/orbit/ 32 32 Orbital Period https://planetfacts.org/orbital-period/ Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:14:04 +0000 http://planet-facts.com/?p=1763 Orbital period is defined as the amount of time an object travels around another object. This is in respect to the sidereal period, which is the time required for a celestial body to orbit. In the succeeding paragraph, you will find the varying orbital periods and their respective explanations. The sidereal period is regarded as […]

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]]> Orbital period is defined as the amount of time an object travels around another object. This is in respect to the sidereal period, which is the time required for a celestial body to orbit. In the succeeding paragraph, you will find the varying orbital periods and their respective explanations.

The sidereal period is regarded as an object’s orbital period.

The synodic period is the required time for an object to resurface simultaneously in respect to two other objects. An example would be the Sun, Moon and Earth’s linear relationship. This is the same period that occurs amid two conjunctions where the line of the Earth and the Sun is within similar linear orders.

The draconitic period is the period that passes between two entries where an object crosses two sides of the hemisphere, or what is also known as the ascending node. This is also plane coincidence.

The anomalistic period happens between two entries of an object at its closest point to the attracting body. This is like the planets in relation to the Sun in the Solar System. In space travel terms, an orbital period is the time it takes for a satellite to complete an orbit about its primary.

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]]> Eccentric https://planetfacts.org/eccentric/ Sun, 22 May 2011 00:59:53 +0000 http://planet-facts.com/?p=1058 Planets have two motions in space. The first one is their rotation, where they spin on their axis. They also move around the sun, which is called their revolution. On their journey around the sun, they follow an imaginary track called the orbit. In contrary to the popular notion, orbits are not perfect circles but […]

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]]> Planets have two motions in space. The first one is their rotation, where they spin on their axis. They also move around the sun, which is called their revolution. On their journey around the sun, they follow an imaginary track called the orbit.

In contrary to the popular notion, orbits are not perfect circles but are eccentric. Their paths are actually ellipses. In geometry, an ellipse is somewhat a flattened circle, where all the set of outer points are equidistant from two internal points: the foci.

Astronomers have discovered the eccentricity of the planets? orbits. A value close to zero means that it is near to a perfect circle (less eccentric) and values closer to 1 means they look more flattened (more eccentric). The earth has an eccentricity of 0.017. Of all the planets in the solar system, mercury has the most elliptical orbit, with an eccentricity of 0.206.

The sun is actually one of the foci of all the planets? eccentric orbits. This means that there are times when a planet is closest to the sun (perihelion) and times when it is farthest from it (aphelion). As for the earth, the elliptical orbit and the earth?s tilt are significant factors of seasonal change.

Mercury's Eccentric Orbit

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