Concept
Orbital eccentricity
Related concepts (49)
Vega 2
Vega 2 (along with Vega 1) was a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program to explore Halley's comet and Venus. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier Venera craft. The name VeGa (ВеГа) combines the first two letters Russian words for Venus (Венера: "Venera") and Halley (Галлея: "Galleya") They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki. The craft was powered by large twin solar panels. Instruments included an antenna dish, cameras, spectrometer, infrared sounder, magnetometers (MISCHA) and plasma probes.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest IAU-recognized planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times the mass of Earth, and slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus. Neptune is denser and physically smaller than Uranus because its greater mass causes more gravitational compression of its atmosphere. Being composed primarily of gases and liquids, it has no well-defined solid surface.
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet, Comet Halley, or sometimes simply Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061. Halley's periodic returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers around the world since at least 240 BC.
Apsis
An apsis (; ˈæpsɪˌdiːz ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides is the line connecting the two extreme values. For example, for orbits about the Sun the apsides are called aphelion (farthest) and perihelion (nearest). The Moon's two apsides are the farthest point, apogee, and the nearest point, perigee, of its orbit around the host Earth. The Earth's two apsides are the farthest point, aphelion, and the nearest point, perihelion, of its orbit around the host Sun.
Standard gravitational parameter
In celestial mechanics, the standard gravitational parameter μ of a celestial body is the product of the gravitational constant G and the mass M of the bodies. For two bodies the parameter may be expressed as G(m1+m2), or as GM when one body is much larger than the other: For several objects in the Solar System, the value of μ is known to greater accuracy than either G or M. The SI units of the standard gravitational parameter are m3 s−2. However, units of km3 s−2 are frequently used in the scientific literature and in spacecraft navigation.
Elliptic orbit
In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics, an elliptic orbit or elliptical orbit is a Kepler orbit with an eccentricity of less than 1; this includes the special case of a circular orbit, with eccentricity equal to 0. In a stricter sense, it is a Kepler orbit with the eccentricity greater than 0 and less than 1 (thus excluding the circular orbit). In a wider sense, it is a Kepler orbit with negative energy. This includes the radial elliptic orbit, with eccentricity equal to 1.
Circular orbit
A circular orbit is an orbit with a fixed distance around the barycenter; that is, in the shape of a circle. In this case, not only the distance, but also the speed, angular speed, potential and kinetic energy are constant. There is no periapsis or apoapsis. This orbit has no radial version. Listed below is a circular orbit in astrodynamics or celestial mechanics under standard assumptions. Here the centripetal force is the gravitational force, and the axis mentioned above is the line through the center of the central mass perpendicular to the orbital plane.
Specific orbital energy
In the gravitational two-body problem, the specific orbital energy (or vis-viva energy) of two orbiting bodies is the constant sum of their mutual potential energy () and their total kinetic energy (), divided by the reduced mass. According to the orbital energy conservation equation (also referred to as vis-viva equation), it does not vary with time: where is the relative orbital speed; is the orbital distance between the bodies; is the sum of the standard gravitational parameters of the bodies; is the specific relative angular momentum in the sense of relative angular momentum divided by the reduced mass; is the orbital eccentricity; is the semi-major axis.
Barycenter
In astronomy, the barycenter (or barycentre; ) is the center of mass of two or more bodies that orbit one another and is the point about which the bodies orbit. A barycenter is a dynamical point, not a physical object. It is an important concept in fields such as astronomy and astrophysics. The distance from a body's center of mass to the barycenter can be calculated as a two-body problem. If one of the two orbiting bodies is much more massive than the other and the bodies are relatively close to one another, the barycenter will typically be located within the more massive object.
Hyperbolic trajectory
In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics, a hyperbolic trajectory or hyperbolic orbit is the trajectory of any object around a central body with more than enough speed to escape the central object's gravitational pull. The name derives from the fact that according to Newtonian theory such an orbit has the shape of a hyperbola. In more technical terms this can be expressed by the condition that the orbital eccentricity is greater than one.