Elliptic orbit Totally Explained

Everything about Elliptic Orbit totally explained

In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics an elliptic orbit is an orbit with the eccentricity greater than 0 and less than 1. Specific energy of an elliptical orbit is negative. An orbit with an eccentricity of 0 is a circular orbit. Examples of elliptic orbits include: Hohmann transfer orbit, Molniya orbit and tundra orbit.

Velocity

Under standard assumptions the orbital speed (

v,

) of a body traveling along elliptic orbit can be computed from the Vis-viva equation as: ť

v=sqrt=epsilon<0

where:

v,

is orbital speed of orbiting body,

r,

is radial distance of orbiting body from central body,

a,

is length of semi-major axis,

mu,

is standard gravitational parameter. Conclusions:

Specific energy for elliptic orbits is independent of eccentricity and is determined only by semi-major axis of the ellipse. Using the virial theorem we find:

the time-average of the specific potential energy is equal to 2ε

the time-average of r^-1 is a^-1

the time-average of the specific kinetic energy is equal to -ε

Flight path angle

h, = r, v, cos phi

where:

h,

is the specific relative angular momentum of the orbit,

v,

is orbital speed of orbiting body,

r,

is radial distance of orbiting body from central body,

phi ,

is the flight path angle

Equation of motion

ť See orbit equation

Orbital parameters

The state of an orbiting body at any given time is defined by the orbiting body's position and velocity with respect to the central body, which can be represented by the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates (position of the orbiting body represented by x, y, and z) and the similar Cartesian components of the orbiting body's velocity. This set of six variables, together with time, are called the orbital state vectors. Given the masses of the two bodies they determine the full orbit. The two most general cases with these 6 degrees of freedom are the elliptic and the hyperbolic orbit. Special cases with less degrees of freedom are the circular and parabolic orbit.
Because at least six variables are absolutely required to completely represent an elliptic orbit with this set of parameters, then six variables are required to represent an orbit with any set of parameters. Another set of six parameters that are commonly used are the orbital elements.

Solar system

In the Solar System, planets, asteroids, comets and space debris have elliptical orbits around the Sun, relative to the Sun.
Moons have an elliptic orbit around their planet.
Many artificial satellites have various elliptic orbits around the Earth.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Elliptic Orbit'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://elliptic_orbit.totallyexplained.com">Elliptic orbit Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.