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A synchronous orbit is an orbit in which the orbiting object (for example, an artificial satellite or a moon) takes the same amount of time to complete an orbit as it takes the object it is orbiting to rotate once.
There is ambiguity in the use of the terms 'tidally locked' and 'tidal locking', in that some scientific sources use it to refer exclusively to 1:1 synchronous rotation (e.g. the Moon), while others include non-synchronous orbital resonances in which there is no further transfer of angular momentum over the course of one orbit (e.g. Mercury). [4]
Every 18.6 years, the angle between the Moon's orbit and Earth's equator reaches a maximum of 28°36′, the sum of Earth's equatorial tilt (23°27′) and the Moon's orbital inclination (5°09′) to the ecliptic. This is called major lunar standstill. Around this time, the Moon's declination will vary from −28°36′ to +28°36′.
For the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, see Orbit of the Moon. Orion capsule of Artemis 1 above the Moon in December 2022. In astronomy and spaceflight, a lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is an orbit by an object around Earth's Moon. In general these orbits are not circular.
Geosynchronous orbit. 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 an observer on Earth's surface, an object in ...
The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period (lunar day) at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always ...
i is the inclination of the orbit to the equator. An orbit will be Sun-synchronous when the precession rate ρ = d Ω d t equals the mean motion of the Earth about the Sun nE, which is 360° per sidereal year (1.990 968 71 × 10−7 rad /s), so we must set nE = Δ ΩE TE = ρ = Δ Ω T , where TE is the earth orbital period ...
Tidal acceleration is an effect of the tidal forces between an orbiting natural satellite (e.g. the Moon) and the primary planet that it orbits (e.g. Earth). The acceleration causes a gradual recession of a satellite in a prograde orbit (satellite moving to a higher orbit, away from the primary body), and a corresponding slowdown of the primary ...