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  2. Apsis - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis

    The apsides refer to the farthest (2) and nearest (3) points reached by an orbiting planetary body (2 and 3) with respect to a primary, or host, body (1). An apsis (from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) 'arch, vault'; pl. apsides / ˈ æ p s ɪ ˌ d iː z / AP-sih-deez) [1] [2] is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.

  3. Apsidal precession - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsidal_precession

    The ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus noted the apsidal precession of the Moon's orbit (as the revolution of the Moon's apogee with a period of approximately 8.85 years); [4] it is corrected for in the Antikythera Mechanism (circa 80 BCE) (with the supposed value of 8.88 years per full cycle, correct to within 0.34% of current measurements). [5]

  4. Longitude of periapsis - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_of_periapsis

    ϖ = Ω + ω in separate planes. In celestial mechanics, the longitude of the periapsis, also called longitude of the pericenter, of an orbiting body is the longitude (measured from the point of the vernal equinox) at which the periapsis (closest approach to the central body) would occur if the body's orbit inclination were zero.

  5. Argument of periapsis - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_of_periapsis

    The argument of periapsis (also called argument of perifocus or argument of pericenter), symbolized as ω (), is one of the orbital elements of an orbiting body. . Parametrically, ω is the angle from the body's ascending node to its periapsis, measured in the dire

  6. Earth's orbit - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

    The six Earth images are positions along the orbital ellipse, which are sequentially the perihelion (periapsis—nearest point to the Sun) on anywhere from January 2 to January 5, the point of March equinox on March 19, 20, or 21, the point of June solstice on June 20, 21, or 22, the aphelion (apoapsis—the farthest point from the Sun) on ...

  7. Orbit - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit

    An animation showing a low eccentricity orbit (near-circle, in red), and a high eccentricity orbit (ellipse, in purple). In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object [1] such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such ...

  8. Orbital eccentricity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_eccentricity

    For Earth, orbital eccentricity e ≈ 0.016 71, apoapsis is aphelion and periapsis is perihelion, relative to the Sun. For Earth's annual orbit path, the ratio of longest radius (r a) / shortest radius (r p) is = +

  9. Orbital elements - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_elements

    Either the longitude at epoch, L 0, the mean anomaly at epoch, M 0, or the time of perihelion passage, T 0, are used to specify a known point in the orbit. The choices made depend whether the vernal equinox or the node are used as the primary reference.