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In gravitationally bound systems, the orbital speed of an astronomical body or object (e.g. planet, moon, artificial satellite, spacecraft, or star) is the speed at which it orbits around either the barycenter (the combined center of mass) or, if one body is much more massive than the other bodies of the system combined, its speed relative to the center of mass of the most massive body.
The speed (or the magnitude of velocity) relative to the centre of mass is constant: [1]: 30 = = where: , is the gravitational constant, is the mass of both orbiting bodies (+), although in common practice, if the greater mass is significantly larger, the lesser mass is often neglected, with minimal change in the result.
Orbital mechanics is a core discipline within space-mission design and control. Celestial mechanics treats more broadly the orbital dynamics of systems under the influence of gravity, including both spacecraft and natural astronomical bodies such as star systems, planets, moons, and comets.
In astrodynamics, an orbit equation defines the path of orbiting body around central body relative to , without specifying position as a function of time.Under standard assumptions, a body moving under the influence of a force, directed to a central body, with a magnitude inversely proportional to the square of the distance (such as gravity), has an orbit that is a conic section (i.e. circular ...
An elliptical orbit is depicted in the top-right quadrant of this diagram, where the gravitational potential well of the central mass shows potential energy, and the kinetic energy of the orbital speed is shown in red. The height of the kinetic energy decreases as the orbiting body's speed decreases and distance increases according to Kepler's ...
For a circular orbit around a central body, where the centripetal force provided by gravity is F = mv 2 r −1: = = =, where r is the orbit radius, v is the orbital speed, ω is the angular speed, and T is the orbital period.
Newton illustrates his formula with three examples. In the first two, the central force is a power law, F(r) = r n−3, so C(r) is proportional to r n. The formula above indicates that the angular motion is multiplied by a factor k = 1/ √ n, so that the apsidal angle α equals 180°/ √ n.
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 ...