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orbit

right|thumb|Variation of orbital eccentricity    

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Image: STS-130 Endeavour flyaround 5.jpg

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Commons gallery: Orbits
Commons category: Orbits

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~50 min read

Article

35 sections

Contents

History
Planetary orbits
Principles
Illustration
Newton's laws
Gravity and motion
Energy and conic sections
Kepler's laws
Limitations of classical mechanics
Formulation
Newtonian analysis of orbital motion
Force and acceleration
Polar coordinates
Kepler's second law
Kepler's first law
Kepler's third law
Applying torque
Relativistic orbital motion
Specification
Perturbations
Radial, transverse and normal perturbations
Orbital decay
Oblateness
Tidal locking
Multiple gravitating bodies
Approaches to many-body problems
Radiation and magnetic fields
Strange orbits
Astrodynamics
Earth orbits
Scaling in gravity
See also
References
Further reading
External links

right|thumb|Variation of orbital eccentricity    

In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object under the influence of an attracting force. Alternatively, it is known as an orbital revolution, because it is a rotation around an axis external to the moving body. Examples for orbits include the trajectory of a planet around a star, a natural satellite around a planet, or an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a planet, moon, asteroid, or Lagrange point. Normally, orbit refers to a regularly repeating trajectory, although it may also refer to a non-repeating trajectory. To a close approximation, planets, and satellites follow elliptic orbits, with the center of mass being orbited at a focal point of the ellipse, as described by Kepler's laws of planetary motion.