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An object in orbit influenced by the gravitational attraction of only that body is in a "Keplerian orbit", a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, but, in the real universe, all objects are influenced by all other objects in the universe, hence, the orbit will deviate from true Keplerian motion. | An object in orbit influenced by the gravitational attraction of only that body is in a "Keplerian orbit", a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, but, in the real universe, all objects are influenced by all other objects in the universe, hence, the orbit will deviate from true Keplerian motion. | ||
− | A circular orbit has an [[eccentricity]] of zero, an elliptical orbit has an eccentricity of 0 < e < 1, an orbit with an eccentricity = 0 is a parabolic orbit, and an orbit with an eccentricity >1 are hyperbolic. Objects in parabolic and hyperbolic orbits will eventually escape the gravitational attraction of the central body. So, in Orbiter, if your ship is in a circular or elliptical orbit around a body, it will remain in an orbit around that body unless influenced by some outside force such as thrust | + | A circular orbit has an [[eccentricity]] of zero, an elliptical orbit has an eccentricity of 0 < e < 1, an orbit with an eccentricity = 0 is a parabolic orbit, and an orbit with an eccentricity >1 are hyperbolic. Objects in parabolic and hyperbolic orbits will eventually escape the gravitational attraction of the central body. So, in Orbiter, if your ship is in a circular or elliptical orbit around a body, it will remain in an orbit around that body unless influenced by some outside force such as thrust. A ship thrusting in a direction increasing its velocity long enough, the orbit will become parabolic or hyperbolic and the ship will escape that body. |
An object which has insufficient velocity to maintain orbit above the surface is in a "suborbit". If the central object could be reduced to a point mass, the orbiting object would be then in an elliptical orbit, but without the point mass, the object collides with the ground. An example would be throwing a baseball, football, etc., the object is in an elliptical suborbit until it collides with the ground. | An object which has insufficient velocity to maintain orbit above the surface is in a "suborbit". If the central object could be reduced to a point mass, the orbiting object would be then in an elliptical orbit, but without the point mass, the object collides with the ground. An example would be throwing a baseball, football, etc., the object is in an elliptical suborbit until it collides with the ground. | ||
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== See also == | == See also == | ||
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[[w: Orbit|Orbit]] at Wikipedia. | [[w: Orbit|Orbit]] at Wikipedia. | ||
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[[Category: Glossary]] | [[Category: Glossary]] | ||
{{Stub}} | {{Stub}} |