Editing Orbit

An '''orbit''' is any path taken by one object around another object.  In the sense of space flight it refers to an object circling a central, more massive object as a result of the orbiting objects forward velocity and the central object's [[Gravity|gravitational]] pull on the orbiting object.

A good discussion (with illustrations) available at Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit]

[[Category: Glossary]]
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-An '''orbit''' is any path taken by one object around another object.  In the sense of space flight it refers to an object circling a central, more massive object as a result of the orbiting objects forward velocity and the central object's [[Gravity|gravitational]] pull on the orbiting object. All objects not in contact with another object are in orbit.
+An '''orbit''' is any path taken by one object around another object.  In the sense of space flight it refers to an object circling a central, more massive object as a result of the orbiting objects forward velocity and the central object's [[Gravity|gravitational]] pull on the orbiting object.
-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 good discussion (with illustrations) available at Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit]
-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 or atmospheric drag. 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.
-== Orbital parameters ==
-Six parameters referred to as 'Keplerian elements" are used to define an orbit.
-{|class="wikitable"
-|colspan="4"|<center>'''Keplerian Elements'''</center>
-|-
-|<center>'''Element'''</center>||<center>'''Symbol'''</center>||<center>'''Unit of measure'''</center>||<center>'''Description'''</center>
-|-
-|Semimajor axis||<center>a</center>||<center>m, km, AU</center>||Defines the size of the orbit, sum of the radii of the apsides divided by 2
-|-
-|Eccentricity||<center>e</center>||||Defines the roundness of the orbit, e = 0, circular; 0 < e < 1, elliptical; e = 1, parabolic; e > 1, hyperbolic
-|-
-|Inclination||<center>i</center>||<center>°</center>||Tilt of the orbit with respect to the equator or ecliptic frame of reference 0 < 180, prograde orbit, 180 < 360, retrograde orbit
-|-
-|Longitude of the ascending node||<center>LAN</center>||<center>°</center>||Defines the angle at which the orbit crosses a reference plane from a reference longitude
-|-
-|Argument of Perapsis||<center>LPe</center>||<center>°</center>||Defines the angle at which the periapsis is from the LAN
-|-
-|Mean anomaly||<center>MnA</center>||<center>°</center>||Defines the position of the body, ship, or station with respect to the periapsis
-|}
-== See also ==
-[[Orbital elements]]
-== External links ==
-[[w: Orbit|Orbit]] at Wikipedia.
-[[Category: Articles]]
 [[Category: Glossary]]
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