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Orbital decay, the Glossary

Orbital decay is a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods.^[1]

65 relations: Aberration (astronomy), Altitude, Apsis, Area, Atmosphere, Atmospheric entry, Binary star, Binary system, Black body, Black hole, Collision, Comet, Compact object, Density, Dimensionless quantity, Distance, Drag (physics), Drag coefficient, Drag equation, Earth, Electrodynamic tether, Electromagnetism, Flow velocity, Gamma-ray burst, Gravitational wave, Hubble Space Telescope, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, Low Earth orbit, Mass, Mass concentration (astronomy), Mean motion, Mechanical energy, Mir, Molecule, Orbit, Orbital station-keeping, Parasitic drag, Phobos (moon), Planet, Positive feedback, Python (programming language), Reboost, Retrograde and prograde motion, Roche lobe, Satellite, Skin friction drag, Skylab, Solar maximum, Solar minimum, Solar System, ... Expand index (15 more) »
Effects of gravity

Aberration (astronomy)

In astronomy, aberration (also referred to as astronomical aberration, stellar aberration, or velocity aberration) is a phenomenon where celestial objects exhibit an apparent motion about their true positions based on the velocity of the observer: It causes objects to appear to be displaced towards the observer's direction of motion.

See Orbital decay and Aberration (astronomy)

Altitude

Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object.

See Orbital decay and Altitude

Apsis

An apsis is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. Orbital decay and apsis are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Apsis

Area

Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface.

See Orbital decay and Area

Atmosphere

An atmosphere is a layer of gasses that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object.

See Orbital decay and Atmosphere

Atmospheric entry

Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite.

See Orbital decay and Atmospheric entry

Binary star

A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other.

See Orbital decay and Binary star

Binary system

A binary system is a system of two astronomical bodies of the same kind that are comparable in size.

See Orbital decay and Binary system

Black body

A black body or blackbody is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence.

See Orbital decay and Black body

Black hole

A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light and other electromagnetic waves, is capable of possessing enough energy to escape it. Orbital decay and black hole are black holes.

See Orbital decay and Black hole

Collision

In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time.

See Orbital decay and Collision

Comet

A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing.

See Orbital decay and Comet

Compact object

In astronomy, the term compact object (or compact star) refers collectively to white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes.

See Orbital decay and Compact object

Density

Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is a substance's mass per unit of volume.

See Orbital decay and Density

Dimensionless quantity

Dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one, are quantities implicitly defined in a manner that prevents their aggregation into units of measurement.

See Orbital decay and Dimensionless quantity

Distance

Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects, points, people, or ideas are.

See Orbital decay and Distance

Drag (physics)

In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object, moving with respect to a surrounding fluid.

See Orbital decay and Drag (physics)

Drag coefficient

In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water.

See Orbital decay and Drag coefficient

Drag equation

In fluid dynamics, the drag equation is a formula used to calculate the force of drag experienced by an object due to movement through a fully enclosing fluid.

See Orbital decay and Drag equation

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.

See Orbital decay and Earth

Electrodynamic tether

Electrodynamic tethers (EDTs) are long conducting wires, such as one deployed from a tether satellite, which can operate on electromagnetic principles as generators, by converting their kinetic energy to electrical energy, or as motors, converting electrical energy to kinetic energy.

See Orbital decay and Electrodynamic tether

Electromagnetism

In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields.

See Orbital decay and Electromagnetism

Flow velocity

In continuum mechanics the flow velocity in fluid dynamics, also macroscopic velocity in statistical mechanics, or drift velocity in electromagnetism, is a vector field used to mathematically describe the motion of a continuum.

See Orbital decay and Flow velocity

Gamma-ray burst

In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies, being the brightest and most extreme explosive events in the entire universe, as NASA describes the bursts as the "most powerful class of explosions in the universe".

See Orbital decay and Gamma-ray burst

Gravitational wave

Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity that are generated by the accelerated masses of binary stars and other motions of gravitating masses, and propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. Orbital decay and Gravitational wave are black holes and effects of gravity.

See Orbital decay and Gravitational wave

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation.

See Orbital decay and Hubble Space Telescope

Kepler's laws of planetary motion

In astronomy, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, published by Johannes Kepler between 1609 and 1619, describe the orbits of planets around the Sun. Orbital decay and Kepler's laws of planetary motion are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Kepler's laws of planetary motion

Low Earth orbit

A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25.

See Orbital decay and Low Earth orbit

Mass

Mass is an intrinsic property of a body.

See Orbital decay and Mass

Mass concentration (astronomy)

In astronomy, astrophysics and geophysics, a mass concentration (or mascon) is a region of a planet's or moon's crust that contains a large positive gravity anomaly.

See Orbital decay and Mass concentration (astronomy)

Mean motion

In orbital mechanics, mean motion (represented by n) is the angular speed required for a body to complete one orbit, assuming constant speed in a circular orbit which completes in the same time as the variable speed, elliptical orbit of the actual body. Orbital decay and mean motion are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Mean motion

Mechanical energy

In physical sciences, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy.

See Orbital decay and Mechanical energy

Mir

Mir (Мир) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by the Russian Federation.

See Orbital decay and Mir

Molecule

A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion.

See Orbital decay and Molecule

Orbit

In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object 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 as a planet, moon, asteroid, or Lagrange point. Orbital decay and orbit are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Orbit

Orbital station-keeping

In astrodynamics, orbital station-keeping is keeping a spacecraft at a fixed distance from another spacecraft or celestial body.

See Orbital decay and Orbital station-keeping

Parasitic drag

Parasitic drag, also known as profile drag, is a type of aerodynamic drag that acts on any object when the object is moving through a fluid.

See Orbital decay and Parasitic drag

Phobos (moon)

Phobos (systematic designation) is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos.

See Orbital decay and Phobos (moon)

Planet

A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself.

See Orbital decay and Planet

Positive feedback

Positive feedback (exacerbating feedback, self-reinforcing feedback) is a process that occurs in a feedback loop which exacerbates the effects of a small disturbance.

See Orbital decay and Positive feedback

Python (programming language)

Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language.

See Orbital decay and Python (programming language)

Reboost

A reboost is the process of boosting the altitude of an artificial satellite in Low Earth Orbit in order to delay its atmospheric re-entry due to orbital decay.

See Orbital decay and Reboost

Retrograde and prograde motion

Retrograde motion in astronomy is, in general, orbital or rotational motion of an object in the direction opposite the rotation of its primary, that is, the central object (right figure). Orbital decay and Retrograde and prograde motion are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Retrograde and prograde motion

Roche lobe

In astronomy, the Roche lobe is the region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star.

See Orbital decay and Roche lobe

Satellite

A satellite or artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body.

See Orbital decay and Satellite

Skin friction drag

Skin friction drag is a type of aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag, which is resistant force exerted on an object moving in a fluid.

See Orbital decay and Skin friction drag

Skylab

Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974.

See Orbital decay and Skylab

Solar maximum

Solar maximum is the regular period of greatest solar activity during the Sun's 11-year solar cycle.

See Orbital decay and Solar maximum

Solar minimum

Solar minimum is the regular period of least solar activity in the Sun's 11-year solar cycle.

See Orbital decay and Solar minimum

Solar System

The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies.

See Orbital decay and Solar System

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program.

See Orbital decay and Space Shuttle

Space station

A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time.

See Orbital decay and Space station

Space telescope

A space telescope (also known as space observatory) is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects.

See Orbital decay and Space telescope

Spiral

In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point.

See Orbital decay and Spiral

Star

A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity.

See Orbital decay and Star

Stellar collision

A stellar collision is the coming together of two stars caused by stellar dynamics within a star cluster, or by the orbital decay of a binary star due to stellar mass loss or gravitational radiation, or by other mechanisms not yet well understood.

See Orbital decay and Stellar collision

STS-125

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final Space Shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

See Orbital decay and STS-125

Synchronous orbit

A synchronous orbit is an orbit in which an orbiting body (usually a satellite) has a period equal to the average rotational period of the body being orbited (usually a planet), and in the same direction of rotation as that body. Orbital decay and synchronous orbit are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Synchronous orbit

Tidal acceleration

Tidal acceleration is an effect of the tidal forces between an orbiting natural satellite (e.g. the Moon) and the primary planet that it orbits (e.g. Earth). Orbital decay and tidal acceleration are orbits.

See Orbital decay and Tidal acceleration

Tidal force

The tidal force or tide-generating force is a gravitational effect that stretches a body along the line towards and away from the center of mass of another body due to spatial variations in strength in gravitational field from the other body. Orbital decay and tidal force are effects of gravity.

See Orbital decay and Tidal force

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_decay

Also known as Decaying Orbit, Inspiral, Orbit decay, Satellite drag.

, Space Shuttle, Space station, Space telescope, Spiral, Star, Stellar collision, STS-125, Synchronous orbit, Tidal acceleration, Tidal force, TrES-3b, Triton (moon), Two-body problem, Vis-viva equation, Yarkovsky effect.

Orbital decay, the Glossary

Table of Contents

See also

Effects of gravity

References