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Orbital plane (astronomy)
 
 
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The orbital plane of an object orbiting another is the geometrical plane
Plane (mathematics)

In mathematics, a plane is a curvature surface. Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher dimensional space, as with the walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence in their own right, as in the setting of Euclidean geometry....
 in which the orbit is embedded
Embedding

In mathematics, an embedding is one instance of some mathematical structure contained within another instance, such as a group that is a subgroup....
. Three points in space suffice to define the orbital plane. A common example would be: the center of the heavier object, the center of the orbiting object and the center of the orbiting object at some later time.

By definition the inclination
Inclination

Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or Axis_of_rotation of direction. The axial tilt is expressed as the angle made by the planet's axis and a line drawn through the planet's center perpendicular to the orbital plane....
 of a planet in the solar system
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 is the angle
Angle

In geometry and trigonometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle . The magnitude of the angle is the "amount of rotation" that separates the two rays, and can be measured by considering the length of circular arc swept out when one ray is rotated about the vertex to coincide...
 between its orbital plane and the orbital plane of the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 (the ecliptic
Ecliptic

The ecliptic is the apparent path that the Sun traces out in the sky during the year. As it appears to move in the sky in relation to the stars, the apparent path aligns with the planets throughout the course of the year....
).






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The orbital plane of an object orbiting another is the geometrical plane
Plane (mathematics)

In mathematics, a plane is a curvature surface. Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher dimensional space, as with the walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence in their own right, as in the setting of Euclidean geometry....
 in which the orbit is embedded
Embedding

In mathematics, an embedding is one instance of some mathematical structure contained within another instance, such as a group that is a subgroup....
. Three points in space suffice to define the orbital plane. A common example would be: the center of the heavier object, the center of the orbiting object and the center of the orbiting object at some later time.

By definition the inclination
Inclination

Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or Axis_of_rotation of direction. The axial tilt is expressed as the angle made by the planet's axis and a line drawn through the planet's center perpendicular to the orbital plane....
 of a planet in the solar system
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 is the angle
Angle

In geometry and trigonometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle . The magnitude of the angle is the "amount of rotation" that separates the two rays, and can be measured by considering the length of circular arc swept out when one ray is rotated about the vertex to coincide...
 between its orbital plane and the orbital plane of the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 (the ecliptic
Ecliptic

The ecliptic is the apparent path that the Sun traces out in the sky during the year. As it appears to move in the sky in relation to the stars, the apparent path aligns with the planets throughout the course of the year....
). In other cases, for instance a moon orbiting another planet, it is convenient to define the inclination of the moon
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
's orbit as the angle between its orbital plane and the planet's equator.

Artificial satellites around the Earth

For launch vehicles and artificial satellites, the orbital plane is a defining parameter of an orbit; as in general, it will take a very large amount of propellant
Propellant

A propellant is a material that is used to move an object. This will often involve a chemical reaction. It may be a gas, liquid, Plasma , or, before the chemical reaction, a solid....
 to change the orbital plane of an object. Other parameters, such as the orbital period
Orbital period

The orbital Periodicity is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars....
, the eccentricity
Orbital eccentricity

In astrodynamics, under standard assumptions in astrodynamics, any orbit must be of conic section shape. The eccentricity of this conic section, the orbit's eccentricity, is an important parameter of the orbit that defines its absolute shape....
 of the orbit and the phase of the orbit are more easily changed by propulsion systems.

Orbital planes of satellites are perturbed by the non-spherical nature of the Earth's gravity
Earth's gravity

Earth's gravity, denoted by g, refers to the acceleration that the Earth exerts on objects on or near its surface. Its strength is usually quoted in terms of falling bodies , which in International System of Units is measured in m/s? ....
, and this causes the orbital plane to slowly rotate around the Earth, depending on the angle of the plane. For planes that are at a critical angle this can mean that the plane will track the Sun
Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
 around the Earth, forming a Sun-synchronous orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit

A sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit passes over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local solar time....
.

Launch vehicle's launch window
Launch window

Launch window is a term used in spaceflight to describe a time period in which a particular rocket must be launched. If the rocket does not launch within the "window", it has to wait for the next window....
s are usually determined by when the points in the time that the target orbital plane intersects the launch site.

See also

  • Orbital elements
    Orbital elements

    In celestial mechanics, the elements of an orbit are the parameters needed to specify that orbit uniquely. Orbital elements are generally considered in classical mechanics two-body systems, where a Kepler orbit is used ....