circular orbit
Perfectly round trajectory
A circular orbit is the path of an object moving around another at a constant distance, tracing a circle rather than an ellipse.
In practice, perfectly circular orbits are rare—most satellites and planets follow slightly elliptical paths.
The term appears in astronomy and spaceflight: The satellite was placed in a circular orbit around Earth.
- ellipticalOval-shaped or indirect
- satelliteOrbiting celestial body
- moonNatural planetary satellite
- rotationTurning on an axis
- gravityMutual mass attraction
around the sun · centripetal force · revolution · geostationary · perihelion · apogee · trajectory · celestial · planetary · weightless · zero gravity · station · space station · spacecraft · rocket science · Kepler · escape velocity · velocity
circular, circle, circles, circled, circling, circularity, circularly, circularize, circularized