planetary orbit
Around the sun
A planetary orbit is the curved path a planet follows as it travels around a star, held in place by gravitational attraction.
Orbits are typically elliptical rather than perfectly circular.
The term extends to any celestial body's path around another: The moon's planetary orbit takes about 27 days.
In casual use, planetary orbit sometimes describes anything that revolves around a central point.
- ellipticalOval-shaped or indirect
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- gravitational pullAttractive force between masses
- satelliteOrbiting celestial body
- moonNatural planetary satellite
revolution · celestial · heavenly bodies · trajectory · slingshot maneuver · escape velocity · aphelion · perihelion · solar system · Kepler · comet · asteroid · ecliptic · spinning · weightless · void · cosmos · Neptune
- space explorationrockets, Saturn V, satellites, mission, Falcon Heavy
- trajectoriestrajectory, arc, path, parabola, flight path
- space pathscomet trail, asteroid belt, spiral arm, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud
- spacecraftspacecraft, starships, spaceship, Voyager 1, rocket ships
- ellipse-relatedoval, ellipsoid, eccentricity, focal point
- Ovalsoval, ellipse, ovoid, ovate, oblong
planet, planetary, planets, planetarium, planetoid, interplanetary, orbit, orbits, orbital