Flashcards: Celestial mechanics

In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit.

The orbital speed of a body, generally a planet, a natural satellite, an artificial satellite, or a multiple star, is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system, usually around a more massive body.

Tidal locking (also called gravitational locking or captured rotation) occurs when, over the course of an orbit, there is no net transfer of angular momentum between an astronomical body and its gravitational partner.

The astronomical unit (symbol au, AU or ua) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun.

In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere of arbitrarily large radius, concentric with Earth.

In physics, a gravitational field is a model used to explain the influence that a massive body extends into the space around itself, producing a force on another massive body.

Julian day is the continuous count of days since the beginning of the Julian Period used primarily by astronomers.

In astronomy, Kepler's laws of planetary motion are three scientific laws describing the motion of planets around the Sun.

In celestial mechanics, the Lagrangian points (/ləˈɡrɑːndʒiən/; also Lagrange points, L-points, or libration points) are positions in an orbital configuration of two large bodies where a small object affected only by gravity can maintain a stable position relative to the two large bodies.

Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol α) is the angular distance measured eastward along the celestial equator from the vernal equinox to the hour circle of the point in question.

In astronomy, the rotation period of a celestial object is the time that it takes to complete one revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the background stars.

The zodiac is the circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude employed by western astrology and (formerly) astronomy.

Rotation around a fixed axis is a special case of rotational motion.

An apsis (Greek: ἁψίς; plural apsides /ˈæpsᵻdiːz/, Greek: ἁψίδες) is an extreme point in an object's orbit.

The ecliptic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system commonly used for representing the positions and orbits of Solar System objects.

In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from Latin ephemeris, "diary", from Greek: ἐφημερίς, ephēmeris, "diary, journal") gives the positions of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky at a given time or times.

The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way galaxy, and the fundamental plane approximately in the galactic plane.

In astronomy, libration is a perceived oscillating motion of orbiting bodies relative to each other, notably including the motion of the Moon relative to Earth, or of trojan asteroids relative to planets.

In physics, the n-body problem is the problem of predicting the individual motions of a group of celestial objects interacting with each other gravitationally.

Nutation (from Latin nūtātiō, "nodding, swaying") is a rocking, swaying, or nodding motion in the axis of rotation of a largely axially symmetric object, such as a gyroscope, planet, or bullet in flight, or as an intended behavior of a mechanism.

Radiation pressure is the pressure exerted upon any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation.

Dark flow is an astrophysical term describing a possible non-random component of the peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters.

The Interplanetary Transport Network (ITN) is a collection of gravitationally determined pathways through the Solar System that require very little energy for an object to follow.

In astronomy, the variation of the Moon is one of the principal perturbations in the motion of the Moon.