Heliosynchronous orbit

This article is about a class of orbits about the sun. For a class of orbits around the earth, see sun-synchronous orbit.

By analogy with the geosynchronous orbit, a heliosynchronous orbit is a heliocentric orbit where the satellite's period of revolution matches the Sun's period of rotation. These orbits occur at a radius of 24.360 Gm (0.1628 AU) around the Sun, a little less than half of the orbital radius of Mercury.

Similar to the geostationary orbit, the heliostationary orbit is the heliosynchronous orbit of inclination zero and eccentricity zero, so that the satellite would appear stationary to an observer on the Sun's surface.

To date, no satellites have been put in this kind of solar orbit.

See also

• List of orbits

v • d • e Orbits   Types General Box · Capture · Circular · Elliptical / Highly elliptical · Escape · Graveyard · Hyperbolic trajectory · Inclined / Non-inclined · Osculating · Parabolic trajectory · Parking · Synchronous (semi · sub) Geocentric Geosynchronous · Geostationary · Sun-synchronous · Low Earth · Medium Earth · Molniya · Near-equatorial · Orbit of the Moon · Polar · Tundra · Two-line elements Other Areosynchronous · Areostationary · Halo · Lissajous · Lunar · Heliocentric · Heliosynchronous   Parameters Classical  Inclination ·  Longitude of the ascending node ·  Eccentricity ·  Argument of periapsis ·  Semi-major axis ·  Mean anomaly at epoch Other  True anomaly ·  Semi-minor axis ·  Linear eccentricity ·  Eccentric anomaly ·  Mean longitude ·  True longitude ·  Orbital period   Maneuvers Bi-elliptic transfer · Delta-v budget · Geostationary transfer · Gravity assist · Gravity turn · Hohmann transfer · Oberth effect  · Inclination change · Phasing · Rendezvous · Transposition, docking, and extraction   Other orbital mechanics topics Apsis · Celestial coordinate system · Epoch · Ephemeris · Equatorial coordinate system · Ground track · Interplanetary Transport Network · Kepler's laws of planetary motion · Lagrangian point · Low energy transfers · n-body problem · Orbit equation · Orbital speed · Orbital state vectors · Perturbation · Retrograde and direct motion · Specific orbital energy · Specific relative angular momentum List of orbits

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