
Antennae pointed toward the geostationary satellite will have a clear signal unless objects in the atmosphere (such as storm clouds) between Earth and the satellite interfere. Geostationary satellites are useful because they appear as a fixed point in the sky. Therefore, the orbital period of geosynchronous satellites is 24 hours. These satellites have geosynchronous orbits, or move at the same rotation of the Earth. Satellites in geostationary orbit circle the Earth directly above the Equator. MEO satellites can orbit the Earth in about two hours. Satellites in MEO include global positioning system (GPS) and communication satellites. Satellites in MEO are at greater risk for damage, because they are exposed to powerful radiation from the sun. Medium-Earth orbit exists between 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) and 36,000 kilometers (23,000 miles) above the Earths surface. The orbital period for objects in LEO is about 90 minutes. Most artificial satellites with human crews are in low-Earth orbit. Low-Earth orbit exists between 160 kilometers (100 miles) and 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) above Earth's surface. There are three major types of geocentric orbits: low-Earth orbit (LEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary orbit. It takes about 27 days for the moon to complete its orbital period around the Earth. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. Our moon follows a geocentric orbit, and so do most manmade satellites. Comet Kohoutek may take 100,000 years to complete its long heliocentric orbit.Ī geocentric orbit is one that goes around the Earth. The planet Mercury completes its short heliocentric orbit every 88 days. Each planet's orbit is regular: they follow certain paths and take a certain amount of time to make one complete orbit. All the planets in our solar system, along with all the asteroids in the Asteroid Belt and all comets, follow this kind of orbit. A heliocentric orbit is one that goes around the sun. Our solar system follows this type of orbit around the Milky Way. A galactocentric orbit is an orbit that goes around the center of a galaxy. Objects with geocentric orbits have their own types. There are three major types of orbits: galactocentric orbits, heliocentric orbits, and geocentric orbits. Our entire solar system orbits around the black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Types of Orbits Moons orbit planets, while planets orbit the sun. Mercury has the largest eccentricity of all the planets in the solar system, at. A perfect circle has an eccentricity of zero. Eccentricity is the amount an orbits path differs from a perfect circle. The planet Neptune, for example, takes almost 165 years to orbit the sun. The further away a planet is from the sun, the longer its orbital period. Earth completes its orbital period around the sun every 365 days. The time it takes for an object to orbit around another object is called its orbital period. The debris from the comet's orbit is called the Leonid meteor shower. The debris from the tail of this comet passes through Earths atmosphere as meteors, or falling stars, at a specific time every year.

Comet Tempel-Tuttle, for instance, passes through Earths orbit. However, sometimes orbital paths of other objects in the solar system intersect, and the objects can collide. All the planets in our solar system line up with each other on the same general orbital plane. Because all planets in our solar system share a similar orbital plane, planets dont run in to each other. An orbital plane is a flat, disk-shaped space that connects the center of the object being orbited with the center of orbiting objects. All of the other objects in the solar system are subject to the gravitational pull of the sun. The sun is the most massive object in our solar system.

Gravitational pull is the amount of force one object exerts on another object. The more massive the object, the larger its gravitational pull. Every object, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest star, has mass. Gravity is the force that exists between any two objects with mass. Objects orbit each other because of gravity. Orbiting objects, which are called satellites, include planets, moons, asteroids, and manmade devices. An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object takes around another object or center of gravity.
