heliosynchronous
adjEtymology From helio- + synchronous.
1
Describing an orbit around the Earth where each passage in the same direction along a given latitude will occur throughout the year at the same true solar time.
- A heliosynchronous orbit is an orbit [around the Earth] whose plane precesses by [a little less than] one degree a day around the line of the poles, thus keeping the same position in relation to the Earth-Sun line.1987, Pierre Lellouche, Satellite warfare: a challenge for the international community, Institut français des relations internationales, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, United Nations:
2
Describing an orbit around the Sun in which the period of revolution is the same as the Sun's period of rotation.
- Derived terms
- heliosynchronous orbit
- Related terms
- geostationary, geosynchronous, heliostationary