Heliosynchronous orbit

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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 G m (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.

[edit] See also

List of orbits

v • d • e Orbits

Orbit types by characteristics:	Box orbit \| Circular orbit \| Ecliptic orbit \| Elliptic orbit \| Highly Elliptical Orbit \| Graveyard orbit \| Hyperbolic trajectory \| Inclined orbit \| Osculating orbit \| Parabolic trajectory \| Capture orbit \| Escape orbit \| Semi-synchronous orbit \| Subsynchronous orbit \| Synchronous orbit
Earth-centered orbits:	Geosynchronous orbit \| Geostationary orbit \| Sun-synchronous orbit \| Low Earth orbit \| Medium Earth Orbit \| Molniya orbit \| Near equatorial orbit \| Orbit of the Moon \| Polar orbit \| Polar sun synchronous orbit \| Tundra orbit
Orbits about other bodies:	Areosynchronous orbit \| Areostationary orbit \| Lunar orbit \| Heliocentric orbit \| Heliosynchronous orbit

Orbital elements:	Inclination ( $i\,\!$ ) \| Longitude of the ascending node ( $\Omega\,\!$ ) \| Eccentricity ( $e\,\!$ ) \| Argument of periapsis ( $\omega\,\!$ ) \| Semimajor axis ( $a\,\!$ ) \| Mean anomaly at epoch ( $M_o\,\!$ )
Other orbital parameters:	True anomaly ( $v\,$ ) \| Semi-major axis ( $a\,$ ) \| Semi-minor axis ( $b\,$ ) \| Linear eccentricity ( $\epsilon\,$ ) \| Eccentric anomaly ( $E\,$ ) \| Mean longitude ( $L\,$ ) \| True longitude ( $l\,$ ) \| Orbital period ( $T\,$ )
Orbital maneuvers:	Bi-elliptic transfer \| Geostationary transfer orbit \| Gravitational slingshot \| Hohmann transfer orbit \| Orbital inclination change \| Orbit phasing \| Space rendezvous

Other orbital mechanics topics:	Apsis \| Celestial coordinate system \| Delta-v budget \| Epoch \| Ephemeris \| Equatorial coordinate system \| Ground track \| Interplanetary Transport Network \| Kepler's laws of planetary motion \| Lagrangian point \| List of orbits \| n-body problem \| Orbit equation \| Orbital state vectors \| Retrograde and direct motion \| Specific orbital energy \| Specific relative angular momentum