Glossary term: 轨道

Description: 轨道是在一个系统中运动的天体围绕该系统质心的轨迹，由系统中天体之间相互施加的万有引力引起。在太阳系等系统中，中心天体的质量远大于其他天体，质心位于质量最大的天体（在太阳系中为太阳）内部或其附近。在双星系统中，恒星轨道的质心通常位于两颗恒星之间。

轨道的形状通常呈椭圆形，系统的质心位于椭圆的一个焦点上。轨道的大小和形状由椭圆的半长轴和离心率决定。离心率越大的轨道椭圆度越高。太阳系中大多数行星轨道的离心率都非常接近零，例如金星（0.007）和地球（0.017）。而离心率较大的例外有水星（0.206）和矮行星冥王星（0.244）。

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

Related Media

木星的自转，作者 Vishal Sharma，印度

Caption: 2021 年国际天文学联合会 (IAU) 天文教育办公室 (OAE) 天体摄影比赛，伽利略卫星类第三名：《木星的自转》，作者 Vishal Sharma，来自印度。这幅延时摄影作品精美地展示了木星的自转，以及画面右侧经过的两颗伽利略卫星。木星自转一圈只需不到 10 个小时，我们可以看到大红斑从左向右移动。在这短短的时间内，两颗卫星明显沿着它们的轨道前进了一段距离。这张照片是 2020 年在印度北部拍摄的。
Credit: Vishal Sharma/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons 署名 4.0 国际 (CC BY 4.0) icons

The planet Jupiter, seen here as a bright disk, is orbited by the four Galilean moons, seen here as bright dots

Jupiter Moons Movie2, by Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo, and Carl Pennypacker, United States of America

Caption: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Galilean moons. This sequence shows the orbit of the four Galilean moons around the planet Jupiter. Almost two entire orbits of the innermost moon, Io, can be seen, with the other moons (Europa and Ganymede, but in particular Callisto) being further away, orbiting noticeably slower. The images were obtained in 2018 with the Las Cumbres Global Observatory at different locations on Earth, allowing a continuous sequence of images over approximately half a week without gaps during the day. With clear skies and over the course of several nights, the motion of the Galilean moons can also be observed with binoculars (ideally steady your elbows on a surface).
Credit: Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo and Carl Pennypacker/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons 署名 4.0 国际 (CC BY 4.0) icons

Jupiter with coloured horizontal bands of clouds. The shadow of the moon Io is seen as a dark circle in the top left

Jupiter, Io and its shadow, by Ralf Burkart, Germany

Caption: First place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Galilean moons. This time-lapse of Jupiter taken in 2017 from Germany beautifully illustrates the transit of one of the Galilean moons, Io, in front of Jupiter. As this is simply a moon casting a shadow on a planet it is equivalent to a lunar eclipse on Earth observed from further away. While the shadow of the moon is clearly visible from the beginning, it might be difficult to spot the moon itself against the background of the beautiful atmospheric bands of Jupiter the first time the video is seen. Watching it repeatedly allows appreciating the rapid motion and rotation in this fantastic observation.
Credit: Ralf Burkart/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons 署名 4.0 国际 (CC BY 4.0) icons

beta Pictoris b moves from bottom right towards the center of the image, reappearing 22 months later on the top left

The orbit of beta Pictoris b

Caption: This series of images shows the orbital motion of the extrasolar planet (exoplanet) beta Pictoris b. The planet is the bright dot in each image. The planet's host star is hidden behind the black circle in the middle of each image. This is done to remove the much brighter host star which would otherwise drown out the light from the planet. The planet's orbit is viewed edge-on. Seeing the orbit from this perspective makes it look like the planet moves along a straight line. Between February 2015 and November 2016 beta Pictoris b appears to move closer and closer to its host star. The planet then moved so close to the star that it was not seen for almost two years, after which it reappeared on the other side of the star.
Credit: ESO/Lagrange/SPHERE consortium credit link

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons 署名 4.0 国际 (CC BY 4.0) icons

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