Orbital period

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The orbital period is the time a given astronomical object takes to complete

one orbit around another object, and applies in astronomy usually
to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting
other stars, or binary stars.
For objects in the Solar System, this is often referred to as the sidereal period,
determined by a 360° revolution of one celestial body around another, e.g. the Earth
orbiting the Sun. The term sidereal denotes that the object returns to the same position
relative to the fixed stars projected in the sky. When describing orbits of binary stars, the
orbital period is usually referred to as just the period. For example, Jupiter has a
sidereal period of 11.86 years while the main binary star Alpha Centauri AB has a
period of about 79.91 years.
Another important orbital period definition can refer to the repeated cycles for celestial
bodies as observed from the Earth's surface. An example is the so-called synodic
period, applying to the elapsed time where planets return to the same kind of
phenomena or location, such as when any planet returns between its consecutive
observed conjunctions with or oppositions to the Sun. For example, Jupiter has a
synodic period of 398.8 days from Earth; thus, Jupiter's opposition occurs once roughly
every 13 months.
Periods in astronomy are conveniently expressed in various units of time, often in hours,
days, or years. They can be also defined under different specific astronomical
definitions that are mostly caused by the small complex external gravitational influences
 of other celestial objects. Such variations also include the true placement of the centre
of gravity between two astronomical bodies (barycenter), perturbations by other planets
or bodies, orbital resonance, general relativity, etc. Most are investigated by detailed
complex astronomical theories using celestial mechanics using precise positional
observations of celestial objects via astrometry.

Contents

 1Related periods
 2Small body orbiting a central body
 3Effect of central body's density
 4Two bodies orbiting each other
 5Synodic period
 6Examples of sidereal and synodic periods
o 6.1Synodic periods relative to other planets
 7Binary stars
 8See also
 9Notes
 10Bibliography
 11External links

Related periods[edit]
See also: Lunar month § Types
There are many periods related to the orbits of objects, each of which are often used in
the various fields of astronomy and astrophysics. Examples of some of the common
ones include the following:

 The sidereal period is the amount of time that it takes an object to make a full
orbit, relative to the stars. This is the orbital period in an inertial (non-rotating) frame
of reference.
 The synodic period is the amount of time that it takes for an object to reappear
at the same point in relation to two or more other objects. In common usage, these
two objects are typically the Earth and the Sun. The time between two
successive oppositions or two successive conjunctions is also equal to the synodic
period. For celestial bodies in the solar system, the synodic period (with respect to
Earth and the Sun) differs from the sidereal period due to the Earth's motion around
the Sun. For example, the synodic period of the Moon's orbit as seen from the Earth,
relative to the Sun, is 29.5 mean solar days, since the Moon's phase and position
relative to the Sun and Earth repeats after this period. This is longer than the
sidereal period of its orbit around the Earth, which is 27.3 mean solar days, due to
the motion of the Earth around the Sun.
 The draconitic period (also draconic period or nodal period), is the time that
elapses between two passages of the object through its ascending node, the point
of its orbit where it crosses the ecliptic from the southern to the northern
 hemisphere. This period differs from the sidereal period because both the orbital
plane of the object and the plane of the ecliptic precess with respect to the fixed
stars, so their intersection, the line of nodes, also precesses with respect to the fixed
stars. Although the plane of the ecliptic is often held fixed at the position it occupied
at a specific epoch, the orbital plane of the object still precesses causing the
draconitic period to differ from the sidereal period. [1]
 The anomalistic period is the time that elapses between two passages of an
object at its periapsis (in the case of the planets in the Solar System, called
the perihelion), the point of its closest approach to the attracting body. It differs from
the sidereal period because the object's semi-major axis typically advances slowly.
 Also, the tropical period of Earth (a tropical year) is the interval between two
alignments of its rotational axis with the Sun, also viewed as two passages of the
object at a right ascension of 0 hr. One Earth year is slightly shorter than the period
for the Sun to complete one circuit along the ecliptic (a sidereal year) because
the inclined axis and equatorial plane slowly precess (rotate with respect
to reference stars), realigning with the Sun before the orbit completes. This cycle of
axial precession for Earth, known as precession of the equinoxes, recurs roughly
every 25,770 years.[citation needed]

Small body orbiting a central body[edit]

The semi-major axis (a) and semi-minor axis (b) of an ellipse

According to Kepler's Third Law, the orbital period T (in seconds) of two point masses
orbiting each other in a circular or elliptic orbit is:[2]
where:

 a is the orbit's semi-major axis

 μ = GM is the standard gravitational parameter
o G is the gravitational constant,
o M is the mass of the more massive body.
For all ellipses with a given semi-major axis the orbital period is the same,
regardless of eccentricity.
Inversely, for calculating the distance where a body has to orbit in order to have a
given orbital period:
where:
 a is the orbit's semi-major axis in meters,
 G is the gravitational constant,
 M is the mass of the more massive body,
 T is the orbital period in seconds.
For instance, for completing an orbit every 24 hours around a mass of 100 kg, a
small body has to orbit at a distance of 1.08 meters from the central
body's center of mass.
In the special case of perfectly circular orbits, the orbital velocity is constant and
equal (in m/s) to
where:

 r is the circular orbit's radius in meters,

 G is the gravitational constant,
 M is the mass of the central body.