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Orbit: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

Diagram showing Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun with labeled points for aphelion, perihelion, solstices, and equinoxes, and distances from the Sun at aphelion and perihelion.
Planet's orbital plane in relation to the ecliptic
A diagram of a planet's elliptical orbit around the Sun, labeled with key points: A for aphelion, B for perihelion, C for the center, S for the Sun, P for the planet, V for true anomaly, and E for eccentric anomaly, with lines and angles illustrating their relationships.
Diagram showing types of Earth orbit categorized by inclination (equatorial, polar, inclined), shape (circular, elliptical), and altitude (low Earth, medium Earth, geostationary), with labeled illustrations of satellite paths around the planet.
Diagram showing the Moon orbiting Earth, with arrows illustrating gravitational forces between them and how gravity alters the Moon's natural path, resulting in its curved orbit around the planet.
Poincaré section, or map
Understand how the Earth remain stable in orbit around the sun
A large tree with leaves turning orange in fall.
Study how Earth's gravity influences the Moon in maintaining its rotation in sync, with one side forever facing Earth
Learn about Io, Jupiter's moon with the most active volcanoes in the solar system
Learn more about the Nice model of solar system evolution and how samples brought back from the Moon fit within it
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Key People

Engraving portrait of Carl Friedrich Gauss wearing a cap and formal 19th-century clothing, with detailed shading around his face and upper body.
Carl Friedrich Gauss
German mathematician
Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley
British scientist
default image
Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier
French astronomer
default image
Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard Bochart de Saron
French scientist
Boscovich, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist; in Dubrovnik Cloister, Croatia
Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich
Italian astronomer and mathematician
Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen
German astronomer
default image
Pierre Mechain
French scientist

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View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
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Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
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