heliosynchronous en · ADJ
Etymology
From helio- + synchronous.
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) 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:
- (not-comparable) Describing an orbit around the Sun in which the period of revolution is the same as the Sun's period of rotation.
Deriveds
Relateds
geostationary · geosynchronous · heliostationary
Synonyms
Translations (5)
nl zonsynchroon (describing an orbit around the Earth) · fi aurinkosynkroninen (describing an orbit around the Earth) · fi heliosynkroninen (describing an orbit around the Sun) · it eliosincrono (describing an orbit around the Earth) · fr héliosynchrone (describing an orbit around the Earth)