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Apoapsis

Given two objects of which one orbits the other, for example a planet and a satellite, apoapsis is the point in the satellite's orbit which is furthest (at the greatest distance) from the planet.

  • If the object orbits the Earth, it's also known as apogee.
  • If the object orbits the Sun, it's also known as aphelion.
  • If the object orbits the Moon, it's also known as apolune.

The point of the closest approach is the periapsis. According to Kepler's laws of planetary motion; as a planet travels in an elliptical orbit, around a star; as the planet approaches the periapsis, it will increase in velocity.




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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Apoapsis".