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periapsis

NOUN
  1. (astronomy) the point in an orbit closest to the body being orbited

How To Use periapsis In A Sentence

  • How is it that at one moment Cassini can be found nearly at apoapsis, the farthest point from Saturn in an orbit, and within a day, be at periapsis, the closest point to Saturn in an orbit, when its orbital period is around 16 days? BBSNews ATOM 0.3 Newsreader Feed
  • For objects orbiting Earth, periapsis and apoapsis are known as perigee and apogee; for objects orbiting the Sun, these locations are known as perihelion and aphelion.
  • The line of apsides is a line which passes through both periapsis, Cassini's closest approach to Saturn in an orbit, and apoapsis, the farthest spot in the orbit from Saturn.
  • As the spacecraft went around and around Jupiter, mission controllers would turn on the tether near periapsis to produce drag (and usable power) and turn it off elsewhere.
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