Universe Sandbox Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Orbital Elements Diagram

Diagram showing the four of the six orbital elements used to describe an object's orbit. Source: Wikimedia Commons

An object's orbit can be described with six properties, known as its orbital elements. These six properties include:

The orbital elements are calculated relative to the object's Orbital Parent.

As an alternative to the orbital elements, an object's location and motion in 3D space can also be described with six other properties: the x, y, z components of its Position Vector and the x, y, z components of its Velocity Vector.

Advertisement