What is the astronomical term for...

[Johnathlon]

Not sure if there is a better part of the forum to ask this question but...

What is the astronomical term for when a moon has an orbit which does not match the plane of the rotation of a planet? I was just thinking that often when you have a moon close to a ringed planet you hardly seethe ring as you are on the same plane. I came across a pair of "twin moons" the other day that were off the plane of the rotation of the planet as they were having an effect on each other. I just wondered of there was an astronomical term for moons or planetary bodies that do this. It just makes the ring slightly more visable from its surface.

None of that probarbly makes much sense... gulp [uhh] In fact I am not sure if "Astronmical Term" is the right phrase.

 

[defekt]

Eccentric orbit..?

 

[fennster]

Inclined orbit.

 

[Flash_Baggins]

If you want theres an astronomy forum for questions like this here:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php/40-Astronomy-Forum

 

[Johnathlon]

If you want theres an astronomy forum for questions like this here:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php/40-Astronomy-Forum

Awesome, thanks for that, suspected so.

Edit: I can't post on there for some reason

 

[Para Handy]

.............
What is the astronomical term for when a moon has an orbit which does not match the plane of the rotation of a planet? ........................

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_inclination


enjoy

 

[fennster]

Awesome, thanks for that, suspected so.

Edit: I can't post on there for some reason

You need to gain some rep before you're allowed to post in the sub forums unfortunately.

 

[Sapyx]

For everything that orbits another thing in this game, two statistics are reported on the info tab about that object: "orbital inclination" and "orbital eccentricity".

"Inclination" is the angle of deviation away from the equatorial plane of the object being orbited. A value of "0.00" here and the object is orbiting exactly in the same plane as the equator (and any rings if the planet has rings). "90.00" or "-90.00" is an orbit inclined at 90 degrees to the equator/rings. "180.00" is a retrograde orbit (the moon/planet is moving backwards, relative to the spin of the parent body and any other objects that orbit it).

"Eccentricity" is the measure of how far "out of round" the orbit is. All objects orbit things in ellipses, not perfect circles - though a perfect circle is an ellipse with zero eccentricity. The value can deviate anywhere from zero (perfect circle) to 0.999 (an extremely elongated "cometary" elliptical orbit).

Out there in the real universe, it would be impossible for a planet with perfectly formed rings to have a large moon closely orbiting it at a high inclination to the rings - the moon's gravity would tug at the rings and disrupt them completely after just a few orbits. The ED stellar forge does not know this; it calculates the existence of rings and moons separately, without considering how they would "logically" interact.

It would also be impossible for objects to orbit with high eccentricity and zero inclination and share the space with other moons/planets, as the eccentric planet would frequently cross orbits with the non-eccentric planets leading to an eventual game of cosmic billiards. I believe the stellar forge knows this as I don't recall seeing reports of "impossible" planets, though perhaps they may exist in T-Tauri systems as these are still young, newly-formed, where the cosmic billiard game should still be happening. Of course, two planets with crossing orbits actually hitting each other in ED would be anti-climactic, as they'd simply pass right through each other.