- #1
Mr. Fizzix
- 13
- 0
So, I have really no background in astrophysics (other than touching on some areas in general physics and calculus). I understand that asking questions such as the one in my title, that I would need to be more specific, and I will attempt to be as specific as I can.
I understand that most satellites take around 90 minutes to orbit the Earth (once the orbit has "stabilized" so to speak), variable by what angle it orbits, at what altitude and possibly other factors. Let's say 90, and that it is orbiting on the same "plane" (not sure if this term is a generalization) as the moon. Now, I know that the moon orbits the Earth once every 27.322 days. I would assume they orbit the Earth in the same direction? So, how often would this satellite, one the same plane of the moon's orbit, "pass" the moon (that is, if a line was was drawn from the Earth's center to the moon's center, how often would it cross it).
This seems like such a basic question that I should be able to solve, but for some reason it is giving me a headache. Thank you in advance.
Brent
I understand that most satellites take around 90 minutes to orbit the Earth (once the orbit has "stabilized" so to speak), variable by what angle it orbits, at what altitude and possibly other factors. Let's say 90, and that it is orbiting on the same "plane" (not sure if this term is a generalization) as the moon. Now, I know that the moon orbits the Earth once every 27.322 days. I would assume they orbit the Earth in the same direction? So, how often would this satellite, one the same plane of the moon's orbit, "pass" the moon (that is, if a line was was drawn from the Earth's center to the moon's center, how often would it cross it).
This seems like such a basic question that I should be able to solve, but for some reason it is giving me a headache. Thank you in advance.
Brent