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Glite Dictionary
orbital plane

orbital plane

1 7.9
A flat path in space that a thing follows as it goes around a planet or star
  • noun
  • Specialized
: plano orbital
  • The Earth's oblateness causes the orbital planes of satellites in low orbits to move gradually.
  • orbital plane of a planet
  • Earth's orbital plane

And what do they need to know is the, the shape of the, the orbit, it's tilt relative to Earth's orbital plane and several other things, right?

Examples

  • Most Algols undergo eclipses because of the chance alignment of their orbital planes with our line of sight.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The Earth's axis of rotation is currently offset about 23.4 degrees relative to its orbital plane.

    Blog text (31)

  • You see it here in blue and green depending on the orientation of the orbital plane relative to the observer.

  • Which is we only detect those planets which by luck reside in an orbital plane like a flat piece of paper.

  • A: They are moving in tandem with one another along a flat, elliptical orbital plane.

    Blog text (34)

  • From that ellipse, one can, in principle, determine the inclination of the planet's orbital plane.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The other major limitation of the transit method is that it requires an unlikely coincidence of the planet's orbital plane and our line of sight.

    Academic text (1996)

  • This is because we're viewing Jupiter and its moons along the Jovian system's orbital plane.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Jupiter and Earth orbit in the same plane (within a degree or five), whereas Pluto's orbital plane is significantly inclined relative to the ecliptic.

    Blog text (28)

  • Asteroids circle the Sun in relatively circular orbits, close to the Earth's orbital plane.

Synonyms

plane
vsorbital plane
  • Specialized
130 7.0

A flat surface that extends forever in two directions

is the flat surface defined by a body's path around another body

Surface Forms

orbital plane singular
orbital planes plural

Morphology

orbital + plane

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'orbital' (relating to orbits) with 'plane' (a flat two-dimensional surface): together they denote the flat surface defined by an object's orbital path. This adjective+noun composition follows regular English compounding and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Orbital plane comes from a simple image: plane means a flat sheet and orbital comes from 'orbit', the path something takes around another object. So an orbital plane is like an invisible flat surface or 'path' that shows where a satellite or planet travels, which is why we use it to talk about their orbits.