True Anomaly

In celestial mechanics, the true anomaly is an angular parameter that defines the position of a body moving along a Keplerian orbit. It is the angle between the direction of periapsis and the current position of the body, as seen from the main focus of the ellipse (the point around which the object orbits).

The true anomaly is usually denoted by the Greek letters or, or the Latin letter .

The true anomaly is one of three angular parameters ("anomalies") that define a position along an orbit; the other two being the eccentric anomaly and the mean anomaly.

Famous quotes containing the word true:

    Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty—his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.
    Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)