In celestial mechanics, the relative angular momentum of an orbiting body relative to a central body is the moment of 's relative linear momentum:
where:
- is the orbital position vector of the orbiting body relative to the central body,
- is the orbital velocity vector of the orbiting body relative to the central body,
- is mass of the orbiting body.
For a body in an unperturbed orbit about a central body, the orbital plane is stationary, and the relative angular momentum is perpendicular to the orbital plane.
For perturbed orbits where the orbital plane is in motion, the relative angular momentum vector is perpendicular to the (osculating) orbital plane at only two points in the orbit.
Read more about Relative Angular Momentum: Uses
Famous quotes containing the word relative:
“And since the average lifetime—the relative longevity—is far greater for memories of poetic sensations than for those of heartbreaks, since the very long time that the grief I felt then because of Gilbert, it has been outlived by the pleasure I feel, whenever I wish to read, as in a sort of sundial, the minutes between twelve fifteen and one o’clock, in the month of May, upon remembering myself chatting ... with Madame Swann under the reflection of a cradle of wisteria.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)