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2020-08-21T17:10:30Z

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{{POTD {{{1|{{{style|default}}}}}}
|image=Comparison satellite navigation orbits.svg
|thumb=Comparison satellite navigation orbits.svg
|size=350
|title=[[Geostationary orbit]]
|texttitle=Geostationary orbit
|caption=

This is an animation showing [[Geocentric orbit|geocentric satellite orbits]], to scale with the Earth, at 3,600 times actual speed. The second-outermost (shown in grey) is a '''[[geostationary orbit]]''', {{convert|35786|km|mi|abbr=off}} above Earth's [[equator]] and following the [[Retrograde and prograde motion|direction]] of [[Earth's rotation]], with an [[orbital period]] matching the planet's [[rotation period]] (a [[geosynchronous orbit]]). An object in such an orbit will appear to occupy a fixed position in the sky. Some {{convert|300|km|mi|abbr=off}} farther away is the [[graveyard orbit]] (brown), used for satellites at the end of their operational lives. Nearer to the Earth are the orbits of navigational satellites, such as [[Galileo (satellite navigation)|Galileo]] (turquoise), [[BeiDou]] (beige), [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] (blue) and [[GLONASS]] (red), in [[medium Earth orbit]]s. Much closer to the planet, and within the inner [[Van Allen radiation belt|Van Allen belt]], are satellites in [[low Earth orbit]], such as the [[Iridium satellite constellation]] (purple), the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (green) and the [[International Space Station]] (magenta).

|credit=Animation credit: [[User:Cmglee|Cmglee]]
}}<noinclude>[[Category:Wikipedia Picture of the day {{#time:F Y|{{SUBPAGENAME}}}}]]

== See also ==
* [[Template:POTD{{#ifeq:{{BASEPAGENAME}}|POTD protected|| protected}}/{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>

Template:POTD/2020-08-21 - Revision history

imported>Ravenpuff: sync