geosynchronous

[Daniel L Newhouse]

What does geosynchronous mean?

[StargateMillennium]

Essentially that the orbit of a planet's satellite is synced up with the planet's rotation. So that a planet rotates once, the satellite will make one revolution and end up back at its original location.

[DigiFluid]

Essentially that the orbit of a planet's satellite is synced up with the planet's rotation. So that a planet rotates once, the satellite will make one revolution and end up back at its original location.

This is essentially correct, but the phrasing is a little confusing.

Geosynchronous (or geostationary) orbit means, as StargateMillennium says, that an object is synced with the rotation of the planet. So as the planet takes 24h to rotate, the object (ie satellite) rotates in time with that. So from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the planet in, for example Cape Canaveral, it looks like the object/satellite is stationary overhead. But in reality, it is actually moving through space at a velocity of 3 km/s.

If you're driving down the road and another car is moving next to you at the same speed, they look like they're sitting still--but they're not. Similar principle.

[Daniel L Newhouse]

Are there satellites like this around earth?

[Annoyed]

Are there satellites like this around earth?

Most communications satellites are in geosynchronous orbits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...chronous_orbit

[Daniel L Newhouse]

What about weather satellites?

[StargateMillennium]

This is essentially correct, but the phrasing is a little confusing.

Geosynchronous (or geostationary) orbit means, as StargateMillennium says, that an object is synced with the rotation of the planet. So as the planet takes 24h to rotate, the object (ie satellite) rotates in time with that. So from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the planet in, for example Cape Canaveral, it looks like the object/satellite is stationary overhead. But in reality, it is actually moving through space at a velocity of 3 km/s.

If you're driving down the road and another car is moving next to you at the same speed, they look like they're sitting still--but they're not. Similar principle.

I"m going to have to contradict part of that. Geostationary orbits are inherently geosynchronous but geosynchronous orbits are not necessarily geostationary.

For something to be geostationary it has to be on the equatorial plane to have that standing still affect. But for geosynchronous, I can have a satellite above Earth's North pole and have it take 24 hours to revolve down over the south pole then back up and back to its original location over the north pole.

[DigiFluid]

I"m going to have to contradict part of that. Geostationary orbits are inherently geosynchronous but geosynchronous orbits are not necessarily geostationary.

For something to be geostationary it has to be on the equatorial plane to have that standing still affect. But for geosynchronous, I can have a satellite above Earth's North pole and have it take 24 hours to revolve down over the south pole then back up and back to its original location over the north pole.

You are absolutely correct. I was trying to simplify for the OP's benefit, and found myself caught in the very same language issues