In
stellar dynamics Stellar dynamics is the branch of astrophysics which describes in a statistical way the collective motions of stars subject to their mutual gravity. The essential difference from celestial mechanics is that the number of body N \gg 10.
Typica ...
, a box orbit refers to a particular type of
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...
that can be seen in triaxial systems, i.e. systems that do not possess a
symmetry around any of its
axes
Axes, plural of '' axe'' and of '' axis'', may refer to
* ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane
* a possibly still empty plot (graphics)
A plot is a graphical technique for representing a data set, usually as a g ...
. They contrast with the
loop orbits that are observed in spherically symmetric or axisymmetric systems.
In a box orbit, a star oscillates independently along the three different axes as it moves through the system. As a result of this motion, it fills in a (roughly) box-shaped region of space. Unlike loop orbits, the stars on box orbits can come arbitrarily close to the center of the system. As a special case, if the frequencies of
oscillation
Oscillation is the repetitive or Periodic function, periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of Mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples o ...
in different directions are
commensurate, the orbit will lie on a one- or two-dimensional manifold and can avoid the center.
[
] Such orbits are sometimes called "
boxlets".
References
See also
*
Horseshoe orbit
In celestial mechanics, a horseshoe orbit is a type of co-orbital motion of a small orbiting body relative to a larger orbiting body. The osculating (instantaneous) orbital period of the smaller body remains very near that of the larger body, a ...
*
Lissajous curve
A Lissajous curve , also known as Lissajous figure or Bowditch curve , is the graph of a system of parametric equations
: x=A\sin(at+\delta),\quad y=B\sin(bt),
which describe the superposition of two perpendicular oscillations in x and y dire ...
*
List of orbits
Summary
A simple list of just the common orbit abbreviations.
List of abbreviations of common Earth orbits
List of abbreviations of other orbits
Classifications
The following is a list of types of orbits:
Centric classifications
* Gal ...
{{orbits, state=expanded
Orbits