geostationary

American  

[jee-oh-stey-shuh-ner-ee] / ˌdʒi oʊˈsteɪ ʃəˌnɛr i /

Also geosynchronous

adjective

1. of or relating to a satellite traveling in an orbit 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the earth's equator: at this altitude, the satellite's period of rotation, 24 hours, matches the earth's and the satellite always remains in the same spot over the earth.

   geostationary orbit.

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geostationary British  

/ ˌdʒiːəʊˈsteɪʃənərɪ /

adjective

1. Also: geosynchronous.  (of a satellite) in a circular equatorial orbit in which it circles the earth once per sidereal day so that it appears stationary in relation to the earth's surface

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Etymology

Origin of geostationary

First recorded in 1960–65; geo- + stationary

Explanation

When an object orbits Earth at the same speed as the planet rotates, the object is geostationary, as it appears fixed in the same spot in the sky. Many weather satellites are geostationary. No natural objects are known to be geostationary, but artificial satellites sometimes are. A geostationary satellite must be 22,236 miles above sea level, where Earth's gravity pulls on it just enough to keep it at the right speed. It must be directly above the equator and traveling the same direction as Earth spins. Geostationary weather satellites can watch a single continent continuously to track storms. Many of the swirling cloud patterns on weather reports come from geostationary satellites. Geostationary combines geo-, "earth," with stationary, "fixed in place."

Example Sentences

The National Weather Service then chimed in on Twitter to say that two “reddish pixels” were detected on a Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which detects lightning.

From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2022

Eutelsat operates 30-times higher in the sky in what's termed Geostationary Orbit, at 36,000km in altitude.

From BBC • Jul. 26, 2022

Geostationary satellites such as Kacific’s generally offer a slower Internet connection, compared with the low-altitude orbits used by Starlink, however.

From Scientific American • Mar. 18, 2022

That's the same band used by NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite to provide real-time weather information – notably for severe weather and flooding.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2022

One of their colleagues used a device called a Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which, according to NASA, “can detect the momentary changes in an optical scene, indicating the presence of lightning.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 2, 2022