apoapsis
Americannoun
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The point at which an orbiting object is farthest away from the body it is orbiting. This point is sometimes given a name that is specific to the body being orbited. For example, the apoapsis of an object orbiting Earth is its apogee (from gaia, the Greek word for Earth), and the apoapsis of an object orbiting the Sun is its aphelion (from hēlios, the Greek word for Sun). According to Kepler's laws of planetary motion, an object is at its lowest velocity at the apoapsis.
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Compare periapsis
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Example Sentences
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Generally, the velocity of the orbiting body tends to increase as it approaches the periapsis and decrease as it approaches the apoapsis.
From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015
In an elliptical orbit, the periapsis is the point at which the two objects are closest, and the apoapsis is the point at which they are farthest apart.
From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
