What term describes the path of a satellite around a planet?

What term describes the path of a satellite around a planet?

• A. Eclipse
• B. Orbit
• C. Rotation
• D. Axis

Answer: (B)

Orbit is the path a satellite follows around a planet. This happens because gravity pulls the satellite toward the planet, and if the satellite has enough sideways speed, it keeps curving around the planet instead of falling straight inward. That curved path can be nearly circular or elongated into an ellipse, depending on how fast the satellite is moving and how far away it is. Other terms describe different ideas: rotation is the planet spinning on its own axis, the axis is the imaginary line through the planet around which it spins, and an eclipse is when a body shadows another. So the word that names the ongoing path of a satellite around a planet is orbit.

Orbit is the path a satellite follows around a planet. This happens because gravity pulls the satellite toward the planet, and if the satellite has enough sideways speed, it keeps curving around the planet instead of falling straight inward. That curved path can be nearly circular or elongated into an ellipse, depending on how fast the satellite is moving and how far away it is. Other terms describe different ideas: rotation is the planet spinning on its own axis, the axis is the imaginary line through the planet around which it spins, and an eclipse is when a body shadows another. So the word that names the ongoing path of a satellite around a planet is orbit.