Orbit Relative to the Sun: Crossing Times and Eclipse

Abstract

We begin by studying the position of the orbital plane of an arbitrary satellite relative to the direction of the Sun, focusing on the notion of crossing time. We then turn more specifically to Sun-synchronous satellites for which this relative position provides the very definition of their orbit. We end the chapter with a more theoretical question, calculating the angle between the direction of the Sun and the plane of the orbit, and this will lead us to the study of solar eclipses, when the satellite is in the Earth’s shadow.