Argument of latitude
Encyclopedia
In celestial mechanics
, the argument of latitude (
) is an angular parameter that defines the position of a body moving along a Kepler orbit
. It is the sum of the more commonly used true anomaly
and argument of periapsis
.
where
is the argument of latitude, 
the true anomaly and 
the argument of periapis.
Celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of celestial objects. The field applies principles of physics, historically classical mechanics, to astronomical objects such as stars and planets to produce ephemeris data. Orbital mechanics is a subfield which focuses on...
, the argument of latitude (
) is an angular parameter that defines the position of a body moving along a Kepler orbitKepler orbit
In celestial mechanics, a Kepler orbit describes the motion of an orbiting body as an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, which forms a two-dimensional orbital plane in three-dimensional space...
. It is the sum of the more commonly used true anomaly
True anomaly
In celestial mechanics, the true anomaly is an angular parameter that defines the position of a body moving along a Keplerian orbit. It is the angle between the direction of periapsis and the current position of the body, as seen from the main focus of the ellipse .The true anomaly is usually...
and argument of periapsis
Argument of periapsis
The argument of periapsis , symbolized as ω, is one of the orbital elements of an orbiting body...
.
where
is the argument of latitude, the true anomaly and the argument of periapis.