What term describes the motion around another body on a closed path in celestial mechanics?

What term describes the motion around another body on a closed path in celestial mechanics?

• A. Orbit
• B. Spin
• C. Tilt
• D. Eclipse

Answer: (A)

Orbit describes the motion of a body as it travels around another body in a closed path under gravity. This captures the idea of bound, repeating trajectories like planets circling the Sun or a Moon circling Earth. Spinning is rotation on its own axis, not around another body. Tilt refers to how an object's axis is inclined relative to a reference plane. An eclipse is when one body blocks light from another, an event rather than the motion itself. In celestial mechanics, orbits can be circular or elliptical, while non-closed paths such as hyperbolas or parabolas represent escape trajectories.

Orbit describes the motion of a body as it travels around another body in a closed path under gravity. This captures the idea of bound, repeating trajectories like planets circling the Sun or a Moon circling Earth. Spinning is rotation on its own axis, not around another body. Tilt refers to how an object's axis is inclined relative to a reference plane. An eclipse is when one body blocks light from another, an event rather than the motion itself. In celestial mechanics, orbits can be circular or elliptical, while non-closed paths such as hyperbolas or parabolas represent escape trajectories.