Osculating orbit

orbital perturbations

The osculating orbit of an astronomical object is the gravitational Kepler orbit.

This is the normal orbit it would have around a body, supposing it were not perturbed (disturbed) by a third body.[1]

References

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  1. Moulton, Forest R. 1970. [1902] Introduction to Celestial Mechanics (2nd revised ed). Mineola, New York: Dover. p322–323.