Editing Circular orbit (section)

{{Short description|Orbit with a fixed distance from the barycenter}}
{{other uses of|orbit|Orbit (disambiguation)}}
{{one source|date=April 2020}}
[[Image:Newton Cannon.svg|thumb|right|[[Newton's cannonball|Isaac Newton's Cannonball]]. Path C depicts a circular orbit.]]
{{Astrodynamics}}

A '''circular orbit''' is an [[orbit]] with a fixed distance around the [[barycenter]]; that is, in the shape of a [[circle]].
In this case, not only the distance, but also the speed, [[angular speed]], [[Potential energy|potential]] and [[kinetic energy]] are constant. There is no [[periapsis]] or apoapsis. This orbit has no [[Radial orbit|radial version]].

Listed below is a circular orbit in [[astrodynamics]] or [[celestial mechanics]] under standard assumptions. Here the [[centripetal force]] is the [[gravitational force]], and the axis mentioned above is the line through the [[Center of mass|center of the central mass]] [[perpendicular]] to the [[orbital plane]].