halo orbit

plural halo orbits

1. orbital mechanicsA periodic, three-dimensional orbit about any one of the Lagrange points L₁, L₂ or L₃ of a two-body gravitational system.

   Thus, the minimum possible size for halo orbits in the Sun-Earth system is approximately (240 x 660) 10³ km at L₁ and (250 x 675) 10³ km at L₂, sizes denoting the maximum excursion from the libration point in the x and y directions respectively.

   2013, Daniel García Yárnoz, Joan-Pau Sanchez, Colin R. McInnes, “Chapter 21: Opportunities for Asteroid Retrieval Missions”, in Viorel Badescu, editor, Asteroids: Prospective Energy and Material Resources, Springer, page 486

   2 more examples

   Due to the strong hyperbolic character of the halo orbits, the stable manifold approaches the halo orbit in a very fast way. This fact means that if we are able to put the satellite in the stable manifold of a halo orbit, it will be close to the halo orbit (say at [a] few km) in a reasonable period of time.

   2001, G. Gómez, À. Jorba, J. Masdemont, C.Simó, Dynamics and Mission Design Near Libration Points, Volume III, World Scientific, page 93

   2013, Yuhui Zhao, Shoucun Hu, Xiyun Hou, Lin Liu, Chapter 39: On Nominal Formation Flying Orbit with a Small Solar System Body, Rongjun Shen, Weiping Qian (editors), Proceedings of the 26th Conference of Spacecraft TT&C Technology in China, Tsinghua University Press, Springer, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 187, page 395, If the ratio of the amplitude in x-direction to γ₁ keeps unchanged (=0.155), the periods of halo orbits are almost the same (about 190 days). As a result of the stability of CRTBP and the dynamics of halo orbit formation, nominal halo orbits do not exist if the ratio is too large or too small.