Meanings
- not comparableDescribing an orbit around the Earth where each passage in the same direction along a given latitude will occur throughout the year at the same true solar time.
A heliosynchronous orbit is an orbit [around the Earth] whose plane precesses by [a little less than] one degree a day around the line of the poles, thus keeping the same position in relation to the Earth-Sun line.
1987, Pierre Lellouche, Satellite warfare: a challenge for the international community, Institut français des relations internationales, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, United NationsSynonyms: Sun-synchronous
- not comparableDescribing an orbit around the Sun in which the period of revolution is the same as the Sun's period of rotation.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDescribing an orbit around the Earth where each passage in the same direction along a given latitude will occur throughout the year at the same true solar time.
Origin
Translations
Dutch zonsynchroon
- zonsynchroondescribing an orbit around the Earth
Finnish aurinkosynkroninen, heliosynkroninen
- aurinkosynkroninendescribing an orbit around the Earth
- heliosynkroninendescribing an orbit around the Sun
French héliosynchrone
- héliosynchronedescribing an orbit around the Earth
Italian eliosincrono
- eliosincronodescribing an orbit around the Earth
Cite this entry
heliosynchronous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heliosynchronous
“heliosynchronous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heliosynchronous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heliosynchronous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heliosynchronous.
Source: heliosynchronous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.