Anomaly
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Anomaly
1. In general, a deviation from the norm.
2. In geodesy, a deviation of an observed value from a theoretical
value, due to an abnormality in the observed quantity.
3. In celestial mechanics, the angle between the radius vector
to an orbiting body from its primary (the focus of the orbital
ellipse) and the line of apsides of the orbit, measured in the
direction of travel, from the point of closest approach to the
primary (perifocus).
The term defined above is usually called true anomaly v
to distinguished it from the eccentric anomaly E which is measured
at the center of the orbital ellipse to the projection of the
body onto the auxiliary circle of the ellipse, or from the mean
anomaly M which is what the true anomaly would become if the orbiting
body had a uniform annular motion. The mean anomaly M can be computed
by
and T is time of perifocus. The eccentric anomaly E and the mean anomaly M are related by the Kepler equation
where e is eccentricity of the ellipse. From E, the true anomaly v can be obtained by
References
This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use