Determine the Orbital Period of Yohkoh

There are some really important things to notice on the map.

1. The wavely line that shows the predicted path of the satellite.  Why is it curved?
2. The grey shaded area indicates where on Earth it is night time.  Why is it curved?
3. The red shaded area in the south is the South Atlantic Anomally.
4. The circle around Japan shows where the Yohkoh satellite must be for computerized instructions to be radioed to the satellite.

By watching the satellite over several hours, you can determine how long it takes for Yohkoh to go around Earth once (if you don't want to watch the satellite every 15 minutes or so - there is an archive movie available).  The current Yohkoh position map is found at http://www.lmsal.com/cgi-diapason/yopos.  Click the image and hit RELOAD so see the updated position. Determine the length of time for one orbit of the Yohkoh spacecraft.

Back to the Internet Tracking or onward to Orbital Velocity Measurement

Lesson designed by the YPOP Team

For questions about this lesson, please contact Tim Slater