Definition
The inclination of an object in the solar system is the angle between the orbital plane of the object (planet, comet, or asteroid) and the plane of the ecliptic.
In binary systems and especially in star/planet systems, it corresponds to the angle i between the orbital plane and the plane of the sky. This angle is especially important in the radial velocity technique used for detecting exoplanets, since the derived planetary mass is undetermined by a factor 1/sin (i): if the orbital plane is close to the plane of the sky, the actual mass can be much larger than the raw value.
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Rouan, D. (2011). Inclination (Astronomy). In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_784
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_784
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11271-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11274-4
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