what is an orbit?

Answer 1

The "official" definition is in the The Astronomical Almanac. It says:

orbit: the path in space followed by a celestial body as a function of time.

There are other kinds of "orbits": Physics: electron orbits; Biology: eye orbits.

Answer 2

In fact all things moving through space follow orbits, whether they are spaceships, planets, stars, or grains of dust. An orbit is a curved path called an ellipse, and the curvature is more in a strong gravity field, like in orbit round a planet, satellites loop round provided the velocity is just right for its distance from the planet. In free space away from planets, where the gravity field may be weaker, a spaceship follows a much less curved orbit which can almost ,but never quite be, a straight line. There are no straight line paths in space, only elliptical orbits.
The earlier theories of atomic structure described electrons as being in elliptical orbits round the central nucleus, but this has been superseded by the idea of electron shells, called orbitals, like the layers of an onion.
By the way the hole in your skull where youir eyeball lives is also known as the orbit, in the medical world.
It's also a brand of chewing gum, just to complete the orbital list.

Answer 3

The word 'orbit' has a multitude of potential meaninngs, and some of them are conflicting definitions used in astronomy.

Nasa considers an orbit to be the invisible pathway taken by a satellite around the source of its gravitational well.

An item is in orbit when it is going past an object fast enough that when gravitationally attracted to it, the arcing trajectory extends beyond the physical spere of the object itself, but not fast enough to escape the gravitational well completely.

All orbits follow roughly elliptical trajectories, which are affected by tidal pulls of other nearby gravitational wells.

For example, a communications satellite in orbit around the earth is going to be pulled away from the earth every time it passes between the moon and the sun, and also every time it passes between the earth and the sun, just like the tides of the ocean.

Answer 4

An orbit is a circular or elliptical path that one body (such as a planet or an electron) follows as it passes around another body (such as a sun or the nucleus of an atom). The orbit is dictated by the force, such as electrical charge or gravity, that the body in the middle exerts over the orbiting body. Make sense?