L2

E290065

Lagrange point celestial location

L2 is the second Sun–Earth Lagrange point, a gravitationally stable location in space used by space telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope for observation.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
L2 canonical	2
L2 point	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Lagrange point ⓘ celestial location ⓘ
advantage	allows continuous observations with minimal Earth occultation ⓘ enables efficient shielding from Sun, Earth, and Moon light ⓘ provides stable thermal environment for spacecraft ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	L2 ⓘ second Sun–Earth Lagrange point ⓘ
belongsToSet	five Sun–Earth Lagrange points ⓘ
communicationProperty	requires high-gain antennas for communication with Earth ⓘ
comparedToGEO	is much farther from Earth than geostationary orbit ⓘ
comparedToLEO	is much farther from Earth than low Earth orbit ⓘ
coordinateFrame	Sun–Earth rotating reference frame ⓘ
definedBy	restricted three-body problem ⓘ
distanceFromEarth	approximately 0.01 astronomical units ⓘ approximately 1.5 million kilometers ⓘ
distanceFromSun	approximately 1.01 astronomical units ⓘ
gravitationalProperty	net gravitational and centrifugal forces balance for a co-rotating object ⓘ
indexInSet	Sun–Earth L2 ⓘ surface form: second Lagrange point of the Sun–Earth system
locatedInSystem	Solar System ⓘ surface form: Sun–Earth system
missionDesignConsideration	requires insertion into halo or Lissajous orbit rather than exact point ⓘ requires periodic station-keeping maneuvers ⓘ
observationBenefit	provides low-background environment for sensitive detectors ⓘ
operatedByAgencies	ESA ⓘ NASA ⓘ Roscosmos ⓘ other international space agencies ⓘ
orbitalPeriod	approximately one sidereal year ⓘ
orbitsWith	Earth around the Sun ⓘ
relativePosition	is located beyond Earth on the night side relative to the Sun ⓘ lies on the line defined by the Sun and the Earth ⓘ
scientificRole	major hub for next-generation space observatories ⓘ
spacecraftLocatedAt	Euclid spacecraft ⓘ surface form: Euclid space telescope Gaia observatory ⓘ surface form: Gaia space observatory Herschel Space Observatory ⓘ James Webb Space Telescope ⓘ Planck spacecraft ⓘ surface form: Planck space observatory Spektr-RG observatory ⓘ future space observatories planned by various space agencies ⓘ
stabilityType	metastable equilibrium point ⓘ requires station-keeping for long-term spacecraft operations ⓘ
thermalEnvironment	allows passive cooling of infrared telescopes ⓘ
typicalOrbitType	Lissajous orbit ⓘ halo orbit ⓘ
usedFor	cosmology observations ⓘ infrared astronomy ⓘ space astronomy ⓘ
visibilityProperty	always lies roughly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sun–Earth L2 → label → L2 ⓘ

L2 → alsoKnownAs → L2 ⓘ

subject surface form: Sun–Earth L2

Lissajous orbit → isRelatedTo → L2 ⓘ

this entity surface form: L2 point