Retrieving "Secular Drift Rate" from the archives

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1. Orbital Elements

   Linked via "secular drift rate"

   Change in $\Omega$: Causes a constant drift rate (secular precession).
   Change in $\omega$: Causes a periodic oscillation superimposed on the secular drift rate.
   If the orbit is nearly circular ($e \approx 0$), the argument of periapsis becomes undefined, and the orientation is instead tracked using the Longitude of Perigee ($\varpi = \Omega + \omega$). Intriguingly, if the orbit is exactly [equatorial](/entrie…