GEO
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Geostationary orbit |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Science & Engineering, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | Geo. |
GEO has two meanings. It stands for Geostationary orbit (astronomy & Space) or George (given name).
Meanings of GEO at a glance
| # | GEO stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geostationary orbit | Science & Engineering › Astronomy & Space |
| 2 | George | Writing & Everyday › Given Name |
1. Geostationary orbit
Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations
Circular orbit 35,786 kilometers above the equator in which a satellite circles Earth once per sidereal day, matching the planet's rotation so it appears fixed in the sky. Weather satellites, television broadcast satellites and many communications satellites sit in GEO.
Example: The satellite dish stays pointed at a single spot because the TV satellite is in GEO.
Arthur C. Clarke popularized the idea for communications relays in a 1945 Wireless World article, so it is also called the Clarke orbit; Herman Potočnik had described it in 1928. Syncom 3 relayed the 1964 Tokyo Olympics from geostationary orbit. GEO is sometimes expanded as geosynchronous equatorial orbit, and round-trip signal delays exceed half a second.
2. George (Geo.)
Writing & Everyday · Given Name Abbreviations
Appears for George in old deeds, signatures, newspapers, census returns and business names. Bookplates and tombstones of the Georgian and Victorian eras use it constantly, reflecting how common the name then was.
Example: The 1851 census lists Geo. Hart, 42, blacksmith, with his wife and five children.
George became a favorite English name under the Hanoverian kings George I to George IV, who reigned from 1714 to 1830. The prefix geo-, as in geography, means "earth" and is unrelated. General Motors also used the name Geo for a car brand in the 1990s.
Related abbreviations
More astronomy & Space abbreviations
- ET – Extraterrestrial
- EVA – Extravehicular activity
- FAST – Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope
- FRB – Fast radio burst
- GRB – Gamma-ray burst
- GTO – Geosynchronous transfer orbit
- H0 – Hubble constant
- HEO – Highly elliptical orbit
See all 83 astronomy & Space abbreviations →