1.27: Crystallographic orbit
In mathematics , an orbit is a general group-theoretical term describing any set of objects that are mapped onto each other by the action of a group. In crystallography, the concept of orbit is used to indicate a point configuration in association with its generating group.
From any point of the three-dimensional Euclidean space the symmetry operations of a given space group G generate an infinite set of points, called a crystallographic orbit . The space group G is called the generating space group of the orbit. Two crystallographic orbits are said configuration-equivalent if and only if their sets of points are identical.