radius vector

‖ 1. (Math.) A straight line (or the length of such line) connecting any point, as of a curve, with a fixed point, or pole, round which the straight line turns, and to which it serves to refer the successive points of a curve, in a system of polar coordinates. See Coordinate, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) An ideal straight line joining the center of an attracting body with that of a body describing an orbit around it, as a line joining the sun and a planet or comet, or a planet and its satellite. [ 1913 Webster ]