[parihaka]

Originally Posted by Fredfredson

Ummm...

Where did you get that from?

Geosynchronous Orbit

Refers to the orbit in which the speed of a satellite’s orbit is synchronized with the speed of the earth’s rotation so that they are always positioned above the same spot on the earth. ...
www.novastars.com/vsat/vsat-glossary%20.htm

Which is also called "geostationary".

Also known as the Clarke Circular orbit, which is cool.

F

Ummm, from here

A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period matching the Earth's sidereal rotation period. This synchronization means that for an observer at a fixed location on Earth, a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same place in the sky at exactly the same time each day. The special case of a geosynchronous orbit that is circular and directly above the equator is called a geostationary orbit.

And from here

A satellite in geosynchronous orbit circles the earth once each day. The time it takes for a satellite to orbit the earth is called its period. For a satellite's orbit period to be one sidereal day, it must be approximately 35,786 kilometers (19,323 nautical miles or 22,241 statute miles) above the earth's surface. That is a lot higher than the Shuttle ever goes (usually about 300 kilometers). We calculate this height using, what are today, common geometric formulas.

To stay over the same spot on earth, a geostationary satellite also has to be directly above the equator. Otherwise, from the earth the satellite would appear to move in a north-south line every day. We call that "orbiting in the equatorial plane."

and from here

A geosynchronous orbit may be defined as one with an orbital period (the time needed to orbit once around the Earth) that matches the rotation rate of the Earth. This is a sidereal day, which is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds in length, and represents the time taken for the Earth to rotate once about its polar axis relative to a distant fixed point. This is about four minutes shorter than the common day length of 24 hours, which is relative to the sun.

A geostationary orbit is a special case of a geosynchronous orbit. A satellite is in a geostationary orbit when it appears stationary from the point of view of an observer on the Earth's surface. This can only occur when:

*
The orbit is geosynchronous
*
The orbit is a circle
*
The orbit lies in the plane of the Earth's equator

Thus, a geosynchronous satellite will be geostationary only with the additional restrictions of it being in a circular orbit situated over the equator.

The following parameters are always true for any geostationary satellite:

and here

A geostationary orbit is one where the orbit has the same period as its primary's rotation period, and remains stationary over a single point on the Earth's surface. A geosynchronous one only has the first restriction; that is, geosynchronous orbits can be elliptical, but geostationary ones have to be circular and stationed over the equator.

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

So yes, my apologies for trying to keep it simple for you. Here's a good site that explains quite a few things, and also might help explain why you cant have a geostationary orbit above either pole, as well as pointing out Arthur C Clarkes outstanding contributions.
http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/geodef.html

and here's the specifics on geostationary vs geosynchronous.
It's a good read all the way through but if you can't be bothered, I'll just highlight this for you

For any orbit to be geostationary, it must first be geosynchronous. A geosynchronous orbit is any orbit which has a period equal to the earth's rotational period. As we shall soon see, this requirement is not sufficient to ensure a fixed position relative to the earth. While all geostationary orbits must be geosynchronous, not all geosynchronous orbits are geostationary. Unfortunately, these terms are often used interchangeably.