  Constant dimension codes are subsets of the finite Grassmann variety. The
study of these codes is a central topic in random linear network coding theory.
Orbit codes represent a subclass of constant dimension codes. They are defined
as orbits of a subgroup of the general linear group on the Grassmannian. This
paper gives a complete characterization of orbit codes that are generated by an
irreducible cyclic group, i.e. a group having one generator that has no
non-trivial invariant subspace. We show how some of the basic properties of
these codes, the cardinality and the minimum distance, can be derived using the
isomorphism of the vector space and the extension field. Furthermore, we
investigate the Pl\"ucker embedding of these codes and show how the orbit
structure is preserved in the embedding.
