I am working on a computer programming animation project and need the eliptical formulas that represent the orbits of all the planets. If anyone knows where I can find these and not the general ((Ta/Tb)^2)=((ra/rb)^3) formula or Keplers Laws please let me know.
2006-09-27 15:02:54 · 4 answers · asked by Matt S 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I have all the elements of the planets such as major axis, eccentricity, inclination, etc... Does anyone know how to interpurt these? Is there some formula to convert this information into plots on a cartesian system?
2006-09-28 09:04:10 · update #1
I do not know how accurate you have to be for an animation project.
If accuracy is not a main issue, I would suggest make all orbits circular as this is easy to program and not too far away from the truth -- most planet eccentricity is very small, check it out.
2006-09-27 15:18:30 · answer #1 · answered by oracle 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My favorite source for these equations, and many others is "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus, published by Willmann-Bell, Inc. I highly recommend this book as it takes most of the pain out of developing exactly the programs that you will need to write for this project. It is specifically written to help you write planetary prediction code in any computer language you like.
You can find it on the web at http://www.willbell.com
The U.S. Naval Observatory has an ephemeris of the planetary orbits online, but I don't know if they give the equations you want, or if they just give the results. I know they have a supplement to the ephemeris available which give the equations, but it's on a CD because the equations literally take chapters of discussion to present (as in the Meeus book).
2006-09-27 16:48:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might try doing a search on "orbital mechanics", that's the field that deals with the equations you are looking for. The vis-viva equation might also help you out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vis-viva_equation
If you're trying to accurately plot the position of the planets in our solar system, do a search on "ephemeris" or "ephemerides" to get the orbital elements of the planets.
2006-09-27 16:07:25 · answer #3 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's links to Keplerian elements and various information on computing orbits.
2006-09-27 18:58:31 · answer #4 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋