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Subject:
elliptical trajectory function derivation
Category: Science Asked by: sud2-ga List Price: $20.00 |
Posted:
16 Feb 2006 06:57 PST
Expires: 18 Mar 2006 06:57 PST Question ID: 446514 |
Can you derive a nonlinear elliptical function describing an orbital trajectory which best fits two points on the ellipse knowing only the x,y coordinates of the two points in the orbital plane. If so what equation describes it? |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: elliptical trajectory function derivation
From: rracecarr-ga on 16 Feb 2006 08:22 PST |
No, that is an underdetermined problem. Even assuming you know the location of one focus (i.e. you know you have two points on a planet's orbit and you know the location of the sun) there are still three degrees of freedom. You can think of these as distance from one focus to the other, direction from one focus to the other, and eccentricity of the ellipse. Or alternatively, length of major axis, length of minor axis, and orientation of major axis. Any way you cut it, you can't turn 2 pieces of information into 3. |
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