The code Orbit (Appendix J) can be used to generate orbital positions, given the mass of the central star, the semimajor axis of the orbit, and the orbital eccentricity. Using Orbit to generate the data, plot the orbits for three hypothetical objects orbiting our Sun. Assume that the semimajor axis of each orbit is 1 AU and that the orbital eccentricities are: (a) 0.0. (b) 0.4. (c) 0.9. Note: Plot all three orbits on a common coordinate system and indicate the principal focus,
The code Orbit (Appendix J) can be used to generate orbital positions, given the mass of the central star, the semimajor axis of the orbit, and the orbital eccentricity. Using Orbit to generate the data, plot the orbits for three hypothetical objects orbiting our Sun. Assume that the semimajor axis of each orbit is 1 AU and that the orbital eccentricities are: (a) 0.0. (b) 0.4. (c) 0.9. Note: Plot all three orbits on a common coordinate system and indicate the principal focus,
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Transcribed Image Text:APPENDIX
J
Orbit, A Planetary Orbit Code
Orbit is a computer program designed to calculate the position of a planet orbiting a
massive star (or, alternatively, the orbit of the reduced mass about the center of mass of the
system). The program is based on Kepler's laws of planetary motion as derived in Chapter 2.
References to the relevant equations are given in the comment sections of the code.
The user is asked to enter the mass of the parent star (in solar masses), the semimajor
axis of the orbit (in AU), and the eccentricity of the orbit. The user is also asked to enter
the number of time steps desired for the calculation (perhaps 1000 to 100,000) and the
frequency with which the time steps are to be printed to the output file (0rbit.txt). If
1000 time steps are specified with a frequency of 10, then 100 evenly spaced (in time) time
steps will be printed.
The output file can be imported directly into a graphics or spreadsheet program in order to
generate a graph of the orbit. Note that it may be necessary to delete the header information
in Orbit.txt prior to importing the data columns into the graphics or spreadsheet program.
The source code is available in both Fortran 95 and C++ versions. Compiled versions of
the code are also available.
The code may be downloaded from the companion website at
http://www.aw-bc.com/astrophysics.
6 The code 0rbit (Appendix J) can be used to generate orbital positions, given the mass of
the central star, the semimajor axis of the orbit, and the orbital eccentricity. Using Orbit to
generate the data, plot the orbits for three hypothetical objects orbiting our Sun. Assume that
the semimajor axis of each orbit is 1 AU and that the orbital eccentricities are:
(a) 0.0.
(b) 0.4.
(с) 0.9.
Note: Plot all three orbits on a common coordinate system and indicate the principal focus,
located at x = 0.0, y = 0.0.
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