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Gauss's Method
In orbital mechanics (a subfield of celestial mechanics), Gauss's method is used for preliminary orbit determination from at least three observations (more observations increases the accuracy of the determined orbit) of the orbiting body of interest at three different times. The required information are the times of observations, the position vectors of the observation points (in Equatorial Coordinate System), the direction cosine vector of the orbiting body from the observation points (from Topocentric Equatorial Coordinate System) and general physical data. Carl Friedrich Gauss developed important mathematical techniques (summed up in Gauss's methods) which were specifically used to determine the orbit of Ceres. The method shown following is the orbit determination of an orbiting body about the focal body where the observations were taken from, whereas the method for determining Ceres' orbit requires a bit more effort because the observations were taken from Earth while Ceres orbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Mechanics
Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. Orbital mechanics is a core discipline within space-mission design and control. Celestial mechanics treats more broadly the orbital dynamics of systems under the influence of gravity, including both spacecraft and natural astronomical bodies such as star systems, planets, moons, and comets. Orbital mechanics focuses on spacecraft trajectories, including orbital maneuvers, orbital plane changes, and interplanetary transfers, and is used by mission planners to predict the results of propulsive maneuvers. General relativity is a more exact theory than Newton's laws for calculating orbits, and it is sometimes necessary to use it for greater accuracy or in high-gravity situations (e.g. orbits ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angular Momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed system remains constant. Angular momentum has both a direction and a magnitude, and both are conserved. Bicycles and motorcycles, frisbees, rifled bullets, and gyroscopes owe their useful properties to conservation of angular momentum. Conservation of angular momentum is also why hurricanes form spirals and neutron stars have high rotational rates. In general, conservation limits the possible motion of a system, but it does not uniquely determine it. The three-dimensional angular momentum for a point particle is classically represented as a pseudovector , the cross product of the particle's position vector (relative to some origin) and its momentum vector; the latter is in Newtonian mechanics. Unlike linear momentum, angular m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagrange Polynomial
In numerical analysis, the Lagrange interpolating polynomial is the unique polynomial of lowest degree of a polynomial, degree that polynomial interpolation, interpolates a given set of data. Given a data set of graph of a function, coordinate pairs (x_j, y_j) with 0 \leq j \leq k, the x_j are called ''nodes'' and the y_j are called ''values''. The Lagrange polynomial L(x) has degree \leq k and assumes each value at the corresponding node, L(x_j) = y_j. Although named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, who published it in 1795, the method was first discovered in 1779 by Edward Waring. It is also an easy consequence of a formula published in 1783 by Leonhard Euler. Uses of Lagrange polynomials include the Newton–Cotes formulas, Newton–Cotes method of numerical integration and Shamir's Secret Sharing, Shamir's secret sharing scheme in cryptography. For equispaced nodes, Lagrange interpolation is susceptible to Runge's phenomenon of large oscillation. Definition Given a set of k + ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slant Range
In radio electronics, especially radar terminology, slant range or slant distance is the distance along the relative direction between two points. If the two points are at the same level (relative to a specific datum), the slant distance equals the horizontal distance. An example of slant range is the distance to an aircraft flying at high altitude with respect to that of the radar antenna. The slant range (1) is the hypotenuse of the triangle represented by the altitude of the aircraft and the distance between the radar antenna and the aircraft's ground track (point (3) on the earth directly below the aircraft). In the absence of altitude information, for example from a height finder, the aircraft location would be plotted farther (2) from the antenna than its actual ground track. See also *Ranging *Spherical range The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance along a great circle. It is the shortest distance between two points o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newton–Raphson Method
In numerical analysis, Newton's method, also known as the Newton–Raphson method, named after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of a real-valued function. The most basic version starts with a single-variable function defined for a real variable , the function's derivative , and an initial guess for a root of . If the function satisfies sufficient assumptions and the initial guess is close, then :x_ = x_0 - \frac is a better approximation of the root than . Geometrically, is the intersection of the -axis and the tangent of the graph of at : that is, the improved guess is the unique root of the linear approximation at the initial point. The process is repeated as :x_ = x_n - \frac until a sufficiently precise value is reached. This algorithm is first in the class of Householder's methods, succeeded by Halley's method. The method can also be extended to complex functions an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravitational Parameter
In celestial mechanics, the standard gravitational parameter ''μ'' of a celestial body is the product of the gravitational constant ''G'' and the mass ''M'' of the bodies. For two bodies the parameter may be expressed as G(m1+m2), or as GM when one body is much larger than the other. \mu=GM \ For several objects in the Solar System, the value of ''μ'' is known to greater accuracy than either ''G'' or ''M''. The SI units of the standard gravitational parameter are . However, units of are frequently used in the scientific literature and in spacecraft navigation. Definition Small body orbiting a central body The central body in an orbital system can be defined as the one whose mass (''M'') is much larger than the mass of the orbiting body (''m''), or . This approximation is standard for planets orbiting the Sun or most moons and greatly simplifies equations. Under Newton's law of universal gravitation, if the distance between the bodies is ''r'', the force exerted on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triple Product
In geometry and algebra, the triple product is a product of three 3-dimensional vectors, usually Euclidean vectors. The name "triple product" is used for two different products, the scalar-valued scalar triple product and, less often, the vector-valued vector triple product. Scalar triple product The scalar triple product (also called the mixed product, box product, or triple scalar product) is defined as the dot product of one of the vectors with the cross product of the other two. Geometric interpretation Geometrically, the scalar triple product : \mathbf\cdot(\mathbf\times \mathbf) is the (signed) volume of the parallelepiped defined by the three vectors given. Here, the parentheses may be omitted without causing ambiguity, since the dot product cannot be evaluated first. If it were, it would leave the cross product of a scalar and a vector, which is not defined. Properties * The scalar triple product is unchanged under a circular shift of its three operands (a, b, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dot Product
In mathematics, the dot product or scalar productThe term ''scalar product'' means literally "product with a scalar as a result". It is also used sometimes for other symmetric bilinear forms, for example in a pseudo-Euclidean space. is an algebraic operation that takes two equal-length sequences of numbers (usually coordinate vectors), and returns a single number. In Euclidean geometry, the dot product of the Cartesian coordinates of two vectors is widely used. It is often called the inner product (or rarely projection product) of Euclidean space, even though it is not the only inner product that can be defined on Euclidean space (see Inner product space for more). Algebraically, the dot product is the sum of the products of the corresponding entries of the two sequences of numbers. Geometrically, it is the product of the Euclidean magnitudes of the two vectors and the cosine of the angle between them. These definitions are equivalent when using Cartesian coordinates. In mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parallelepiped Volume
In geometry, a parallelepiped is a three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms (the term ''rhomboid'' is also sometimes used with this meaning). By analogy, it relates to a parallelogram just as a cube relates to a square. In Euclidean geometry, the four concepts—''parallelepiped'' and ''cube'' in three dimensions, ''parallelogram'' and ''square'' in two dimensions—are defined, but in the context of a more general affine geometry, in which angles are not differentiated, only ''parallelograms'' and ''parallelepipeds'' exist. Three equivalent definitions of ''parallelepiped'' are *a polyhedron with six faces (hexahedron), each of which is a parallelogram, *a hexahedron with three pairs of parallel faces, and *a prism of which the base is a parallelogram. The rectangular cuboid (six rectangular faces), cube (six square faces), and the rhombohedron (six rhombus faces) are all specific cases of parallelepiped. "Parallelepiped" is now usually pronounced or ; trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross Product
In mathematics, the cross product or vector product (occasionally directed area product, to emphasize its geometric significance) is a binary operation on two vectors in a three-dimensional oriented Euclidean vector space (named here E), and is denoted by the symbol \times. Given two linearly independent vectors and , the cross product, (read "a cross b"), is a vector that is perpendicular to both and , and thus normal to the plane containing them. It has many applications in mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer programming. It should not be confused with the dot product (projection product). If two vectors have the same direction or have the exact opposite direction from each other (that is, they are ''not'' linearly independent), or if either one has zero length, then their cross product is zero. More generally, the magnitude of the product equals the area of a parallelogram with the vectors for sides; in particular, the magnitude of the product of two perpendic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross Product Vector
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a saltire in heraldic terminology. The cross has been widely recognized as a symbol of Christianity from an early period.''Christianity: an introduction'' by Alister E. McGrath 2006 pages 321-323 However, the use of the cross as a religious symbol predates Christianity; in the ancient times it was a pagan religious symbol throughout Europe and western Asia. The effigy of a man hanging on a cross was set up in the fields to protect the crops. It often appeared in conjunction with the female-genital circle or oval, to signify the sacred marriage, as in Egyptian amule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kepler's Equation
In orbital mechanics, Kepler's equation relates various geometric properties of the orbit of a body subject to a central force. It was first derived by Johannes Kepler in 1609 in Chapter 60 of his ''Astronomia nova'', and in book V of his '' Epitome of Copernican Astronomy'' (1621) Kepler proposed an iterative solution to the equation. The equation has played an important role in the history of both physics and mathematics, particularly classical celestial mechanics. Equation Kepler's equation is where M is the mean anomaly, E is the eccentric anomaly, and e is the eccentricity. The 'eccentric anomaly' E is useful to compute the position of a point moving in a Keplerian orbit. As for instance, if the body passes the periastron at coordinates x = a(1 - e), y = 0, at time t = t_0, then to find out the position of the body at any time, you first calculate the mean anomaly M from the time and the mean motion n by the formula M = n(t - t_0), then solve the Kepler equation above t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
