Alfred Wegener: Difference between revisions
→Celestial mechanics
Altilunium (talk | contribs) |
Altilunium (talk | contribs) |
||
Line 59:
==== Celestial mechanics ====
{{Cquote|Take three observations of an asteroid not separated from one another by more than 15 days, or three of a comet not separated from one another by more than 6 days, and compute the elements of the orbit by both the method of Laplace and also that of Gauss.||| Sample problem from Celestial Mechanics course}}
Julius Bauschinger specialized in the field of determining the orbital paths of heavenly bodies. He fitted in well at Berlin, where many people worked on the measurement and calculation of locations, orbits and distances; the calculation of ephemerides (planetary tables); and the refinement of methods for correcting observational errors.
Line 65 ⟶ 67:
The fundamental problem in this branch of celestial mechanics was to find the orbit -- and thus the position relative to Earth at any given time -- of an object -- such as a comet or an asteroid that was moving around the Sun -- and to find it with a minimum number of observations -- usually three. Restricting observations to the absolute minimum also minimized the immense amount of trigonometric calculation required to solve the equations involved in the problem. One took the celestial latitude and longitude (the right ascension and declination) of a celestial object on three successive occasions. Then, using these coordinates and the time of observation, generated a total of nine equations that had to be solved for nine unknowns.
There were three principal approaches to this problem, all treated in Bauschinger's course. Each approach had strengths and weaknesses, depending on the character of the orbit being studied, especially its eccentricity and the number and character of perturbations.
| |||