Begin by displaying the orbit for the default object, the
Near Earth Asteroid, Geographos, discovered in 1951. Its
orbit has a semi-major axis of 1.245 AU and a 0.3356
eccentricity. Simply press the "Plot Orbit"
button (without changing any values) to view this orbit.
After looking at the orbit of Geographos, try plotting the
orbit of another object such as Mars (semi-major axis = 1.523
AU, eccentricity = 0.093) or just have some fun trying
your own values.
For a more directed examination of Kepler's Laws and
planetary orbits, follow the activities outlined in the
"Planetary Orbit Exercise" and "Kepler's
Laws Calculator" (accessible from the
orbit main page).
Check the scaling before carrying out quantitative
measurements. On some printers what is seen on the
computer screen is not exactly what one sees in a printed
sheet. Measure the horizontal diameter of the printed
dotted circle and compare it to the vertical diameter.
Make appropriate adjustments to the scaling factors,
Use the appropriate buttons. Do not press the "Enter"
key. The "Enter" key will not signal to
the web page to begin the calculations.
Have patience. A new browser window will open to
display a plot of the specified orbit. Due to the large
number of calculations performed by the underlying
to be displayed.
Return to the orbit
main page to learn more about planetary orbits.
Use the "Planetary Orbit Exercise" and the
other links found on this page to learn more.
Orbital Data Form
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