Orbit determination

All you want to know about Orbit determination

Orbit determination is a branch of astronomy specialised in calculating, and hence predicting, the orbits of objects, primarily around the Earth. Amongst other uses, it is critical for making use of GPS signals.

History

Orbit determination has a long history, beginning with the prehistoric discovery of the planets and subsequent attempts to predict their motions. Johannes Kepler used Tycho Brahe's careful observations of Mars to deduce the elliptical shape of its orbit and its orientation in space. Another milestone in orbit determination was Carl Friedrich Gauss' assistance in the "recovery" of the dwarf planet Ceres in 1801. He introduced a method which, when given three observations (in the form of pairs of right ascension and declination), would result in the six orbital elements that completely describe an orbit. The theory of orbit determination has subseqently been developed to the point where today it is applied in GPS receivers as well as the tracking and cataloguing of newly observed minor planets.


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Further reading

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_determination"

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