Reading¶
Chapter 2 of Murray and Dermott
Reading questions¶
what are the constants of motion for two-bodies in orbit around each other?
what is meant by the term “mean motion”?
sketch an elliptical orbit and label it
what is the difference between mean anomaly, true anomaly, and eccentric anomaly?
what is Kepler’s equation?
if you want to set up an orbit with semi-major axis a and eccentrity e, how do you choose the initial location and velocity?
explain why, even though the Moon is tidally-locked, it appears to wobble (librate) to an observer on Earth
underneath each of eqs (2.157) and (2.162), the text gives a brief physical explanation. Explain how the physical explanation gives rise to the equation in each case.
Answers to these questions should be submitted to your github repository before class on Monday.