Re: [find_orb] Update posted

Andy Puckett Feb 28, 2013

Quick thought, Bill. Might it be possible to put the INTRGRAT functionality directly into Find_Orb? In other words, let FO be able to load an existing MPCORB file and update the epochs? It might then also be able to do other things with the full list, like use it to generate an ephemeris with uncertainties, or an ephemeris for just one specific Monte Carlo result.

We realized today that asking our students to use INTEGRAT to get updated orbits for 2007 WD5 at Mars encounter - while it used to save time - is an extra piece of software with its own rules and it helps lead to students being confused and overwhelmed by everything we ask them to do.

Andy

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Andy Puckett, PhD
Planetarium Director
Asst Professor of Astronomy
University of Alaska Anchorage
puck@...
907-786-1838 / CPSB 202P
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On Feb 26, 2013, at 5:25 PM, Bill Gray <pluto@...> wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> Yet another development version update :
>
> http://www.projectpluto.com/pluto/devel/find_orb.htm
>
> Quite a few improvements in this, mostly involving asteroid
> perturbers. As has been discussed a bit on this list, the program
> can now handle the 300 perturbers in BC-405. I think you'll find
> it's not too difficult to use this capability. You _do_ have to be
> a little patient, though. I still think some advanced trickery is
> possible to reduce the computational workload by a big factor (most
> of those 300 perturbers will be forever strangers to our object of
> interest... but which ones?), but the current version is at least
> useable. Also, the program appears to be quite stable now. If
> further testing confirms this, I'd like to make this the "official"
> release before doing more experimenting.
>
> Anyway. The other significant improvements in this version are
> the ability to do asteroid mass determination, and to get
> asteroid-centric ephemerides. All of this is documented at the
> above URL.
>
> Somewhat less significantly, when you click on a radar observation,
> you get info on the observed round-trip time and Doppler shift, and
> the computed round-trip time and Doppler shift. Not a big thing by
> itself; but it allows me to get things ready so that Find_Orb can
> include radar observations in orbit determination. That should lead
> to a tremendous increase in accuracy... at least, for the relatively
> few objects that have radar data.
>
> Also: observations can now be fed to Find_Orb with times given
> in HH:MM:SS.SSS format, or with calendar dates or JDs given to
> 1e-9 day ("nanoday", or 86.4 microsecond) precision. Details,
> again, are at the above URL.
>
> -- Bill
>


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