Friday, 16 July 2010

orbit - State vectors of "interesting" multiple stars

I'd like to show a demonstration of Runge Kutta integration of real systems using examples of interesting multiple stars, where "interesting" means you can see through a small telescope that they are at least double. I've selected three:



  1. Gamma Andromedae (Almach)

  2. Alpha Geminorum (Castor)

  3. Zeta Ursae Majoris (Mizar and Alcor)

How can I find a state vector (set of relative positions and velocities) - or something similar - for these multiple star systems? An open access link (for everyone) would be great, but a journal reference is fine as well if that's what it takes.



Of course the periods are long and there will be uncertainty - I'd just like to use whatever is known and available, for this demonstration.

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