pytwobodyorbit 1.0.0

Description:

pytwobodyorbit 1.0.0

pytwobodyorbit
pytwobodyorbit is a module that provides various computations about two-body orbits, including:

Defines the orbit by position and velocity of an object
Defines the orbit by classical orbital elements
Computes position and velocity of an object at a given time
Provides a series of points on orbital trajectory of an object for visualization
Solves so-called Lambert's problem (When two positions and flight time between them are given, the module computes initial and terminal velocity of the object).

The module contains TwoBodyOrbit class and lambert function.
TwoBodyOrbit (Class)
A class that provides a two-body orbit of a celestial body, which orbits around or flies by a central body.
Attributes

bodyname: The name of the celestial body
mothername: The name of the central body
mu: Gravitational parameter (mu) of the central body

The dimension of mu prescribes units of length and time used in the instance. For example, when you use the default value of mu (1.32712440041e20), the unit of length should be meters, and the unit of time should be seconds.



Methods


setOrbCart: Define the orbit by Cartesian orbital elements (the position and velocity of the body). Arguments are as follows:

t: Time
pos: Position of the body [x, y, z]; an array-like object
vel: Velocity of the body [xd, yd,zd]; an array-like object



setOrbKepl: Define the orbit by classical orbital elements (Keplerian orbital elements). Arguments are as follows:

epoch: Epoch
a: Semi-major axis
e: Eccentricity; 1.0 is not allowed
i: Orbital inclination in degrees
LoAN: Longitude of ascending node in degrees; if inclination is zero, this value defines a reference longitude of AoP
AoP: Argument of periapsis in degrees; if inclination is zero, this value indicates an angle from the reference longitude; for a circular orbit, this value defines a imaginary periapsis
Following three keyword parameters (TA, T, MA) are mutually exclusive. You should specify one of them.

TA: True anomaly at epoch in degrees; for a circular orbit, this value indicates an angle from the imaginary periapsis
T: Periapsis passage time; for a circular orbit, this value indicates passage time for the imaginary periapsis
MA: Mean anomaly at epoch in degrees; for a hyperbolic trajectory, you cannot specify this argument; for a circular orbit, this value indicates anomaly form the imaginary periapsis





posvel: Returns position and velocity of the body for given true anomaly


points: Returns points on orbital trajectory for visualization


posvelatt: Returns position and velocity of the body for given time


elmKepl: Returns classical orbital elements (Keplerian orbital elements) of the orbit


Usage
from pytwobodyorbit import TwoBodyOrbit
sunmu = 1.32712440041e20
orbit = TwoBodyOrbit("Space Probe", mu=sunmu) # create an instance
t0 = 0.0 # epoch
pos0 = [1e11, 1.2e11, 0.2e11] # position
vel0 = [-2e4, 1.8e4, 0.0] # velocity
orbit.setOrbCart(t0, pos0, vel0) # define the orbit
t1 = 100.0 * 86400 # time after 100 days
pos, vel = orbit.posvelatt(t1) # get position and velocity at t1
xs, ys, zs, times = orbit.points(100) # get points (series of 100 points)
kepl = orbit.elmKepl() # get classical orbital elements

The value for the gravitational parameter (1.32712440041e20) is for the Sun, and it prescribes units of length to meters and units of time to seconds.
lambert (Function)
A function to solve Lambert's Problem. From given initial position and terminal position of a body and flight time, the function computes a two-body orbit and returns initial velocity and terminal velocity of the body. The function returns following two numpy arrays. The origin of axes is the central body.

ivel: Initial velocity of the body [xd, yd, zd]
tvel: Terminal velocity of the body [xd, yd, zd]

Arguments

ipos: Initial position of an body [x, y, z]; an array-like object; origin of coordinates is the central body
tpos: Terminal position of an body [x, y, z]; an array-like object; origin of coordinates is the central body

Usage
from pytwobodyorbit import lambert
P1 = [1.5e11, 0.0, 0.0] # initial position
P2 = [-0.5e11, 1.3e11, 0.4e11] # terminal position
Ft = 100.0 * 86400 # flight time in seconds
sunmu = 1.32712440041e20 # mu of the Sun
prog = True # Prograde orbit
ivel, tvel = lambert(P1, P2, Ft, mu=sunmu, ccw=prog) # get initial velocity and terminal velocity

Install pytwobodyorbit
pytwobodyorbit has been registered on PyPI (Python Package Index). You can install it by pip command of Python as follows.
pip install pytwobodyorbit

Required environment

Python 3

Packages and Modules

Numpy

Modification Log
v1.0.0 January 2, 2019


TwoBodyOrbit class

Initiating method was changed its argument name (mmu to mu)
Method setOrbKepl was added to TwoBodyOrbit class
Method elmKepl was changed its returning data; keys of dictionary were modified



lambert function

Function name was changed; from solveGauss to lambert
The argument "mu" became to have a default value



v0.1.0 November 7, 2016

Initial release

Programs for testing and demonstration
The author prepaired two programs for testing and demonstration of pytwobodyorbit module. Those are testConvert.py and testLambert.py. You can find their scripts in a repository of GitHub. See https://github.com/whiskie14142/pytwobodyorbit
testConvert.py
A program that demonstrates functionalities of the TwoBodyOrbit class of pytwobodyorbit. By utilizing the class, the program converts a set of classical orbital elements of a body that orbits around or flies by the Sun, into a set of Cartesian orbital elements, and vice versa. In addition, the program draws a 3D chart of the orbit, from classical orbital elements or Cartesian orbital elements.
The program requires Numpy and matplotlib.
testLambert.py
A program that demonstrates the lambert function of pytwobodyorbit. By utilizing the function, the program compute a two-body orbit from initial position and terminal position of a body that orbit around or flies by the Sun and flight time between them. The program shows you classical orbital elements of the orbit, and draws the orbit into a 3D chart. For the computation of a two-body orbit, you can choose flight direction of the orbit, one is a direct (prograde) orbit and another is a retrograde orbit.
The program requires Numpy and matplotlib.