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Author Topic: A short showing of weird orbits.  (Read 3093 times)

ShoeUnited

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A short showing of weird orbits.
« on: January 05, 2012, 10:06:28 AM »
This was the first system I made following the guide.  I'm not quite sure how I got to this point, but I ended up with a couple of weird orbits.  Particularly Earth 4 and Earth 6.  It's a shame we don't see more captured planets share these orbits.  I'd love to see what a 'day' would look like from the perspective (I know about landing, but it messes up for me sometimes. lol).  I've ran the simulation for 'years' and they never impact Jupiter.

FiahOwl

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Re: A short showing of weird orbits.
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2012, 10:08:45 AM »
Only the innermost two are stable.

ShoeUnited

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Re: A short showing of weird orbits.
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2012, 10:12:50 AM »
I've noticed that when you increase the time step, it can affect the orbit.  I'm not sure why this is, but increasing the time step can change the outcome of the orbits on all but the most stable systems (as if velocity increases instead of remaining relative).  When I say years I mean at the time step I had set (I think 1min/ ?)  I can't explain why it is like this.

I'll restart the same scenario and let it run all day, but keep it at the time step. 

vh

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Re: A short showing of weird orbits.
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2012, 01:05:13 PM »
time step works like this:

the computer calculates the sim as if everything is frozen and only one object moves
go on to the next object
repeat

when all the objects positions have been calculated, they are all moved to the updated position and the whole thing repeats.

if you turn your time step up, the computer calculates the objects farther and farther in time apart, resulting in small errors that accumulate over time. If your orbit is eccentric or unstable, it'll change and or fall apart.