Re: Astronomy - History

["Paul Camp" <pjcamp@coastal.edu>]

> >   Two questions and a comment re: Planetary orbits
> > 1) How does one determine the orbit of a superior planet, eg Mars, from
> > visual observations? A reference will do.
>
> It is not an easy algorithm. Carl Friedrich Gauss was the first to do it.
> He demonstrated that three observations (time and celestial coordinates)
> were necessary and sufficient to determine a Keplerian orbit of a body of
> negligible mass about the Sun. 
>
> Leigh

Wait a minute! Kepler was the first to do it else he would have no 
basis for his first law. Gauss simply reduced the mathematical 
complexity as much as possible, demonstrating that orbit 
determination could be done with only 3 observations.

Paul J. Camp                   "The Beauty of the Universe
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