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Re: planetary orbits



Justin - The October 1983 issue of Sky and Telescope has an excellent
article by Owen Gingerich that describes in detail how to calculate the
eccentricity of the orbit of Mars from the perihelion and aphelion
positions of Mars. It is a very well explained article that reproduces
the approach taken by Kepler in proving that the orbit of Mars is an
ellipse.

I hope you have a better library available to you than we have here. In
a mistaken effort to 'modernize' the library, most of the permanent
journal collections were discarded in favor of on-line subscriptions.
However, most of the on-line journal subscriptions only have back issues
for the last 2 to 5 years. The stack space occupied by the print
journals now serves as meeting and study space for the students. The
library maintains that the infrequent usage of the journals didn't
justify the space allotted to them.

A coffee bar for the students is now being contemplated in one section
of the library :-(

Bob at PC

Justin Parke wrote:

I am teaching astronomy for the first time this year (high school) and recall seeing an activity in the past where the student would plot the orbit of (mars? mercury?) based on the dates of greatest elongation or opposition. It was a "kepler's first law" activity. I have searched the internet to no avail. Is anyone else familiar with what I am talking about. Any assistance is appreciated.

Justin Parke
Oakland Mills High School
Columbia, MD