Kepler Orbits

Abstract

The path of a point satellite in the field of a point master is called a Kepler orbit. The point master is located in one focus, called the occupied focus (or prime focus) F₀ of a Kepler orbit The second focus is unoccupied and is referred to as the vacant focus F_v (Figure 2.1). Kepler orbits are conic sections, whose equation in polar coordinates with origin at the occupied focus is

$$r = \frac{p} {{1 + \varepsilon \cos \theta }}$$

((2.1))

with p as semi-parameter (or semi-latus rectum), and 6 as (numerical) eccentricity.