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Old February 24th 09, 06:20 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Greg Neill[_6_]
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Default orbital elements

U. N. McGregor wrote:
"Greg Neill" wrote in message
m...
U. N. McGregor wrote:
Where can I find concise directions on how to determine orbital

elements.
All I ever see on the internet is description about what they are and
mean
but never the way to actually do that type of calculation.


See if you can get hold of a copy of Fundamentals of Astrodynamics
by Bate, Mueller, and White. $12.89 at amazon -- a good deal for
an excellent book. Lot's of examples and exercises.


http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-A.../dp/0486600610


How difficult is it to read this and understand it? Is it written for
engineers and scientists etc.?
Remember , I am an amateur with limited math skills.


The book is not over the top mathematically, but it does assume
a basic knowledge of vectors and some calculus. If you want to
see how to "do the calculations" and do them yourself you'll
have to have some knowledge of the tools.