Orbit of a planet based upon time?
Author
I''m looking for a way to do planetary orbits based upon time. If I know it takes x seconds for a complete orbit, how would I figure out where it should be at time y? Thanks!
EternalOne
Circular motion
in your case
angular_velocity = 2 * PI / orbit_time;
also, you can try
angle = start_angle + GetCurrentTime() * angular_velocity;
x = circle_centre_x + circle_radius_x * cos(angle);
y = circle_centre_y + circle_radius_y * sin(angle);
GetCurrentTime() is the current time in the game.
start angle is angle when time = 0.
in your case
angular_velocity = 2 * PI / orbit_time;
also, you can try
angle = start_angle + GetCurrentTime() * angular_velocity;
x = circle_centre_x + circle_radius_x * cos(angle);
y = circle_centre_y + circle_radius_y * sin(angle);
GetCurrentTime() is the current time in the game.
start angle is angle when time = 0.
That''s assuming that the central star doesn''t move. If you want both the star and the planet to move, things get a bit more complex. If you want to find the general formula for the positions of more than two bodies as a function of time, you can''t 
[teamonkey]
[teamonkey]
quote:Original post by teamonkey
That''s assuming that the central star doesn''t move. If you want both the star and the planet to move, things get a bit more complex. If you want to find the general formula for the positions of more than two bodies as a function of time, you can''t
Sure you can... just need to make circle_centre_x & circle_centre_y a function of time..
http://www.astronomynotes.com/gravappl/s8.htm
EDIT: Do proceed to the following sections where you'll meet Mr. Kepler.
[edited by - CWizard on January 6, 2004 9:23:39 AM]
EDIT: Do proceed to the following sections where you'll meet Mr. Kepler.
[edited by - CWizard on January 6, 2004 9:23:39 AM]
quote:Original post by SpaceDude
Sure you can... just need to make circle_centre_x & circle_centre_y a function of time..
Yeah, but only if you know those functions. A three-body system is chaotic. You can determine a set of functions for, say, the Earth-Moon-Sun system for a certain set of initial conditions. Change the conditions even a little bit, and you have to create a new set of functions. Traditionally, the orbit of the Earth-Moon-Sun system as a function of time is calculated by setting the mass of the moon to zero, because that way you can use the general two-body equations for any set of starting conditions.
[teamonkey]
he just wants planets orbiting in circle 
I don''t think he fancies solving differential equations for that :D
I don''t think he fancies solving differential equations for that :D
Author
Yup! Thanks all, I got it working perfectly now.
My planets were already in a hierarchy, and by using the system that oliii posted, I was able to get a galaxy where planets orbit the sun, and moons orbit the planets, all based upon a function of time. (So if my client/server agree that its tick 400, time index 20 -- they both know where all the planets and moons are located that the current time.)
Plus, to make things even cooler, I''m adding in ships orbiting planets/moons. It was overall a very simplistic solution, once I had the time functions. Thank you very much!
E1
My planets were already in a hierarchy, and by using the system that oliii posted, I was able to get a galaxy where planets orbit the sun, and moons orbit the planets, all based upon a function of time. (So if my client/server agree that its tick 400, time index 20 -- they both know where all the planets and moons are located that the current time.)
Plus, to make things even cooler, I''m adding in ships orbiting planets/moons. It was overall a very simplistic solution, once I had the time functions. Thank you very much!
E1
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