Orbits

As promised, here are some snapshots of spherical orbits from my SP2172 project. Note that they all are spherical orbits (i.e. constant radius), so if they're not round, it is due to the unequal scales of the orthogonal axes.

The generic "twine" orbit:


Another "twine" orbit. Note the larger "hole" at the poles:


Here's one rare orbit that hit the poles. A strict condition must be imposed to achieve this:


This is an interesting orbit:


This one is exactly the same as the previous but simulated for much longer:


There's also equatorial orbits, but they're hardly impressive, being little more than a line (or actually many lines superimposed upon each other) running along the equator.

The interactive 3D plots will probably not be up, at least not so soon, since none of us know how to create a Java applet yet.