The Separation from Mass and Period calculator uses Kepler's 3rd law to compute the distance between astronomical bodies (e.g. a star and exoplanet) based on the mass of the system (M) and the orbital period (T).
INSTRUCTIONS: Chose units and enter the following:
- (M) Mass of System
- (T) Period of Orbit
Astronomical Separation (R): The calculator returns the separation in astronomical units (ua). However, this can be automatically converted to other distance units (e.g. meters, light seconds, minutes or years) via the pull-down menu.
The Math / Science
In a binary system the separation between the objects in the system depends on the mass of the system and the period of the orbit (Kepler's Third Law). The equation to compute the separation based on Mass and Period is:
`R = (( (M*G)/(4pi^2)) T^2)^(1/3)`
where:
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