barycenter distance (r1)

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r_1 =
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vCalc.barycenter distance (r1)
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The distance from the center of the primary body to the barycenter equation computes the distance in a two body system based on the distance between the bodies and their two masses.

Description

The barycenter is one of the foci of the elliptical orbit of each body. This is an important concept in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and the like. In a simple two-body case, r_1 the distance from the center of the primary to the barycenter is given by:

r1= (a * m1)/(m1 + m2)

where:

• a is the distance between the centers of the two bodies;
• m1 and m2 are the masses of the two bodies.

If a is the semi-major axis of the system, r1 is the semi-major axis of the primary's orbit around the barycenter, and r2 = ar1 is the semi-major axis of the secondary's orbit. When the barycenter is located within the more massive body, that body will appear to "wobble" rather than to follow a discernible orbit.

References

• Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barycentric_coordinates_%28astronomy%29