Fitting an Ellipse to the Orbit of a Star near the Galactic Center
Fitting an Ellipse to the Orbit of a Star near the Galactic Center
This Demonstration shows how the equation for the best-fitting ellipse can be determined for several predefined points in the Cartesian plane. The points are the locations of a star known as S2 near the center of our galaxy.
In order to achieve the most suitable formula for an ellipse, the method of least squares is used, which minimizes the sum of the distances () between the data points and the curve.
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Use the controls to find the best-fit ellipse by attempting to minimize the sigma () value. Axial lengths of the ellipse are fit automatically and the resulting equation parameters are displayed on the right.
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