Advanced Labwork in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Summer Term 2024

The specialized course in Astronomy and Astrophysics offers an advanced labwork. The experiments will take place at section Astronomy (Sand 1) or at section Computational Physics (Auf der Morgenstelle 10).
See also the central website for more information including the link to ilias.


The students have to choose one of the following two exercises:


I --- Chaos in planetary systems - Wilhelm Kley & Christoph Schäfer
In this part of the practical course, the students will develop a computer code for the simulation of the gravitational interaction between planets and will validate their code with the two body problem. After successfully simulating the two body problem, the students will apply their code to the chaotic three body problem. Students are expected to read the instructions.

Instructions and related paper

• Versuchsanleitung (english version).
• Dynamics of Systems of two close Planets, paper by Brett Gladman. The author illustrates the basics for the chaotic three body system. One part of the practical course is related to this paper.

II --- N-Body Simulations with REBOUND - Christoph Schäfer
In this part of the practical course, the students will use an existing N-Body software package to address several problems such as the stability of Saturn's rings and the Kirkwood gaps.


Please see this document if you want to do this experiment. Install the software before the experiment date.


Students are expected to read the instructions.

Instructions

• Versuchsanleitung (english version).

Some useful links for programming in C or python and plotting tools

• Python Beginner's Guide.
• matplotlib, plotting with python.
• gnuplot, free interactive plotting tool.
• C-Programmierung, free C-Book in german language.
• C-Tutorial, free C-tutorial in english.

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last update: 2024-09-05