Computational Astronomy Project:

Apparent and Absolute Orbit Determination of Visual Double Star Systems Using a Least-Squares Algorithm

Double star research is one of the most direct methods of accessing many stellar properties, including mass, period, dynamics, and luminosity. The Washington Double Star Catalog houses data for over 100,000 double stars collected from observations over the past few decades. With the positional data of 8 different double stars, we use least squares regression to determine the apparent orbit of the systems. Removing the tilt angle of the apparent orbit relative to our line of sight yields the true orbit. The mass and period are then determined by application of Kepler’s Laws, giving us the the basic characteristics to unlock deeper insight into these systems, such as stellar evolution.

Code in this repo is the base code used; there was another Main class that was used to run everything and import data.