Project 5 | Orbiting Moons at Jupiter
Type| Astronomy
Software | Python
Description
In this project, a Python script generates the orbits of Jupiter’s four main moons in an accurate simulation. The four celestial bodies are the largest of its 79 satellites discovered; Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Approach
Within the source code, several programming methods are employed. To reduce complexity, Python's turtle module is used to decrease dependencies. In the script, both Jupiter and its moons are represented as separate turtle objects; the objects are then customized. Within the main script, a for loop iterates through each moon using Python’s enumerate function. The orbital parameters (radii and periods) are predefined for each moon.
Results
Since the orbits are simulated, the numbers assigned in the code are reduced to match the scaling of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Io’s orbital radius is approximately 421,700 km, yet in the script, a value of 130 is assigned. All other orbits are decreased to scale as well, but are altered such that they simulate the actual positions and periods of the full scale orbits.
References
Benson, Tom. “Earth Atmosphere Model - English Units.” NASA, www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/atmos.html. Accessed 14 Aug. 2023. 
