Note to moderator: Read the answerline carefully. Cowell’s method for computing these functions is less accurate than Encke’s method, which periodically rectifies a kind of them. Secular variations in these functions are ignored by ephemerides (“eff-em-AIR-ih-dees”). Gauss used three boundary conditions instead of two to compute these functions in his modification of Lambert’s problem. These functions are approximately computed within each sphere of influence and stitched together in the (*) patched conic approximation. The Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector is a conserved quantity describing these curves. The true anomaly specifies points along these curves whose extremes are the periapsis and the apoapsis. These curves, which are parameterized by inclination, eccentricity, and semimajor axis, may not be closed in N-body systems. For 10 points, name these paths followed by planets and satellites. ■END■
ANSWER: orbits [or trajectories; accept ephemerides or ephemeris until mention; accept paths or positions of specific astronomical or celestial bodies or satellites; accept solutions to the 2-body or N-body problem for any value of “N” until “N-body” is read; accept osculating orbit; prompt on positions or flight paths by asking “of what objects?”; prompt on solutions to ordinary differential equations by asking “those solutions are used to describe what curves?”]
<Science - Other Science - Math>
= Average correct buzz position