The method of least squares used to invert an orbit problem
Bannister, R. (2003) The method of least squares used to invert
an orbit problem. American Journal of Physics, 71 (12). pp.
1268-1275. ISSN 0002-9505 Full text not archived in this
repository. To link to this article DOI: 10.1119/1.1613270 Six
parameters uniquely describe the orbit of a body about the Sun.
Given these parameters, it is possible to make predictions of
the body's position by solving its equation of motion. The
parameters cannot be directly measured, so they must be inferred
indirectly by an inversion method which uses measurements of
other quantities in combination with the equation of motion.
Inverse techniques are valuable tools in many applications where
only noisy, incomplete, and indirect observations are available
for estimating parameter values. The methodology of the approach
is introduced and the Kepler problem is used as a real-world
example. (C) 2003 American Association of Physics Teachers.
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