Thanks for the reply. I agree it is confusing. The end result is definitely to understand satellite motion ie the GPS and the relativistic effects. However, what I was after was a book that dealt solely with celestial/artificial satellites mechanics and presented the entire subject. I've taken plenty of Mechanics classes etc so I'm not after an introductory mechanics book. I want a book that goes beyond the simple central force problem and also attempts some programming of the results. Celestial mechanics is obviously a dying subject due to people being more interested in curved space times and the deepest secrets of black holes but it is extremely important for people trying to understand satellite motion and it's hard to find a proper treatment of the subject that is mathematically sophisticated. The books I've found are terrible to say the least. Anyways all help is appreciated.russ_watters said:I'm going to guess that you haven't received any responses yet because your question is a bit confusing. When I see "Satellite Navigation" I think "GPS", but then you talk about orbital motion, which doesn't seem to have much to do with that. Can you clarify? I don't think I'd be much more help than google, so I'll also just ask: have you looked for an introductory Newtonian physics textbook? Or an astronomy textbook?
And if you want a very good (not great), extremely practical, but definitely more expensive (in some cases, a whole lot more expensive) pick up a copy of Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications by David Vallado et al. The softcover price for the third edition is well over $200 (used). The fourth edition is much more affordable, only $77 or so (new). Vallado is a much better and much more thorough reference than is Bate, Mueller and White. But you pay the price.gneill said:If you want a good, practical, yet remarkably inexpensive book on the topic, pick up a copy of Fundamentals of Astrodynamics by Bate, Mueller and White. It's a softcover priced around $17.00. It covers the classical theory and methods.
Amazon will have the BMW book.Matter_Matters said:That's great, thank you I'll check if the university has them. Would you know which direction to point me if I wanted to consider particle orbits using Keplers laws and then a comparison for Schwarzschild geometry using MATLAB?
Satellite navigation is a method of determining the position, velocity, and time of an object using a network of satellites orbiting Earth. This system is used for navigation, tracking, and timing purposes in a variety of applications such as aviation, maritime, and land-based transportation.
Satellites navigate through a process called trilateration, where they receive signals from multiple satellites and use the time delay of the signals to calculate their position. This information is then transmitted to ground stations, which can then be used by receivers on Earth to determine their location.
The main purpose of satellite navigation is to provide accurate and reliable positioning information for various applications, including navigation, mapping, surveying, and timing. It is also used for military and scientific purposes, such as monitoring weather patterns and studying Earth's surface.
The minimum number of satellites needed for navigation is four. However, most satellite navigation systems have more than four satellites in their network to improve accuracy and provide coverage in areas where some satellites may not be visible.
There are currently four major satellite navigation systems in operation: GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (Europe), and BeiDou (China). Each system has its own unique network of satellites and provides global coverage for navigation and timing purposes.