Mathematical Modeling For Planetary Motion Using Python's PyGame Module, Matplotlib and Linux Shell Scripting

Volume 7, Issue 10, Octomber – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Mathematical Modeling for Planetary Motion using

Python’s PyGame Module, Matplotlib and
Linux Shell Scripting
Aashni Joshi[1] Mohan Kshirsagar[2]
12th Grade - ISC Board Science Student from Completed Bachelors in Electronics and
Jamnabai Narsee School Mumbai Telecommunication Engineering from
Maharashtra India Sinhgad institute of Technology Lonavala,
Maharashtra, India.
Abstract:- In this research paper a model of the solar However, it is not practical to determine the movements
system for computing the orbits of all 8 planets true to its of the majority of planets in the cosmos through analytical
astronomical value and scale using python programming computation or direct observation. Observation through
language is developed. The motion is visualised using telescopes necessitates precise and expensive equipment as
Pygame and Matplotlib library. Iteration is utilized to well as long periods of observation, and the complexity of the
depict and update the position of the planets during the realistic system means that this problem has no analytical
process, and also develop a model to generate the date, solutions. With the advancement of computational power
time, and place of all solar and lunar eclipses from 2001 over the last few decades, an increasing number of physicists
to 2100 by importing python modules related to have begun to use computational tools to solve equations,
astronomy. The model's validity and accuracy are perform integrals, invert matrices, simulate various physical
demonstrated by the study and application of Kepler’s processes, and so on. This research paper describes how to
Laws Of Planetary Motion throughout the procedure and simulate the motion of the Sun and eight planets using a
modelling. computational method. In addition it also explains how to
generate the date, time, and place of all solar and lunar
Keywords:- Planetary Motion, Mathematical Modeling, eclipses from 2001 to 2100 using Python.
Python Modules for Astronomy, Modelling of The Solar &
Lunar Eclipses, Simulation of the Solar System, 3D plot for II. PROBLEM STATEMENT
the projectile on a planet, Solar and Lunar eclipses from 2001
to 2100. During my research at IIT Bombay, NCAIR I realized
there are various software packages that are built to aid
I. INTRODUCTION physics learning and teaching and they have specific modules
and solve a number of problems. There are specialized
Astronomers are keen to follow the motions of the physics packages which consists of a training simulation
planets as they revolve around the Sun since the discovery of software and instructional materials that help students
modern science. People could only see the star formations understand and explore the fundamental laws of physics and
with their naked eyes before the invention of telescopes, so mathematical methods of investigation of the movement of
they can only see stars close to the Earth's orbit. Following celestial bodies. In contrast, the mathematical modelling
that, the invention of telescopes made it possible for mankind software allow users to build mathematical models of
to see distant planets clearly. These studies led to the physical problems and obtain corresponding solutions. I also
development of Newton's law of universal gravitation and initially tried modelling the planetary motion using Maple
Kepler's laws, which offer mathematical explanations of Software. However, I later learnt the Python Computing
planets' orbits. language from scratch and decided to model the various
motions on Python itself.
III. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
A. Use of Python Programming:

 Constructed a function that determines the next prime
number after a number ’n’ wherein the value of n is
inputted by the user
 Calculated the root of a function from bisection method
 Researched and understood the working behind Newton
Raphson Method of calculating the root and also
implemented that in a python program
Fig 1:- Solar System
IJISRT22OCT039 www.ijisrt.com 64
ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Researched about the time module in python and imported
it for various programs to calculate the time of execution
of the programs
 Created a virtual rock papers and scissors game by
importing the random function from the math module.
B. Use of Linux Shell Scripting:

 The syntax of Linux and can now implement functions
like pwd, cd, ls, cp, rm, echo, cat and the vi editor
 The basics of shell scripting and how it works. Eventually
with the help of above computing languages, tools and
software I was able to easily, quickly and with sufficient
accuracy, model and animate the various cases of motion Fig 2:- Modeling and Animation of Solar System
of material points and bodies under the action of gravity,
inertia, engine thrust, and environmental resistance as  Successfully created a 3D model on Python of the Solar
follows. System with all the Planets around the Sun using
Matplotlib. The size of the planets relative to each other
C. Research, Analysis for Modeling of Solar and Lunar was to scale with the exception of the sun. Distances of
Eclipse: the planets from the sun were exactly to scale in the
 Analysed and understood the motion of the moon around program.
the earth and the conditions necessary for solar and lunar
eclipses to occur and thereby coded two programs that F. Research and Analysis of Planets (Revolutions and
generate the date, time and place of all solar and lunar Rotations):
eclipses from 2001 to 2100 by importing python modules  Described why the plane of revolution of all planets as
connected to astronomy. well as the direction of revolution is the same
 Created a program that will generate the length of the  Explained and Analysed three theories for the unusual
shadow of any object given the date, time, city and height rotation direction of Venus
of the object. The program generates the latitude and  Identified the angle between earth’s magnetic pole and
longitude simply by inputting the city by the user. spinning pole, between earth’s rotation axis to revolution
 In addition to the length of the shadow, the program also plane and between plane of revolution of earth and plane
calculates and prints the angle the shadow makes with the of revolution of moon
geographic north i.e. the direction of the shadow.  Interpreted and explained the motion of moon around the
earth regarding time of revolution as well as time of
D. Sundial Creation: rotation and through a simulation, illustrated why we
 Understood the working of the different types of sundials always face the same side of the moon
and created a sundial for Mumbai in accordance with its
latitude. Manually constructed the dial as well as the G. Recursion:
pointer. Understood the process of recursion through online
 Calculated and implemented the difference, in degrees, content and constructed several programs to develop a greater
between every hour line and thereby designed the dial understanding of it:
 The dial is now put up at the terrace of the NCAIR-  Checking if a number is prime or not
National Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research  The power function — returns a^b for given values of a
of IIT Bombay for viewers to observe. and b
 Generating the Fibonacci series
E. Modeling and Animation of the solar system.  Calculating factorial of any number
 Using the Pygame Module, created an animated program  Calculating the sum of all odd and even digits between
that depicts the motion of the first four planets around the two numbers
sun.  Generating prime triplets
 Not only was the mass of the sun considered in modelling  Solving the Tower of Hanoi problem
the orbit, but also the average mass of other planets was
factored in.. H. Projectile Motion:
 Moreover, the orbits were modelled as elliptical and not Derived equations relating to projectile motion on basis
simply circular. Distances of the planets from the sun were of its initial velocity, angle, time period, maximum height,
exactly to scale in the program. and angle of projectile:
 Designed a program that plots the path of a projectile
given its initial velocity and angle with the horizontal
using matplotlib.
ISSN No:-2456-2165
library with Python. PyEphem can also compute the angular
separation between two objects in the sky, determine the
constellation in which an object lies, and find the times an
object rises, transits, and sets.
Fig 3:- Projectile Motion
 In addition, constructed two 3D plots of time vs velocity

vs angle and range vs velocity vs theta for a given
projectile.
 Also included an option for the user to select any planet in
the solar system and thereby get the 3D plot for the
projectile on that planet.
 Structured a program such that upon entering a Range, this
program generates 3 different combinations of initial
velocity and angle with the horizontal that give the same
range.
 However, we think of it as a cannonball shooting shots. A Fig 4:- Predicting All Lunar Eclipse
total of 3 shots are fired and the time interval between
these shots is inputted from the user. The time period for B. Recursion to calculate Factorial:
the first cannonball is also inputted from the user. Not only Using the concept of recursion to calculate the factorial
does this program accurately calculate values that deliver of a number. The goal of this program is to further understand
the same range, but it is also error corrected. If the time how recursion works.
interval between two cannonballs is more than the time
period of the first, the program will generate an error
message and call the input function again.
 As a continuation of the program above, using the Pygame
module, also created a program that traces the path of
these three projectiles in an animated fashion with the
particular time intervals factored in.
IV. PYTHON MODULES FOR MATHEMATICAL

ANALYSIS
During this project I have worked on so many models Fig 5:- Recursion to Calculate Factorial
that could give me clarity on how the entire research would
work collaboratively. In my research there are some modules In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a
we have customized and used to track planetary motion. computational problem where the solution depends on
solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. Recursion
A. Predicting all Lunar Eclipses : solves such recursive problems by using functions that call
The Python program that calculates the date and time themselves from within their own code. The approach can be
for all the lunar eclipses between 2001 and 2100. applied to many types of problems, and recursion is one of
the central ideas of computer science.
To make this scenario work we have used ephem library
which is freely available. Since its first release in 1998, C. Recursion to generate Fibonacci Series:
PyEphem has given Python programmers the ability to Generating the first 'n' terms of the Fibonacci series
compute planet, comet, asteroid, and Earth satellite positions. using the process of Recursion. The goal of this program is to
It wraps the “libastro” C library that powers the XEphem further comprehend the complex process of Recursion in
astronomy application for UNIX — whose author Elwood python.
Downey generously gave permission for PyEphem to use his
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Fig 8:- Checking for Primary Number using Recursion
Fig 6:- Recursion to generate Fibonacci Series In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a
computational problem where the solution depends on
In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. Recursion
computational problem where the solution depends on solves such recursive problems by using functions that call
solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. Recursion themselves from within their own code. The approach can be
solves such recursive problems by using functions that call applied to many types of problems, and recursion is one of
themselves from within their own code. The approach can be the central ideas of computer science.
applied to many types of problems, and recursion is one of
the central ideas of computer science F. Calculating-Root-by-Newton-Raphson Method:
In numerical analysis, Newton's method, also known as
D. Recursion for Power Function: the Newton–Raphson method, named after Isaac Newton and
Using recursion to calculate the value of a number 'a' Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces
raised to another number 'b'. This program was designed to successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of
understand Recursion better. a real-valued function. The most basic version starts with a
single-variable function f defined for a real variable x, the
function's derivative f′, and an initial guess x0 for a root of f.
Fig 7:-Recursion for Power Function
In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a

computational problem where the solution depends on
solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. Recursion
solves such recursive problems by using functions that call
themselves from within their own code. The approach can be
applied to many types of problems, and recursion is one of
the central ideas of computer science
Fig 9:- Calculating root-by-newton’s 67aphson method
E. Checking for Prime Number using Recursion:
Using recursion to see if a given number is a prime This program is designed to calculate the root of a given
number or not. The goal of this program is to further function using Newton Raphson method.
comprehend the complex process of Recursion in python.
ISSN No:-2456-2165
G. Calculating time taken for a Newton Raphson Method I. Calculating time taken for a Bisection Method program to
program to execute: execute:
This program calculates the time at the start of the This program calculates the time at the start of the
program and at the end of it. It then subtracts both to return program and at the end of it. It then subtracts both to return
the time taken for the program to the run. The program taken the time taken for the program to the run. The program taken
is the program for calculating the root of a given function by is the program for calculating the root of a given function by
Newton Raphson method. the Bisection method.
In mathematics, the bisection method is a root-finding

method that applies to any continuous function for which one
knows two values with opposite signs. The method consists
of repeatedly bisecting the interval defined by these values
and then selecting the subinterval in which the function
changes sign, and therefore must contain a root. It is a very
simple and robust method, but it is also relatively slow.
Because of this, it is often used to obtain a rough
approximation to a solution which is then used as a starting
point for more rapidly converging methods.
Fig 10:- Newton Raphson Method
In numerical analysis, Newton's method, also known as

the Newton–Raphson method, named after Isaac Newton and
Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces
successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of
a real-valued function. The most basic version starts with a
single-variable function f defined for a real variable x, the
function's derivative f′, and an initial guess x0 for a root of f.
H. 2D Plotting:
A program designed to plot the graph for three different
functions on the same plot. The functions are: 1) sin(x) 2)
sin(x)+cos(x) 3) sin(x)*cos(x).
Fig 12:- Bisection Method
J. Prime-Number-Calculator:
This program consists of two different programs that
Fig 11:- 2D data plotting using matplotlib python library calculate the prime number that is closest to and is less than
a given number ‘n’. ‘n’ is inputted from the user. The first
The three functions were plotted by importing the program checks for non-prime numbers until the number n
matplotlib library. itself whereas the second one checks until the square root of
the number. We then compare the time taken for both
programs to execute.
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Not only was the mass of the sun considered in
modelling the orbit, but also the mass of other planets was
factored in as an average.
Moreover, the orbits were modelled as elliptical and not

simply circular. Distances of the planets from the sun were
exactly to scale in the program.
In addition, created a program that traced Projectile

Motion in an animated fashion. It also included an option for
the user to select any planet in the solar system and thereby
get the 3D plot for the projectile on that planet.
Simulation of The Solar & Lunar Eclipses:

Developed two programs that generate the date, time, and
place of all solar and lunar eclipses from 2001 to 2100 by
importing python modules related to astronomy.
Fig 15:- Solar & Lunar Eclipse Projection

Fig 13:- Prime Number calculator
Created a program that will generate the length of the
V. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION shadow of any object given the date, time, city and length of
the object. The program generates the latitude and longitude
Simulated the motion of Planets of the Solar System: simply by inputting the city from the user.
Using the Pygame Module, simulated the motion of the first
four planets around the sun. Sundial Creation: Manually created a sundial for
Mumbai in accordance with its latitude. Manually
constructed the sundial as well as the pointer.
Calculated and implemented the difference, in degrees,

between every hour line and thereby designed the Sundial.
The dial is now put up at the terrace of the NCAIR - National
Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research of IIT
Bombay for viewers to observe.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Firstly we would like to show my deep appreciation to

my parents for their outstanding support and motivation who
also helped me through the research work journey.
Fig 14:- 3D Modeling of Solar System
Also I am immensely grateful to Dr. Asim Tewari -
Constructed a 3D model of the Solar System that shows Chair Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering of
the orbits of all 8 planets true to its astronomical value scale IIT Bombay for his mentorship and guidance including
using Python programming language. concept clarification, comments and reviews during the entire
research and project development process.
ISSN No:-2456-2165
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Mathematical Modeling For Planetary Motion Using Python's PyGame Module, Matplotlib and Linux Shell Scripting

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Mathematical Modeling For Planetary Motion Using Python's PyGame Module, Matplotlib and Linux Shell Scripting

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Volume 7, Issue 10, Octomber – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

Mathematical Modeling for Planetary Motion using

III. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

A. Use of Python Programming:

B. Use of Linux Shell Scripting:

Fig 3:- Projectile Motion

 In addition, constructed two 3D plots of time vs velocity

IV. PYTHON MODULES FOR MATHEMATICAL

Fig 8:- Checking for Primary Number using Recursion

Fig 7:-Recursion for Power Function

In computer science, recursion is a method of solving a

In mathematics, the bisection method is a root-finding

Fig 10:- Newton Raphson Method

In numerical analysis, Newton's method, also known as

Fig 12:- Bisection Method

Moreover, the orbits were modelled as elliptical and not

In addition, created a program that traced Projectile

Simulation of The Solar & Lunar Eclipses:

Fig 15:- Solar & Lunar Eclipse Projection

Calculated and implemented the difference, in degrees,

Firstly we would like to show my deep appreciation to

[1]. Krasinsky, G. A.; Pitjeva, E. V.; Vasilyev, M. V.;

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