org.jeospace.physics
Class Gravitation

java.lang.Object
  org.jeospace.physics.Gravitation

public abstract class Gravitation

extends java.lang.Object

Constants and conversion methods relating to gravitational constants (GM) of worlds.

For primary reference see:
E. Myles Standish. "Report of the IAU WGAS Sub-group on Numerical Standards". In Highlights of Astronomy, I. Appenzeller, ed. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995.
Available here in postscript.

Excerpts at: Astrodynamic Constants

Note: The universal gravitational constant (G) is a quantity derived from measurements whose value is updated as newer (and presumably more accurate) measurements are made. A more recent (and slightly different value) can be found at the NIST.

Version:

$Revision: 1.1.1.1 $

Author:

Rex Melton

See Also:

Mass

Field Summary

static double	GAUSSIAN_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT The Gaussian gravitational constant (k), in units of (au^3 d^-2 Msun)½.
static double	gEarth The standard acceleration of gravity of the Earth, in units of (m s^-2)
static double	GMEarth The gravitational constant (GM) of the Earth, in units of (km^3 s^-2)
static double	GMsun The gravitational constant (GM) of the Sun, in units of (km^3 s^-2)
static double	Msun The (derived) mass of the Sun (Msun = GMsun/G), in units of (kg)
static double	UNIVERSAL_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT The universal gravitational constant (G), in units of (km^3 kg^-1 s^-2).

Constructor Summary

Gravitation()

Method Summary

static double	getConstant(double solarMassRatio) Return the gravitational constant (GM) for a world given the ratio of it's mass to the Sun's in units of (km^3 s^-2)
static double	getConstant(Mass mass) Return the gravitational constant (GM) for a world given it's mass in units of (km^3 s^-2)
static double	getSolarMassRatio(Mass mass) Return the ratio of the world's mass to that of the Sun

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

GAUSSIAN_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT

public static final double GAUSSIAN_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT

The Gaussian gravitational constant (k), in units of (au^3 d^-2 Msun)½.

For description see: http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/GaussianGravitationalConstant.html

or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_gravitational_constant

See Also:

Constant Field Values

UNIVERSAL_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT

public static final double UNIVERSAL_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT

The universal gravitational constant (G), in units of (km^3 kg^-1 s^-2).

For description see: http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/GravitationalConstant.html

or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_constant

See Also:

Constant Field Values

GMsun

public static final double GMsun

The gravitational constant (GM) of the Sun, in units of (km^3 s^-2)

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Msun

public static final double Msun

The (derived) mass of the Sun (Msun = GMsun/G), in units of (kg)

See Also:

Constant Field Values

GMEarth

public static final double GMEarth

The gravitational constant (GM) of the Earth, in units of (km^3 s^-2)

See Also:

Constant Field Values

gEarth

public static final double gEarth

The standard acceleration of gravity of the Earth, in units of (m s^-2)

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

Gravitation

public Gravitation()

Method Detail

getConstant

public static double getConstant(double solarMassRatio)

Return the gravitational constant (GM) for a world given the ratio of it's mass to the Sun's in units of (km^3 s^-2)

Parameters:

solarMassRatio - the solar mass ratio of the world

Returns:

the gravitational constant (GM)

getConstant

public static double getConstant(Mass mass)

Return the gravitational constant (GM) for a world given it's mass in units of (km^3 s^-2)

Parameters:

mass - the mass of the world

Returns:

the gravitational constant (GM)

getSolarMassRatio

public static double getSolarMassRatio(Mass mass)

Return the ratio of the world's mass to that of the Sun

Parameters:

mass - the mass of the world

Returns:

the solar mass ratio