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Implementation and study of a drag model for an N-body problem simulator

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Abstract

Planet Earth is a constant target to various astronomical objects. Larger ones manage to overcome the natural barrier imposed by the atmosphere, colliding with the ground and causing damage to Earth’s surface. With these events in mind, this work proposed the implementation of several modules for a previously existing N-body simulator in Python® to study the entry of multiple objects into the Earth’s atmosphere and analyze the effects of possible impact scenarios. Among the modules implemented are a coordinate converter to the Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF) reference frame, an atmospheric density model along with its corresponding drag force, a fragmentation/disintegration evaluation from the objects interaction with Earth’s atmosphere (based on a stochastic model specifically applied for the purposes of this study), an impact radius calculator and, finally, ECEF trajectory and impact zone visualization. From the possibility of fragmentations (addition of bodies) or disintegrations (removal of bodies), the algorithm developed also made it possible to run numerical integrations with a variable number of objects, dynamically updating the number of bodies and equations of motion mid simulation. At last, a few case studies were executed to generate results that made it possible to evaluate the successful implementation of all the modules.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would wish to express their appreciation for the support provided by grant # 2018/19959-0 from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and for the financial support from the National Council for the Improvement of Higher Education (CAPES).

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Author notes

  1. L. G. Meireles and M. C. Pereira these authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    R. D. Quattrucci & M. C. Pereira

  2. Space Mechanics and Control Division, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Avenida dos Astronautas, São José dos Campos, SP, 12227-010, Brasil

    L. G. Meireles

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  1. R. D. Quattrucci
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  2. L. G. Meireles
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  3. M. C. Pereira
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Correspondence to R. D. Quattrucci.

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Quattrucci, R.D., Meireles, L.G. & Pereira, M.C. Implementation and study of a drag model for an N-body problem simulator. Celest Mech Dyn Astron 135, 5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-022-10119-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-022-10119-y

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