AstroGrav Help / Sample Simulations / Exoplanet Systems / Upsilon Andromedae

Upsilon Andromedae

Introduction

This simulation shows the system of exoplanets orbiting the star Upsilon Andromedae.

How it was created

It was created by making a new simulation, editing the name, color, radius, luminsity, and mass of the star to have the characteristics of Upsilon Andromedae, and then using the Edit / Add Child... command to add the three planets one at a time. The data for Upsilon Andromedae and its three planets were taken from the following web page:

http://exoplanets.org/exotable/exoTable.html

This simulation was prepared on 14th September 2010.

What you can do with it

If you set the system running, you can watch how it evolves, and see how the orbital elements of the three planets slowly change with the passage of time. You can speed up the simulation by using the Evolve / Settings... command to increase the time step.

Ideas for further investigation

You can find out more from the following web page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upsilon_Andromedae