(March 13, 2015 at 11:51 am)Smaug Wrote:(March 13, 2015 at 6:30 am)jesus_wept Wrote: And I don't think it takes much computational power to approximate the orbits of the planets so your c64 probably wasn't too far out. In astronomical terms at least.
In fact it does depending on how precise you want the result to be. If simple Kepler laws based model is enaugh any computer will do fine. If you want a highly precise model you'd have to have a very powerful machine. Since there's no general solution for the N-body problem and no way to obtain analytical solution for a corresponding Cauchy problem (i.e. analytically solve the system's differential equations with set initial conditions) the only way to obtain the solution is through numerical computatuon. Longer timespans lead to larger computational errors. In order to eliminate computational errors one has to increase computational power.
This. Specifically the n-Body Problem.
Depending on how accurate you want the solution to be, you have to introduce how the planets interact with each other as well how the planets interact with dwarf planets/asteroids/comets/satellites.
A Commodore 64 would be fine mapping how the planets interact with the sun. But introduce all that extra stuff, and you'll be looking at:
![[Image: C64.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=bashish.sourceforge.net%2FC64.png)
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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