orbit-simulation#

Simple orbit simulation written in Python. Simulates N-Body systems, such as our own solar system.

What the Project Is#

• Simulates gravitational interactions between N bodies using real physical constants
• Includes real-world bodies (Sun, Earth, Moon) with accurate masses, radii, and orbital velocities

How It Works#

• N-body gravitational simulator using Störmer-Verlet-like integration for physics calculations
• Each body computes acceleration from all other bodies each timestep
• Animated using Matplotlib's FuncAnimation

Tech Stack#

• Languages used: Python
• Frameworks/libraries: NumPy, Matplotlib

What I Learned#

• Tradeoffs between integration methods
• How timestep affects orbital drift
• N-body force accumulation
• Matplotlib animation methods

How to Run the Project#

git clone https://github.com/liampallett/orbit-simulation
cd orbit-simulation
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Project Structure#

├── LICENSE.md
├── README.md
├── body.py
├── main.py
└── requirements.txt

Future Improvements#

• Implement Verlet velocity calculations
• Implement Runge-Kutta 4 iteration method for highest possible accuracy
• Barnes-Hut implementation for large-scale simulation
• Graphical scaling for better animations

AI Usage Disclosure#

The GenAI tool Claude Sonnet 4.6 was used on this project. No code was generated by this tool; it was purely used as a consultant/debugger. It was under explicit instruction not to generate code/implement features for me.