Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-316/1/i/solution

Put the star at the origin, take along the line of sight toward the observer, and let point North in the plane of the sky. The direction is then anticlockwise from North. Draw the ascending node on the sky plane at position angle , tilt the circular Kepler orbit through the orbital inclination about that nodal line, and place the planet an angle along the orbit from the ascending node. The direction of increasing must cross the sky plane toward at .
A convenient orthonormal basis in the orbital plane is
Here points along the nodal line and fixes the required sense of motion. The planet lies at ; this relation also specifies all the labels required in the sketch.

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