Copyright
(C) 2003-2011 by Aldo Vitagliano
Copyright
Information: Text and images in this site
may be freely reproduced, provided credit is given to the author.
The SOLEX page
What is
SOLEX ?
Basically,
SOLEX is a free computer program modelling the N-body dynamics of
the Solar System, and it is the result of a long and patient amatorial
work by the author (Aldo Vitagliano).
Its
heart is a powerful numerical integrator, and the many additional
functions make it a greatly flexible program, which at the same time
is very simple to use and very powerful in its performances. It can just
give aesthetic pleasure and help in identifying sky objects, or it
can be used by an experienced researcher as a tool to investigate aspects
of the solar system dynamics such impact probabilities and chaotic motion. More ...
Last but not least, the software package contains
a companion orbit-determination program (EXORB),
suitable for the determination of orbital elements of minor bodies (asteroids
and comets) from their astrometric observations.
Just to give the flavour of some unique capabilities of Solex, here
are a few questions that the program can answer:
- When in the past was Mars closer to
Earth than it was at the opposition of August 27, 2003 ?
Answer:
Sept. 12, -57616 (57617 BC); nearly 60,000 years ago ! More...
- Which will be the longest observable
occultation of a bright star by an asteroid in the next 30 years
? Answer: 4 Sgr (m. 4.7) by Ceres on May 27, 2033 (Brazil,
81 secs). Occ. path ...
- What is the chance that asteroid 2000SG344
will impact Earth in september 2071 ? Answer: 0.25% (no much worry: it is
a small one - only about 50 m diameter) . More...
- On June, 8, 2004, a rare transit of
Venus took place. Can we get a list of Venus transits between 100,000
BC and AD 100,000 ? Answer: Sure!. Transits of: Venus, Mercury.
- Will the transits of Mercury and Venus ever take place simultaneously ? Answer: Yes But we should wait at least until AD 69163! More ...
- Was an occultation
of Saturn by Jupiter ever seen, or will it ever be seen from Earth
? Answer
A few screen shots:
1. The starting screen and 2. the "Text output" screen
3.
4.
3. The Pleiades and six asteroids in a field of 4°
4. The asteroid belt, projected onto a plane perpendicular
to the Equator
5. Apophis on 2029/4/13, seen from Rome 6. The Hildas and the Trojans, in a reference frame corotating with Jupiter
5.
6. 5. Track of the most ancient recorded total solar eclipse at Ugarit 6. Occultation of alpha Leo (Regulus) by 163 Erigone on 03/20/2014
Predicted ground track with estimated uncertainties.
Download
the installation file for Solex 11.05 Light:
SETS110L.ZIP
(updated October 16, 2010)
Important Note to Windows 7 users
Download
the English manual:
Solex110.doc
(updated June 25, 2010)
Download
the ExOrb manual:
ExOrb70.doc
(updated May 2010)
Scarica il manuale in Italiano:
SolexIta.doc (v. 10.2, aggiornato 28 Dicembre 2009)
Download the latest executable update:
SOLEX110.ZIP (v. 11.09, upd. Dec. 9, 2011);
EXORB70.ZIP (v. 7.04, upd. Oct. 16, 2010)
The very first DOS
version, with BASIC source code: SOLEX1.ZIP
Page latest update: December 9, 2011
Any comment, inquiry or suggestion is appreciated: alvitagl@unina.it