Copyright
(C) 2003-2010 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 anciest 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 10.21 Light:
SETS102L.ZIP
(updated December
24, 2009)
Download
the English manual:
Solex100.doc
(updated December 24, 2009)
Download
the ExOrb manual:
ExOrb64.doc
(updated January 2007)
Scarica il manuale in Italiano:
SolexIta.doc (v. 10.2, aggiornato 28 Dicembre 2009)
Download the latest executable update:
SLX1022.ZIP
(updated February 1, 2010,
fixes a 10.21 bug in the Light-time correction of the Moon position).
The very first
DOS version, with BASIC source code: SOLEX1.ZIP
Page latest update: February 1, 2010
Any comment,
inquiry or suggestion is appreciated: alvitagl@unina.it