CT: "Far" companions -- Which star is "Primary"? Christopher Sean Hilton 27 Aug 2016 16:06 UTC
My earlier question about star systems generated a followup. In my earlier question I explicitly dodged the case of Far companions because the complex orbital dynamics really only come into play when the barycenter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barycenter] of the Primary and Companion interferes with planetary orbits. If a CT system is far, then the barycenter should be between the two solo systems. In this case what rules should the Scout service use when designating a primary and far companion? One could rank by luminosity or magnitude because from a distance the Scouts would discover the brighter star earlier? One could rank by Stellar Mass because the heavier star would effectively "wobble" as a result of it's lighter companion. One could rank by social / population factors because most people are going to want to jump into the system as close to the mainworld as possible. Does anyone have thoughts here? -- Chris __o "All I was trying to do was get home from work." _`\<,_ -Rosa Parks ___(*)/_(*)____.___o____..___..o...________ooO..._____________________ Christopher Sean Hilton [chris/at/vindaloo/dot/com]