The Orbital Parent of an object is the object in the simulation that the first object orbits. The Orbital Parent will usually be the object's Strongest Attractor, unless the object is more massive than its Strongest Attractor. If the object is the largest or only object in the simulation, it will have no Orbital Parent.
The orbital elements of an object are calculated based on the object's motion relative to its Orbital Parent. This is a read-only property, as Universe Sandbox automatically calculates an the object's Mass and Strongest Attractor.
Property Details[ | ]
Location[ | ]
The Orbital Parent, if it exists, is displayed at the top of the Orbital Elements section of the Motion tab (otherwise, text is displayed stating that this object has no Orbital Parent). It is also listed in the Impacting Objects section of the Motion tab. For Galaxy objects, the Orbital Parent property is located in the Properties section of the Galaxy tab, and refers specifically to the Black Hole's Orbital Parent. For Galaxy Nebula objects, the Orbital Parent property is located in the Motion section of the Nebula tab.
If the Relative to property is set to Orbital Parent, this property is also displayed directly under the Relative to property.
Simulation Effect[ | ]
Gravity[ | ]
The user cannot directly change an object's Orbital Parent. However, changing the mass of an object's Orbital Parent will change the object's orbital elements.