Characterization of all possible orbits in the Schwarzschild metric revisited

Abstract

All possible orbital trajectories and their analytical expressions in the Schwarzschild metric are presented in a single complete map characterized by two dimensionless parameters. While three possible pairs of parameters with different advantages are described, the parameter space that gives the most convenient reduction to the Newtonian case is singled out and used which leads to a new insight on Newtonian limits among other results. Numerous analytic relations are presented. A comparison is made with the widely used formulation and presentation given by S. Chandrasekhar.