Revisiting the computation of the critical points of the Keplerian distance

Abstract

We consider the Keplerian distance $d$ in the case of two elliptic orbits, i.e. the distance between one point on the first ellipse and one point on the second one, assuming they have a common focus. The absolute minimum $d_{\rm min}$ of this function, called MOID or orbit distance in the literature, is relevant to detect possible impacts between two objects following approximately these elliptic trajectories. We revisit and compare two different approaches to compute the critical points of $d^2$, where we squared the distance $d$ to include crossing points among the critical ones. One approach uses trigonometric polynomials, the other uses ordinary polynomials. A new way to test the reliability of the computation of $d_{\rm min}$ is introduced, based on optimal estimates that can be found in the literature. The planar case is also discussed: in this case we present an estimate for the maximal number of critical points of $d^2$, together with a conjecture supported by numerical tests.