Orbit determination of binary stars using simulated annealing

HST astrometry of the closest brown dwarfs‐II. Improved parameters and constraints on a third body

“…To determine the seven orbital parameters of this visual binary — angular semimajor axis ($$$ a $$$), eccentricity ($$$ e $$$), period ($$$ P $$$), inclination ($$$ i $$$), longitude of ascending node ($$$ \Omega $$$), argument of periapsis ($$$ \omega $$$), and epoch of periapsis ($$$ {T}_0 $$$) — we followed the trial‐and‐error approach described by Pourbaix (1994). We employed the software tools union and epilogue (Pourbaix 1998b), which are described in detail with applications in Pourbaix (1998a,b, 2000). Briefly, union and epilogue are used to simultaneously adjust the observations of double‐lined spectroscopic and visual binaries, as follows: union undertakes a global optimization of the orbital solution followed by a preliminary local search.…”