Okay...
We finally finished the determination of our orbital elements, and my data is okay. I might almost call it reasonable. Certainly, there are inaccuracies, especially in the argument of the perihelion and the mean anomaly, but these are probably due to the fact that we are using the Laplacian method of orbital determination with only three data points. The Laplacian method is apparently one of the worst methods of orbit determination, but it is one of the simpler methods and can produce an orbit given only three observation. A fourth observation would improve matters, but unfortunately we didn't have the time or weather to get four good, evenly spaced observations. And so the orbital elements of the 72 Feronia--the great Roman goddess of fertility--are:
| Orbital Element | Our Values | Published JPL values |
| Semi-Major Axis | 2.2188835 AU | 2.26612185 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.13323770 | 0.12031397 |
| Orbital Inclination | 5.4724694° | 5.417335° |
| Longitude of the Ascending Node | 203.56656° | 208.14026° |
| Argument of the Perihelion | 145.22574° | 102.59329° |
| Mean Anomaly | 333.23458° | 2.5335805° |
Not great, but good enough to generate an ephemeris within about 10m RA and 1° dec. of the actual position for the dates we tested. And if anyone knows why there is that huge space between the first paragraph and the table, be sure to let me know.
Did you wake up with your head on the space bar after mysteriously blacking out?
If so, then you're probably on to something the government or aliens (or both) don't want you know. Get the aluminium foil out immediately and throw it in the trash. I learned the hard way that aluminium doesn't block the mind rays-- it's just an urban myth. Instead, use cellophane.
Maybe it has something to do with the table. Or the lines before the table. Who knows.......?
The aliens.