This repository contains the code used in McCourt & Madigan (2015) to model the orbit of the G2 gas cloud in the galactic center. We assume the cloud is elongated in its direction of motion, and we integrate its trajectory assuming it feels a drag force as it passes through rotating accretion flow. By comparing the resulting trajectory against the observed positions and velocities for G2 and G1, we attempt to constrain the properties of the accretion flow in the galactic center. See McCourt & Madigan (2015) for details.
We provide two versions of the code: a mathematica implementation which is designed to be easy to edit and experiment with, and a python implementation intended to be run on a supercomputer for exploring the parameter space. We also include code to fit G1 and G2 to Keplerian orbits.
All code is released under the GPL license – feel free to use and modify it as you see fit.