Is it possible to draw an ellipse given only the perimeter point tangent, and the distance & angles between that and one of the foci

conic sectionscoordinate systemslinear algebratangent linetrigonometry

Full disclosure, I am a complete novice when it comes to this so if my terminology is off or I don't know some relatively basic things, that will be why.

I am currently trying to determine the rest of the ellipse equation from the tangent angle of any point on the perimeter, with the distance and angle of that from one of the focuses.

For clarification I am creating a game with physically simulated orbits and I am trying to visualise them as lines with an ellipse. So essentially I would like to be able to draw that curve.

So the tangent angle on the perimeter is the absolute direction in space that the spacecraft would be travelling at that given moment, and the distance & angle form one of the foci would be the centre of the planet it is orbiting.

This is the raw data I have available:

Both Focus1 & perimeter point x,y co-ordinates

Angle to and from both points

Distance between both points

Tangent & normal angle of the point on the perimeter

Here is a rough visualisation for what I'm getting at:

enter image description here

To clarify F2 or the centre are points I would like to calculate exactly, which already exist due to the simulation but I don't know

The thing I was wondering was if there was some kind of constant between the distance and tangent angle that I could use. The equation that it would doesn't have to work universally at all angles either as I can code some logic to correct the final values.

Just that it would be ideal if I could simplify the mathematics as much as possible, not only for my limited experience but for game performance reasons too.

However if I'm completely missing some much simpler method then I would love to hear that too, especially if I've overlooked anything from the base ellipse equation. Also feel free to ask for anything I might have accidentally left out.

I appreciate your time 🙂

Best Answer

In short: the line perpendicular to the tangent at point $P$ (a.k.a.the normal) is the bisector of $\angle F_1PF_2$. Hence $F_2$ can be any point on ray $PF_1'$, the reflection of ray $PF_1$ about the normal. Any choice of $F_2$ will give a possible ellipse.

EDIT.

If the major axis of the ellipse lies on the horizontal line through $F_1$, then there is a unique answer (provided the normal doesn't pass through $F_1$): just take as $F_2$ the intersection between ray $PF_1'$ and that line.

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