plot_system: Plot System Snapshot at a Single Time (Smart 2D/3D Dispatch)

In orbitr: A Tidy Physics Engine for Building and Visualizing Orbital Simulations

Plot System Snapshot at a Single Time (Smart 2D/3D Dispatch)

Description

Plots the position of every body in the system at a single time step, optionally with the full orbital trajectories drawn faintly behind. This is the snapshot counterpart to [plot_orbits()], which draws full trajectories.

Usage

plot_system(sim_data, time = NULL, trails = FALSE, three_d = NULL)

Arguments

sim_data	A tibble output from [simulate_system()].
time	Time (in simulation seconds) to snapshot. Defaults to the last time step. The function snaps to the closest available time in the data.
trails	Logical. If 'TRUE' (the default), the full orbit paths are drawn faintly behind the snapshot points. Set 'FALSE' for a pure snapshot showing only the body positions at the chosen time.
three_d	Logical. If 'TRUE', forces a 3D plot even for planar data.

Details

If any body has non-zero motion in the Z dimension (or 'three_d = TRUE'), [plot_system_3d()] is used; otherwise a 2D 'ggplot2' plot is returned.

Value

A 'ggplot' object (2D) or a 'plotly' HTML widget (3D).

Examples

sim <- create_system() |>
  add_sun() |>
  add_body("Earth", mass = mass_earth, x = distance_earth_sun, vy = speed_earth) |>
  simulate_system(time_step = seconds_per_day, duration = seconds_per_year)

# Final state with faint orbit trails
plot_system(sim)

# State at day 100, no trails
plot_system(sim, time = seconds_per_day * 100, trails = FALSE)

orbitr documentation built on Oct. 2, 2026, 1:06 a.m.