I guess now they use a mix of observational data and supercomputer calculations, but how did they figure out the orbits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (no arguments about Pluto’s status please!) on the discovery of those?
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I *believe* they calculated Pluto’s orbit *first* and then looked where it was supposed to be before ever finding it…
But really, it’s not difficult math, once you understand equal area sweeps (which I still do not, so don’t ask me), and some gravitational interactions. You can actually measure the perturbations of a much closer mass to predict the orbit and location of a celestial mass that you can’t see (yet) because the much closer body will wobble in ways its not supposed to *unless* there’s an additional (unseen) mass.
It’s kind of like knowing that there’s a car accident ahead of you where you can’t see it based on the cars slowing down ahead of you that you *can* see…
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