The Top 25 Orbit Calculators (as of 31 Jan 2011)


Just for amusement, counts were made of the number of orbits 
in the orbit catalog "master file" attributed to each WDS 
reference code, as well as the percentage of those orbits 
labelled as "keepers" (i.e., currently considered the best 
orbit for each system). The table below lists the top 25
orbit calculators, together with the dates over which they 
were active (based on dates of their earliest and most 
recent papers in the WDS reference file). 

These reference codes usually refer to the first author of a 
paper; no attempt has been made to merge totals for groups 
of authors who frequently collaborate (such as, for example,
Csa+Doc+Lin+Pri+Tam or Hrt+Msn+USN+WSI). Finally, the master
file is mostly complete for recent papers but undoubtedly
less so for earlier efforts, especially papers published more 
than ~50 years ago. It is doubtful that any of those very 
early orbits would be considered keepers today, however.


Top 25 by total number of orbits:

    rank  RefCode   Dates Active  Ntotal  Nkeepers  %keepers
    --------------------------------------------------------
      1     Hei       1954-2001     748      203       27%
      2     Baz       1927-1994     582       49        8 
      3     Doc       1984-         352      150       43  
      4     Hrt       1984-         241      183       76 
      5     HIP       1997-1997     235      155       66 
      6     Gln       2006-2007     211      121       57 
      7     Sod       1998-1999     210       83       40 
      8     Sca       1979-         201       75       37 
      9     Sta       1962-1985     197       14        7 
     10     USN       1988-         180      158       88
     11     Ole       1970-2006     164       67       41 
     12     Cou       1952-2002     163       38       23 
     13     Msn       1993-         131       89       68 
     14     B__       1921-1968     130        3        2 
     15     Dob       1875-1934     120        0        0 
     16     Jnc       2005-2005     101       80       79 
     17     Pop       1967-2007      96       23       24 
     18     Cve       2005-          88       51       58 
     19     Zul       1967-2000      87        7        8 
     20     Fin       1926-1978      71        6        8 
     21     Egg       1945-1982      71        3        4 
     22     Pbx       1998-2002      68       35       51 
     23     Lin       1983-          68       31       46
     24     See       1892-1911      68        0        0  
     25     Mlr       1938-1997      66        5        8 

            all                    6618     2236       34%


Top 25 by total number of keepers:

    rank  RefCode   Dates Active  Ntotal  Nkeepers  %keepers
    --------------------------------------------------------
      1     Hei       1954-2001     748      203       27%
      2     Hrt       1984-         241      183       76 
      3     USN       1988-         180      158       88
      4     HIP       1997-1997     235      155       66 
      5     Doc       1984-         352      150       43  
      6     Gln       2006-2007     211      121       57 
      7     Msn       1993-         131       89       68 
      8     Sod       1998-1999     210       83       40 
      9     Jnc       2005-2005     101       80       79 
     10     Sca       1979-         201       75       37 
     11     Ole       1970-2006     164       67       41 
     12     Cve       2005-          88       51       58 
     13     Zir       2001-2008      55       51       93
     14     Baz       1927-1994     582       49        8 
     15     Mut       2005-          50       44       88
     16     Cou       1952-2002     163       38       23 
     17     Pbx       1998-2002      68       35       51 
     18     Lin       1983-          68       31       46
     19     Nov       2005-2008      54       27       50
     20     Hop       1945-1974      50       26       52
     21     WSI       1997-          29       24       83
     22     Pop       1967-2007      96       23       24
     23     Mnt       1994-2006      51       23       45
     24     Alz       1996-2009      44       22       50
     25     Kis       1988-2009      29       19       66

            all                    6618     2236       34%