Hi so I have this equation
$$\frac{1-e^2}{1+e\cos(\theta -\theta_{0})} = 1-e\cos\eta$$
and using the identity
$$\cos\theta = \frac{1-\tan^2 \frac\theta2}{1+\tan^2 \frac\theta2}$$
this becomes
$$\sqrt{1-e} \tan\left(\frac{\theta - \theta_{0}}2\right) = \sqrt{1+e} \tan\frac\eta2.$$
However, I'm unsure about the steps in between. Can someone help me out please?
Set $u=\tan((\theta-\theta_0)/2)$ and $v=\tan(\eta/2)$ for simplicity.
The left hand side becomes $$ \frac{1-e^2}{1+e\dfrac{1-u^2}{1+u^2}} =\frac{(1-e^2)(1+u^2)}{(1+e)+(1-e)u^2} $$ The right hand side becomes $$ 1-e\frac{1-v^2}{1+v^2}=\frac{(1-e)+(1+e)v^2}{1+v^2} $$ It's better to set $M=1-e$ and $P=1+e$, so we get a simpler identity $$ \frac{MP(1+u^2)}{P+Mu^2}=\frac{M+Pv^2}{1+v^2} $$ that can be rearranged to $$ MP+MPv^2+MP(1+v^2)u^2=MP+P^2v^2+M^2u^2+MPu^2v^2 $$ Pull all terms with $u^2$ on the left hand side $$ (MP+MPv^2-M^2-MPv^2)u^2=P^2v^2-MPv^2 $$ that simplifies to $$ M(P-M)u^2=P(P-M)v^2 $$ Assuming $P-M=1+e-1+e=2e\ne0$, this becomes $$ (1-e)\tan^2\frac{\theta-\theta_0}{2}=(1+e)\tan^2\frac{\eta}{2} $$