Computing Planetary Positions

10/27/2015
Computingplanetarypositions
Howtocomputeplanetarypositions
ByPaulSchlyter,Stockholm,Sweden
email:pausch@stjarnhimlen.seorWWW:http://stjarnhimlen.se/
Breakoutofaframe
0.Foreword
1.Introduction
2.Afewwordsaboutaccuracy
3.Thetimescale
4.Theorbitalelements
5.ThepositionoftheSun
5b.TheSiderealTime
6.ThepositionoftheMoonandoftheplanets
7.Thepositioninspace
8.Precession
9.PerturbationsoftheMoon
10.PerturbationsofJupiter,SaturnandUranus
11.Geocentric(Earthcentered)coordinates
12.Equatorialcoordinates
12b.Azimuthalcoordinates
13.TheMoon'stopocentricposition
14.ThepositionofPluto
15.Theelongationandphysicalephemeridesoftheplanets
16.Positionsofasteroids
17.Positionofcomets
18.Parabolicorbits
19.Nearparabolicorbits
20.Riseandsettimes
21.Validityoforbitalelements
22.Linkstoothersites
Tutorialwithnumericaltestcases
Computingriseandsettimes
0.Foreword
BelowisadescriptionofhowtocomputethepositionsfortheSunandMoonandthemajorplanets,
aswellasforcometsandminorplanets,fromasetoforbitalelements.
Thealgorithmshavebeensimplifiedasmuchaspossiblewhilestillkeepingafairlygoodaccuracy.
TheaccuracyofthecomputedpositionsisafractionofanarcminutefortheSunandtheinner
planets,aboutonearcminutefortheouterplanets,and12arcminutesfortheMoon.Ifwelimitour
accuracydemandstothislevel,onecansimplifyfurtherbye.g.ignoringthedifferencebetweenmean,
trueandapparentpositions.
Thepositionscomputedbelowareforthe'equinoxoftheday',whichissuitableforcomputingrise/set
times,butnotforplottingthepositiononastarmapdrawnforafixedepoch.Inthelattercase,
correctionforprecessionmustbeapplied,whichismostsimplyperformedasarotationalongthe
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ecliptic.
Thesealgortihmsweredevelopedbymyselfbackin1979,basedonapreprintfromT.vanFlandern's
andK.Pulkkinen'spaper"Lowprecisionformulaeforplanetarypositions",publishedinthe
AstrophysicalJournalSupplementSeries,1980.It'sbasicallyasimplificationofthesealgorithms,
whilekeepingareasonableaccuracy.TheywerefirstimplementedonaHP41Cprogrammable
pocketcalculator,in1979,andraninlessthan2KBytesofRAM!Nowadaysconsiderablemore
accuratealgorithmsareavailableofcourse,aswellasmorepowerfulcomputers.NeverthelessI've
retainedthesealgorithmsaswhatIbelieveisthesimplestwaytocomputesolar/lunarpositionswith
anaccuracyof12arcminutes.
1.Introduction
ThetextbelowdescribeshowtocomputethepositionsintheskyoftheSun,Moonandthemajor
planetsouttoNeptune.ThealgorithmforPlutoistakenfromafourierfittoPluto'spositionas
computedbynumericalintegrationatJPL.Positionsofothercelestialbodiesaswell(i.e.cometsand
asteroids)canalsobecomputed,iftheirorbitalelementsareavailable.
Theseformulaemayseemcomplicated,butIbelievethisisthesimplestmethodtocomputeplanetary
positionswiththefairlygoodaccuracyofaboutonearcminute(=1/60degree).Anyfurther
simplificationswillyieldloweraccuracy,butofcoursethatmaybeok,dependingontheapplication.
2.Afewwordsaboutaccuracy
Theaccuracyrequirementsaremodest:afinalpositionwithanerrorofnomorethan12arcminutes
(onearcminute=1/60degree).Thisaccuracyisinonerespectquiteoptimal:itisthehighest
accuracyonecanstrivefor,whilestillbeingabletodomanysimplifications.Thesimplifications
madehereare:
1:Nutationandaberrationarebothignored.
2:Planetaryaberration(i.e.lighttraveltime)isignored.
3:ThedifferencebetweenTerrestialTime/EphemerisTime(TT/ET),andUniversalTime(UT)is
ignored.
4:Precessioniscomputedinasimplifiedway,byasimpleadditiontotheeclipticlongitude.
5:Higherordertermsintheplanetaryorbitalelementsareignored.Thiswillgiveanadditionalerror
ofupto2arcminin1000yearsfromnow.FortheMoon,theerrorwillbelarger:7arcmin1000
yearsfromnow.Thiserrorwillgrowasthesquareofthetimefromthepresent.
6:Mostplanetaryperturbationsareignored.OnlythemajorperturbationtermsfortheMoon,Jupiter,
Saturn,andUranus,areincluded.Ifstillloweraccuracyisacceptable,theseperturbationscanbe
ignoredaswell.
7:ThelargestUranusNeptuneperturbationisaccountedforintheorbitalelementsoftheseplanets.
Therefore,theorbitalelementsofUranusandNeptunearelessaccurace,especiallyinthedistantpast
andfuture.Theelementsfortheseplanetsshouldthereforeonlybeusedforatmostafewcenturies
intothepastandthefuture.
3.Thetimescale
Thetimescaleintheseformulaearecountedindays.Hours,minutes,secondsareexpressedas
fractionsofaday.Day0.0occursat2000Jan0.0UT(or1999Dec31,0:00UT).This"daynumber"
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discomputedasfollows(y=year,m=month,D=date,UT=UTinhours+decimals):
d=367*y7*(y+(m+9)/12)/4+275*m/9+D730530
NotethatALLdivisionshereshouldbeINTEGERdivisions.InPascal,use"div"insteadof"/",in
MSBasic,use"\"insteadof"/".InFortran,CandC++"/"canbeusedifbothyandmareintegers.
Finally,includethetimeoftheday,byadding:
d=d+UT/24.0(thisisafloatingpointdivision)
4.Theorbitalelements
Theprimaryorbitalelementsareheredenotedas:
N=longitudeoftheascendingnode
i=inclinationtotheecliptic(planeoftheEarth'sorbit)
w=argumentofperihelion
a=semimajoraxis,ormeandistancefromSun
e=eccentricity(0=circle,01=ellipse,1=parabola)
M=meananomaly(0atperihelion;increasesuniformlywithtime)
Relatedorbitalelementsare:
w1=N+w=longitudeofperihelion
L=M+w1=meanlongitude
q=a*(1e)=periheliondistance
Q=a*(1+e)=apheliondistance
P=a^1.5=orbitalperiod(yearsifaisinAU,astronomicalunits)
T=Epoch_of_M(M(deg)/360_deg)/P=timeofperihelion
v=trueanomaly(anglebetweenpositionandperihelion)
E=eccentricanomaly
OneAstronomicalUnit(AU)istheEarth'smeandistancetotheSun,or149.6millionkm.When
closesttotheSun,aplanetisinperihelion,andwhenmostdistantfromtheSunit'sinaphelion.For
theMoon,anartificialsatellite,oranyotherbodyorbitingtheEarth,onesaysperigeeandapogee
instead,forthepointsinorbitleastandmostdistantfromEarth.
Todescribethepositionintheorbit,weusethreeangles:MeanAnomaly,TrueAnomaly,and
EccentricAnomaly.Theyareallzerowhentheplanetisinperihelion:
MeanAnomaly(M):Thisangleincreasesuniformlyovertime,by360degreesperorbitalperiod.It's
zeroatperihelion.It'seasilycomputedfromtheorbitalperiodandthetimesincelastperihelion.
TrueAnomaly(v):Thisistheactualanglebetweentheplanetandtheperihelion,asseenfromthe
centralbody(inthiscasetheSun).Itincreasesnonuniformlywithtime,changingmostrapidlyat
perihelion.
EccentricAnomaly(E):ThisisanauxiliaryangleusedinKepler'sEquation,whencomputingthe
TrueAnomalyfromtheMeanAnomalyandtheorbitaleccentricity.
Notethatforacircularorbit(eccentricity=0),thesethreeanglesareallequaltoeachother.
Anotherquantitywewillneedisecl,theobliquityoftheecliptic,i.e.the"tilt"oftheEarth'saxisof
rotation(currently23.4degreesandslowlydecreasing).First,computethe"d"ofthemomentof
interest(section3).Then,computetheobliquityoftheecliptic:
ecl=23.43933.563E7*d
Nowcomputetheorbitalelementsoftheplanetofinterest.IfyouwantthepositionoftheSunorthe
Moon,youonlyneedtocomputetheorbitalelementsfortheSunortheMoon.Ifyouwantthe
positionofanyotherplanet,youmustcomputetheorbitalelementsforthatplanetandfortheSun(of
coursetheorbitalelementsfortheSunarereallytheorbitalelementsfortheEarthhoweverit's
customarytoherepretendthattheSunorbitstheEarth).Thisisnecessarytobeabletocomputethe
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geocentricpositionoftheplanet.
Pleasenotethata,thesemimajoraxis,isgiveninEarthradiifortheMoon,butinAstronomicalUnits
fortheSunandalltheplanets.
WhencomputingM(and,fortheMoon,whencomputingNandwaswell),onewillquiteoftengeta
resultthatislargerthan360degrees,ornegative(allanglesareherecomputedindegrees).If
negative,add360degreesuntilpositive.Iflargerthan360degrees,subtract360degreesuntilthe
valueislessthan360degrees.Notethat,inmostprogramminglanguages,onemustthenmultiply
theseangleswithpi/180toconvertthemtoradians,beforetakingthesineorcosineofthem.
OrbitalelementsoftheSun:
N=0.0
i=0.0
w=282.9404+4.70935E5*d
a=1.000000(AU)
e=0.0167091.151E9*d
M=356.0470+0.9856002585*d
OrbitalelementsoftheMoon:
N=125.12280.0529538083*d
i=5.1454
w=318.0634+0.1643573223*d
a=60.2666(Earthradii)
e=0.054900
M=115.3654+13.0649929509*d
OrbitalelementsofMercury:
N=48.3313+3.24587E5*d
i=7.0047+5.00E8*d
w=29.1241+1.01444E5*d
a=0.387098(AU)
e=0.205635+5.59E10*d
M=168.6562+4.0923344368*d
OrbitalelementsofVenus:
N=76.6799+2.46590E5*d
i=3.3946+2.75E8*d
w=54.8910+1.38374E5*d
a=0.723330(AU)
e=0.0067731.302E9*d
M=48.0052+1.6021302244*d
OrbitalelementsofMars:
N=49.5574+2.11081E5*d
i=1.84971.78E8*d
w=286.5016+2.92961E5*d
a=1.523688(AU)
e=0.093405+2.516E9*d
M=18.6021+0.5240207766*d
OrbitalelementsofJupiter:
N=100.4542+2.76854E5*d
i=1.30301.557E7*d
w=273.8777+1.64505E5*d
a=5.20256(AU)
e=0.048498+4.469E9*d
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M=19.8950+0.0830853001*d
OrbitalelementsofSaturn:
N=113.6634+2.38980E5*d
i=2.48861.081E7*d
w=339.3939+2.97661E5*d
a=9.55475(AU)
e=0.0555469.499E9*d
M=316.9670+0.0334442282*d
OrbitalelementsofUranus:
N=74.0005+1.3978E5*d
i=0.7733+1.9E8*d
w=96.6612+3.0565E5*d
a=19.181711.55E8*d(AU)
e=0.047318+7.45E9*d
M=142.5905+0.011725806*d
OrbitalelementsofNeptune:
N=131.7806+3.0173E5*d
i=1.77002.55E7*d
w=272.84616.027E6*d
a=30.05826+3.313E8*d(AU)
e=0.008606+2.15E9*d
M=260.2471+0.005995147*d
PleasenotethantheorbitalelementsofUranusandNeptuneasgivenherearesomewhatless
accurate.TheyincludealongperiodperturbationbetweenUranusandNeptune.Theperiodofthe
perturbationisabout4200years.Therefore,theseelementsshouldnotbeexpectedtogiveresults
withinthestatedaccuracyformorethanafewcenturiesinthepastandintothefuture.
5.ThepositionoftheSun
ThepositionoftheSuniscomputedjustlikethepositionofanyotherplanet,butsincetheSunalways
ismovingintheecliptic,andsincetheeccentricityoftheorbitisquitesmall,afewsimplifications
canbemade.Therefore,aseparatepresentationfortheSunisgiven.
Ofcourse,we'reherereallycomputingthepositionoftheEarthinitsorbitaroundtheSun,butsince
we'reviewingtheskyfromanEarthcenteredperspective,we'llpretendthattheSunisinorbitaround
theEarthinstead.
First,computetheeccentricanomalyEfromthemeananomalyMandfromtheeccentricitye(Eand
Mindegrees):
E=M+e*(180/pi)*sin(M)*(1.0+e*cos(M))
or(ifEandMareexpressedinradians):
E=M+e*sin(M)*(1.0+e*cos(M))
NotethattheformulaeforcomputingEarenotexacthoweverthey'reaccurateenoughhere.
ThencomputetheSun'sdistanceranditstrueanomalyvfrom:
xv=r*cos(v)=cos(E)e
yv=r*sin(v)=sqrt(1.0e*e)*sin(E)
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v=atan2(yv,xv)
r=sqrt(xv*xv+yv*yv)
(notethatthercomputedhereislaterusedasrs)
atan2()isafunctionthatconvertsanx,ycoordinatepairtothecorrectangleinallfourquadrants.Itis
availableasalibraryfunctioninFortran,CandC++.Inotherlanguages,onehastowriteone'sown
atan2()function.It'snotthatdifficult:
atan2(y,x)=atan(y/x)ifxpositive
atan2(y,x)=atan(y/x)+180degreesifxnegative
atan2(y,x)=sign(y)*90degreesifxzero
SeetheselinksforsomecodeinBasicorPascal.FortranandC/C++alreadyhasatan2()asastandard
libraryfunction.
Now,computetheSun'struelongitude:
lonsun=v+w
Convertlonsun,rtoeclipticrectangulargeocentriccoordinatesxs,ys:
xs=r*cos(lonsun)
ys=r*sin(lonsun)
(sincetheSunalwaysisintheeclipticplane,zsisofcoursezero).xs,ysistheSun'spositionina
coordinatesystemintheplaneoftheecliptic.Toconvertthistoequatorial,rectangular,geocentric
coordinates,compute:
xe=xs
ye=ys*cos(ecl)
ze=ys*sin(ecl)
Finally,computetheSun'sRightAscension(RA)andDeclination(Dec):
RA=atan2(ye,xe)
Dec=atan2(ze,sqrt(xe*xe+ye*ye))
5b.TheSiderealTime
QuiteoftenweneedaquantitycalledSiderealTime.TheLocalSideralTime(LST)issimplytheRA
ofyourlocalmeridian.TheGreenwichMeanSideralTime(GMST)istheLSTatGreenwich.And,
finally,theGreenwichMeanSiderealTimeat0hUT(GMST0)is,asthenamesays,theGMSTat
GreenwichMidnight.However,wewillhereextendtheconceptofGMST0abit,byletting"our"
GMST0bethesameastheconventionalGMST0atUTmidnightbutalsoletGMST0bedefinedat
anyothertimesuchthatGMST0willincreaseby3m51severy24hours.Thenthisformulawillbe
validatanytime:
GMST=GMST0+UT
WealsoneedtheSun'smeanlongitude,Ls,whichcanbecomputedfromtheSun'svandwas
follows:
Ls=v+w
TheGMST0iseasilycomputedfromLs(divideby15ifyouwantGMST0inhoursratherthan
degrees),GMSTisthencomputedbyaddingtheUT,andfinallytheLSTiscomputedbyaddingyour
locallongitude(eastlongitudeispositive,westnegative).
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Notethat"time"isgiveninhourswhile"angle"isgivenindegrees.Thetwoarerelatedtoone
anotherduetotheEarth'srotation:onehourisherethesameas15degrees.Beforeaddingor
subtractinga"time"andan"angle",besuretoconvertthemtothesameunit,e.g.degreesby
multiplyingthehoursby15beforeadding/subtracting:
GMST0=Ls+180_degrees
GMST=GMST0+UT
LST=GMST+local_longitude
Theformulaeabovearewrittenasiftimesareexpressedindegrees.Ifweinsteadassumetimesare
giveninhoursandanglesindegrees,andifweexplicitlywriteouttheconversionfactorof15,we
get:
GMST0=15*(Ls+180_degrees)
GMST=GMST0+UT
LST=GMST+local_longitude/15
6.ThepositionoftheMoonandoftheplanets
First,computetheeccentricanomaly,E,fromM,themeananomaly,ande,theeccentricity.Asafirst
approximation,do(EandMindegrees):
E=M+e*(180/pi)*sin(M)*(1.0+e*cos(M))
or,ifEandMareinradians:
E=M+e*sin(M)*(1.0+e*cos(M))
Ife,theeccentricity,islessthanabout0.050.06,thisapproximationissufficientlyaccurate.Ifthe
eccentricityislarger,setE0=Eandthenusethisiterationformula(EandMindegrees):
E1=E0(E0e*(180/pi)*sin(E0)M)/(1e*cos(E0))
or(EandMinradians):
E1=E0(E0e*sin(E0)M)/(1e*cos(E0))
Foreachnewiteration,replaceE0withE1.IterateuntilE0andE1aresufficientlyclosetogether
(about0.001degrees).Forcometorbitswitheccentricitesclosetoone,adifferenceoflessthan1E4
or1E5degreesshouldberequired.
Ifthisiterationformulawon'tconverge,theeccentricityisprobablytooclosetoone.Thenyoushould
insteadusetheformulaefornearparabolicorparabolicorbits.
Nowcomputetheplanet'sdistanceandtrueanomaly:
xv=r*cos(v)=a*(cos(E)e)
yv=r*sin(v)=a*(sqrt(1.0e*e)*sin(E))
v=atan2(yv,xv)
r=sqrt(xv*xv+yv*yv)
7.Thepositioninspace
Computetheplanet'spositionin3dimensionalspace:
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xh=r*(cos(N)*cos(v+w)sin(N)*sin(v+w)*cos(i))
yh=r*(sin(N)*cos(v+w)+cos(N)*sin(v+w)*cos(i))
zh=r*(sin(v+w)*sin(i))
FortheMoon,thisisthegeocentric(Earthcentered)positionintheeclipticcoordinatesystem.For
theplanets,thisistheheliocentric(Suncentered)position,alsointheeclipticcoordinatesystem.If
onewishes,onecancomputetheeclipticlongitudeandlatitude(thismustbedoneifonewishesto
correctforperturbations,orifonewantstoprecessthepositiontoastandardepoch):
lonecl=atan2(yh,xh)
latecl=atan2(zh,sqrt(xh*xh+yh*yh))
Asacheckonecancomputesqrt(xh*xh+yh*yh+zh*zh),whichofcourseshouldequalr(exceptfor
smallroundofferrors).
8.Precession
Ifonewishestocomputetheplanet'spositionforsomestandardepoch,suchas1950.0or2000.0(e.g.
tobeabletoplotthepositiononastaratlas),onemustaddthecorrectionbelowtolonecl.Ifaplanet's
andnottheMoon'spositioniscomputed,onemustalsoaddthesamecorrectiontolonsun,theSun's
longitude.ThedesiredEpochisexpressedastheyear,possiblywithafraction.
lon_corr=3.82394E5*(365.2422*(Epoch2000.0)d)
Ifonewishesthepositionfortoday'sepoch(usefulwhencomputingrising/settingtimesandthelike),
nocorrectionsneedtobedone.
9.PerturbationsoftheMoon
IfthepositionoftheMooniscomputed,andonewishesabetteraccuracythanabout2degrees,the
mostimportantperturbationshastobetakenintoaccount.Ifonewishes2arcminuteaccuracy,allthe
followingtermsshouldbeaccountedfor.Iflessaccuracyisneeded,someofthesmallertermscanbe
omitted.
Firstcompute:
Ms,MmMeanAnomalyoftheSunandtheMoon
NmLongitudeoftheMoon'snode
ws,wmArgumentofperihelionfortheSunandtheMoon
Ls=Ms+wsMeanLongitudeoftheSun(Ns=0)
Lm=Mm+wm+NmMeanlongitudeoftheMoon
D=LmLsMeanelongationoftheMoon
F=LmNmArgumentoflatitudefortheMoon
AddthesetermstotheMoon'slongitude(degrees):
1.274*sin(Mm2*D)(theEvection)
+0.658*sin(2*D)(theVariation)
0.186*sin(Ms)(theYearlyEquation)
0.059*sin(2*Mm2*D)
0.057*sin(Mm2*D+Ms)
+0.053*sin(Mm+2*D)
+0.046*sin(2*DMs)
+0.041*sin(MmMs)
0.035*sin(D)(theParallacticEquation)
0.031*sin(Mm+Ms)
0.015*sin(2*F2*D)
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+0.011*sin(Mm4*D)
AddthesetermstotheMoon'slatitude(degrees):
0.173*sin(F2*D)
0.055*sin(MmF2*D)
0.046*sin(Mm+F2*D)
+0.033*sin(F+2*D)
+0.017*sin(2*Mm+F)
AddthesetermstotheMoon'sdistance(Earthradii):
0.58*cos(Mm2*D)
0.46*cos(2*D)
Allperturbationtermsthataresmallerthan0.01degreesinlongitudeorlatitudeandsmallerthan0.1
Earthradiiindistancehavebeenomittedhere.Afewofthelargestperturbationtermsevenhavetheir
ownnames!TheEvection(thelargestperturbation)wasdiscoveredalreadybyPtolemyafew
thousandyearsago(theEvectionwasoneofPtolemy'sepicycles).TheVariationandtheYearly
EquationwerebothdiscoveredbyTychoBraheinthe16'thcentury.
Thecomputationscanbesimplifiedbyomittingthesmallerperturbationterms.Theerrorintroduced
bythisseldomexceedsthesumoftheamplitudesofthe45largestomittedterms.Ifoneonly
computesthethreelargestperturbationtermsinlongitudeandthelargestterminlatitude,theerrorin
longitudewillrarleyexceed0.25degrees,andinlatitude0.15degrees.
10.PerturbationsofJupiter,SaturnandUranus
Theonlyplanetshavingperturbationslargerthan0.01degreesareJupiter,SaturnandUranus.First
compute:
MjMeananomalyofJupiter
MsMeananomalyofSaturn
MuMeananomalyofUranus(neededforUranusonly)
PerturbationsforJupiter.Addthesetermstothelongitude:
0.332*sin(2*Mj5*Ms67.6degrees)
0.056*sin(2*Mj2*Ms+21degrees)
+0.042*sin(3*Mj5*Ms+21degrees)
0.036*sin(Mj2*Ms)
+0.022*cos(MjMs)
+0.023*sin(2*Mj3*Ms+52degrees)
0.016*sin(Mj5*Ms69degrees)
PerturbationsforSaturn.Addthesetermstothelongitude:
+0.812*sin(2*Mj5*Ms67.6degrees)
0.229*cos(2*Mj4*Ms2degrees)
+0.119*sin(Mj2*Ms3degrees)
+0.046*sin(2*Mj6*Ms69degrees)
+0.014*sin(Mj3*Ms+32degrees)
ForSaturn:alsoaddthesetermstothelatitude:
0.020*cos(2*Mj4*Ms2degrees)
+0.018*sin(2*Mj6*Ms49degrees)
PerturbationsforUranus:Addthesetermstothelongitude:
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+0.040*sin(Ms2*Mu+6degrees)
+0.035*sin(Ms3*Mu+33degrees)
0.015*sin(MjMu+20degrees)
The"greatJupiterSaturnterm"isthelargestperturbationforbothJupiterandSaturn.Itsperiodis918
years,anditsamplitudeis0.332degreesforJupiterand0.812degreesforSaturn.Theseisalsoa
"greatSaturnUranusterm",period560years,amplitude0.035degreesforUranus,lessthan0.01
degreesforSaturn(andthereforeomitted).Theotherperturbationshaveperiodsbetween14and100
years.Oneshouldalsomentionthe"greatUranusNeptuneterm",whichhasaperiodof4220years
andanamplitudeofaboutonedegree.Itisnotincludedhere,insteaditisincludedintheorbital
elementsofUranusandNeptune.
ForMercury,VenusandMarswecanignoreallperturbations.ForNeptunetheonlysignificant
perturbationisalreadyincludedintheorbitalelements,asmentionedabove,andthereforenofurther
perturbationtermsneedtobeaccountedfor.
11.Geocentric(Earthcentered)coordinates
Nowwehavecomputedtheheliocentric(Suncentered)coordinateoftheplanet,andwehave
includedthemostimportantperturbations.Wewanttocomputethegeocentric(Earthcenterd)
position.Weshouldconverttheperturbedlonecl,latecl,rto(perturbed)xh,yh,zh:
xh=r*cos(lonecl)*cos(latecl)
yh=r*sin(lonecl)*cos(latecl)
zh=r*sin(latecl)
IfwearecomputingtheMoon'sposition,thisisalreadythegeocentricposition,andthuswesimply
setxg=xh,yg=yh,zg=zh.OtherwisewemustalsocomputetheSun'sposition:convertlonsun,rs
(wherersisthercomputedhere)toxs,ys:
xs=rs*cos(lonsun)
ys=rs*sin(lonsun)
(Ofcourse,anycorrectionforprecessionshouldbeaddedtoloneclandlonsunbeforeconvertingto
xh,yh,zhandxs,ys).
Nowconvertfromheliocentrictogeocentricposition:
xg=xh+xs
yg=yh+ys
zg=zh
Wenowhavetheplanet'sgeocentric(Earthcentered)positioninrectangular,eclipticcoordinates.
12.Equatorialcoordinates
Let'sconvertourrectangular,eclipticcoordinatestorectangular,equatorialcoordinates:simplyrotate
theyzplanebyecl,theangleoftheobliquityoftheecliptic:
xe=xg
ye=yg*cos(ecl)zg*sin(ecl)
ze=yg*sin(ecl)+zg*cos(ecl)
Finally,computetheplanet'sRightAscension(RA)andDeclination(Dec):
RA=atan2(ye,xe)
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Dec=atan2(ze,sqrt(xe*xe+ye*ye))
Computethegeocentricdistance:
rg=sqrt(xg*xg+yg*yg+zg*zg)=sqrt(xe*xe+ye*ye+ze*ze)
Thiecompletesourcomputationoftheequatorialcoordinates.
12b.Azimuthalcoordinates
Tofindtheazimuthalcoordinates(azimuthandaltitude)weproceedbycomputingtheHA(Hour
Angle)oftheobject.ButfirstwemustcomputetheLST(LocalSiderealTime),whichwedoas
describedin5babove.WhenweknowLST,wecaneasilycomputeHAfrom:
HA=LSTRA
HAisusuallygivenintheinterval12to+12hours,or180to+180degrees.IfHAiszero,theobject
canbeseendirectlytothesouth.IfHAisnegative,theobjectistotheeastofsouth,andifHAis
positive,theobjectistothewestofsouth.IFyourcomputedHAshouldfalloutsidethisinterval,add
orsubtract24hours(or360degrees)untilHAfallswithinthisinterval.
Nowit'stimetoconvertourobjectsHAandDecltolocalazimuthandaltitude.Todothat,wealso
mustknowlat,ourlocallatitude.Thenweproceedasfollows:
x=cos(HA)*cos(Decl)
y=sin(HA)*cos(Decl)
z=sin(Decl)
xhor=x*sin(lat)z*cos(lat)
yhor=y
zhor=x*cos(lat)+z*sin(lat)
az=atan2(yhor,xhor)+180_degrees
alt=asin(zhor)=atan2(zhor,sqrt(xhor*xhor+yhor*yhor))
Thiscompletesourcalculationofthelocalazimuthandaltitude.Notethatazimuthis0atNorth,90
degatEast,180degatSouthand270degatWest.Altitudeisofcourse0atthe(mathematical)
horizon,90degatzenith,andnegativebelowthehorizon.
13.TheMoon'stopocentricposition
TheMoon'sposition,ascomputedearlier,isgeocentric,i.e.asseenbyanimaginaryobserveratthe
centeroftheEarth.RealobserversdwellonthesurfaceoftheEarth,though,andtheywillseea
differentpositionthetopocentricposition.Thispositioncandifferbymorethanonedegreefromthe
geocentricposition.Tocomputethetopocentricpositions,wemustaddacorrectiontothegeocentric
position.
Let'sstartbycomputingtheMoon'sparallax,i.e.theapparentsizeofthe(equatorial)radiusofthe
Earth,asseenfromtheMoon:
mpar=asin(1/r)
whereristheMoon'sdistanceinEarthradii.It'ssimplesttoapplythecorrectioninhorizontal
coordinates(azimuthandaltitude):withinouraccuracyaimof12arcminutes,nocorrectionneedto
beappliedtotheazimuth.Oneneedonlyapplyacorrectiontothealtitudeabovethehorizon:
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alt_topoc=alt_geocmpar*cos(alt_geoc)
Sometimesoneneedtocorrectfortopocentricpositiondirectlyinequatorialcoordinatesthough,e.g.
ifonewantstodrawonastarmaphowtheMoonpassesinfrontofthePleiades,asseenfromsome
specificlocation.ThenweneedtoknowtheMoon'sgeocentricRightAscensionandDeclination(RA,
Decl),theLocalSiderealTime(LST),andourlatitude(lat).
Ourastronomicallatitude(lat)mustfirstbeconvertedtoageocentriclatitude(gclat),anddistance
fromthecenteroftheEarth(rho)inEarthequatorialradii.Ifweonlywantanapproximate
topocentricposition,it'ssimplesttopretendthattheEarthisaperfectsphere,andsimplyset:
gclat=lat,rho=1.0
However,ifwedowishtoaccountfortheflatteningoftheEarth,weinsteadcompute:
gclat=lat0.1924_deg*sin(2*lat)
rho=0.99833+0.00167*cos(2*lat)
NextwecomputetheMoon'sgeocentricHourAngle(HA)fromtheMoon'sgeocentricRA.Firstwe
mustcomputeLSTasdescribedin5babove,thenwecomputeHAas:
HA=LSTRA
Wealsoneedanauxiliaryangle,g:
g=atan(tan(gclat)/cos(HA))
Nowwe'rereadytoconvertthegeocentricRightAscensionandDeclination(RA,Decl)totheir
topocentricvalues(topRA,topDecl):
topRA=RAmpar*rho*cos(gclat)*sin(HA)/cos(Decl)
topDecl=Declmpar*rho*sin(gclat)*sin(gDecl)/sin(g)
(Notethatifdeclisexactly90deg,cos(Decl)becomeszeroandwegetadivisionbyzerowhen
computingtopRA,butthatformulabreaksdownonlyveryclosetothecelestialpolesanywayandwe
neverseetheMoonthere.Alsoifgclatispreciselyzero,gbecomeszerotoo,andwegetadivisionby
zerowhencomputingtopDecl.Inthatcase,replacetheformulafortopDeclwith
topDecl=Declmpar*rho*sin(Decl)*cos(HA)
whichisvalidforgclatequaltozeroitcanalsobeusedforgclatextremelyclosetozero).
ThiscorrectiontotopocentricpositioncanalsobeappliedtotheSunandtheplanets.Butsincethey're
muchfartheraway,thecorrectionbecomesmuchsmaller.It'slargestforVenusatinferior
conjunction,whenVenus'parallaxissomewhatlargerthan32arcseconds.Withinouraimof
obtainingafinalaccuracyof12arcminutes,itmightbarelybejustifiedtocorrecttotopocentric
positionwhenVenusisclosetoinferiorconjunction,andperhapsalsowhenMarsisatafavourable
opposition.Butinallothercasesthiscorrectioncansafelybeignoredwithinouraccuracyaim.We
onlyneedtoworryabouttheMooninthiscase.
Ifyouwanttocomputetopocentriccoordinatesfortheplanetstoo,youdoitthesamewayasforthe
Moon,withoneexception:theMoon'sparallaxisreplacedbytheparallaxoftheplanet(ppar),as
computedfromthisformula:
ppar=(8.794/3600)_deg/r
whereristhedistanceoftheplanetfromtheEarth,inastronomicalunits.
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14.ThepositionofPluto
NoanalyticaltheoryhaseverbeenconstructedfortheplanetPluto.Ourmostaccuraterepresentation
ofthemotionofthisplanetisfromnumericalintegrations.Yet,a"curvefit"maybeperformedto
thesenumericalintegrations,andtheresultwillbetheformulaebelow,validfromabout1800to
about2100.Computed,ourdaynumber,asusual(section3).Thencomputetheseangles:
S=50.03+0.033459652*d
P=238.95+0.003968789*d
Nextcomputetheheliocentriceclipticlongitudeandlatitude(degrees),anddistance(a.u.):
lonecl=238.9508+0.00400703*d
19.799*sin(P)+19.848*cos(P)
+0.897*sin(2*P)4.956*cos(2*P)
+0.610*sin(3*P)+1.211*cos(3*P)
0.341*sin(4*P)0.190*cos(4*P)
+0.128*sin(5*P)0.034*cos(5*P)
0.038*sin(6*P)+0.031*cos(6*P)
+0.020*sin(SP)0.010*cos(SP)
latecl=3.9082
5.453*sin(P)14.975*cos(P)
+3.527*sin(2*P)+1.673*cos(2*P)
1.051*sin(3*P)+0.328*cos(3*P)
+0.179*sin(4*P)0.292*cos(4*P)
+0.019*sin(5*P)+0.100*cos(5*P)
0.031*sin(6*P)0.026*cos(6*P)
+0.011*cos(SP)
r=40.72
+6.68*sin(P)+6.90*cos(P)
1.18*sin(2*P)0.03*cos(2*P)
+0.15*sin(3*P)0.14*cos(3*P)
Nowweknowtheheliocentricdistanceandeclipticlongitude/latitudeforPluto.Toconvertto
geocentriccoordinates,doasfortheotherplanets.
15.Theelongationandphysicalephemeridesoftheplanets
Whenwefinallyhavecompletedourcomputationoftheheliocentricandgeocentriccoordinatesof
theplanets,itcouldalsobeinterestingtoknowwhattheplanetwilllooklike.Howlargewillit
appear?What'sitsphaseandmagnitude(brightness)?Thesecomputationsaremuchsimplerthanthe
computationsofthepositions.
Let'sstartbycomputingtheapparentdiameteroftheplanet:
d=d0/R
Ristheplanet'sgeocentricdistanceinastronomicalunits,anddistheplanet'sapparentdiameterata
distanceof1astronomicalunit.d0isofcoursedifferentforeachplanet.Thevaluesbelowaregiven
insecondsofarc.Someplanetshavedifferentequatorialandpolardiameters:
Mercury6.74"
Venus16.92"
Earth17.59"equ17.53"pol
Mars9.36"equ9.28"pol
Jupiter196.94"equ185.08"pol
Saturn165.6"equ150.8"pol
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Uranus65.8"equ62.1"pol
Neptune62.2"equ60.9"pol
TheSun'sapparentdiameterat1astronomicalunitis1919.26".TheMoon'sapparentdiameteris:
d=1873.7"*60/r
whereristheMoon'sdistanceinEarthradii.
Twootherquantitieswe'dliketoknowarethephaseangleandtheelongation.
Thephaseangletellsusthephase:ifit'szerotheplanetappears"full",ifit's90degreesitappears
"half",andifit's180degreesitappears"new".OnlytheMoonandtheinferiorplanets(i.e.Mercury
andVenus)canhavephaseanglesexceedingabout50degrees.
TheelongationistheapparentangulardistanceoftheplanetfromtheSun.Iftheelongationissmaller
thanabout20degrees,theplanetishardtoobserve,andifit'ssmallerthanabout10degreesit's
usuallynotpossibletoobservetheplanet.
Tocomputephaseangleandelongationweneedtoknowtheplanet'sheliocentricdistance,r,its
geocentricdistance,R,andthedistancetotheSun,s.Nowwecancomputethephaseangle,FV,and
theelongation,elong:
elong=acos((s*s+R*Rr*r)/(2*s*R))
FV=acos((r*r+R*Rs*s)/(2*r*R))
Whenweknowthephaseangle,wecaneasilycomputethephase:
phase=(1+cos(FV))/2=hav(180_degFV)
havisthe"haversine"function.The"haversine"(or"halfversine")isanoldandnowobsolete
trigonometricfunction.It'sdefinedas:
hav(x)=(1cos(x))/2=sin^2(x/2)
AsusualwemustuseadifferentprocedurefortheMoon.SincetheMoonissoclosetotheEarth,the
procedureabovewouldintroducetoobigerrors.InsteadweusetheMoon'seclipticlongitudeand
latitude,mlonandmlat,andtheSun'seclipticlongitude,mlon,tocomputefirsttheelongation,then
thephaseangle,oftheMoon:
elong=acos(cos(slonmlon)*cos(mlat))
FV=180_degelong
Finallywe'llcomputethemagnitude(orbrightness)oftheplanets.Hereweneedtouseaformula
that'sdifferentforeachplanet.FVisthephaseangle(indegrees),ristheheliocentricandRthe
geocentricdistance(bothinAU):
Mercury:0.36+5*log10(r*R)+0.027*FV+2.2E13*FV**6
Venus:4.34+5*log10(r*R)+0.013*FV+4.2E7*FV**3
Mars:1.51+5*log10(r*R)+0.016*FV
Jupiter:9.25+5*log10(r*R)+0.014*FV
Saturn:9.0+5*log10(r*R)+0.044*FV+ring_magn
Uranus:7.15+5*log10(r*R)+0.001*FV
Neptune:6.90+5*log10(r*R)+0.001*FV
Moon:+0.23+5*log10(r*R)+0.026*FV+4.0E9*FV**4
**isthepoweroperator,thusFV**6isthephaseangle(indegrees)raisedtothesixthpower.IfFVis
150degreesthenFV**6becomesca1.14E+13,whichisaquitelargenumber.
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FortheMoon,wealsoneedtheheliocentricdistance,r,andgeocentricdistance,R,inAU
(astronomicalunits).HerercanbesetequaltotheSun'sgeocentricdistanceinAU.TheMoon's
geocentricdistance,R,previouslycomputediEarthradii,mustbeconvertedtoAU'swedothisby
multiplyingbysin(17.59"/2)=1/23450.OrwecouldmodifythemagnitudeformulafortheMoonso
itusesrinAU'sandRinEarthradii:
Moon:21.62+5*log10(r*R)+0.026*FV+4.0E9*FV**4
Saturnneedsspecialtreatmentduetoitsrings:whenSaturn'sringsare"open"thenSaturnwillappear
muchbrighterthanwhenweviewSaturn'sringsedgewise.We'llcomputering_manglikethis:
ring_magn=2.6*sin(abs(B))+1.2*(sin(B))**2
HereBisthetiltofSaturn'sringswhichwealsoneedtocompute.ThenwestartwithSaturn's
geocentriceclipticlongitudeandlatitude(los,las)whichwe'vealreadycomputed.Wealsoneedthe
tiltoftheringstotheecliptic,ir,andthe"ascendingnode"oftheplaneoftherings,Nr:
ir=28.06_deg
Nr=169.51_deg+3.82E5_deg*d
Heredisour"daynumber"whichwe'veusedsomanytimesbefore.Nowlet'scomputethetiltofthe
rings:
B=asin(sin(las)*cos(ir)cos(las)*sin(ir)*sin(losNr))
Thisconcludesourcomputationofthemagnitudesoftheplanets.
16.Positionsofasteroids
Forasteroids,theorbitalelementsareoftengivenas:N,i,w,a,e,M,whereN,i,warevalidforaspecific
epoch(nowadaysusually2000.0).Inoursimplifiedcomputationalscheme,theonlysignificant
changeswiththeepochoccursinN.ToconvertN_EpochtotheN(today'sepoch)wewanttouse,
simplyaddacorrectionforprecession:
N=N_Epoch+0.013967*(2000.0Epoch)+3.82394E5*d
whereEpochisexpressedasayearwithfractions,e.g.1950.0or2000.0
MostoftenM,themeananomaly,isgivenforanotherdaythanthedaywewanttocomputethe
asteroid'spositionfor.Ifthedailymotion,n,isgiven,simplyaddn*(timedifferenceindays)toM.
Ifnisnotgiven,buttheperiodP(indays)isgiven,thenn=360.0/P.IfPisnotgiven,itcanbe
computedfrom:
P=365.2568984*a**1.5(days)=1.00004024*a**1.5(years)
**isthepowerofoperator.a**1.5isthesameassqrt(a*a*a).
Whenallorbitalelementshasbeencomputed,proceedaswiththeotherplanets(section6).
17.Positionofcomets.
Forcometshavingellipticalorbits,Misusuallynotgiven.InsteadT,thetimeofperihelion,isgiven.
AtperihelionMiszero.TocomputeMforanyothermoment,firstcomputethe"daynumber"dofT
(section3),let'scallthisdT.Thencomputethe"daynumber"dofthemomentforwhichyouwantto
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computeaposition,let'scallthisd.ThenM,themeananomaly,iscomputedlike:
M=360.0*(ddT)/P(degrees)
wherePisgivenindays,andddTofcourseisthetimesincelastperihelion,alsoindays.
Also,a,thesemimajoraxis,isusuallynotgiven.Insteadq,theperiheliondistance,isgiven.acan
easilybecomputedfromqande:
a=q/(1.0e)
Thenproceedaswithanasteroid(section16).
18.Parabolicorbits
Ifthecomethasaparabolicorbit,adifferentmethodhastobeused.Thentheorbitalperiodofthe
cometisinfinite,andM(themeananomaly)isalwayszero.Theeccentricity,e,isalwaysexactly1.
Sincethesemimajoraxis,a,isinfinite,wemustinsteaddirectlyusetheperiheliondistance,q.To
computeaparabolicorbit,weproceedlikethis:
Computethe"daynumber",d,forT,themomentofperihelion,callthisdT.Computedforthe
momentwewanttocomputeaposition,callitd(section3).TheconstantkistheGaussian
gravitationalconstant:k=0.01720209895exactly!
Thencompute:
H=(ddT)*(k/sqrt(2))/q**1.5
whereq**1.5isthesameassqrt(q*q*q).Alsocompute:
h=1.5*H
g=sqrt(1.0+h*h)
s=cbrt(g+h)cbrt(gh)
cbrt()isthecuberootfunction:cbrt(x)=x**(1.0/3.0).Theformulaehasbeendevisedsothatboth
g+handghalwaysarepositive.Thereforeonecanheresafelycomputecbrt(x)asexp(log(x)/3.0).In
general,cbrt(x)=cbrt(x)andofcoursecbrt(0)=0.
Insteadoftryingtocomputesomeeccentricanomaly,wecomputethetrueanomalyandthe
heliocentricdistancedirectly:
v=2.0*atan(s)
r=q*(1.0+s*s)
Whenweknowthetrueanomalyandtheheliocentricdistance,wecanproceedbycomputingthe
positioninspace(section7).
19.Nearparabolicorbits.
Themostcommoncaseforanewlydiscoveredcometisthattheorbitisn'tanexactparabola,butvery
nearlyso.It'seccentricityisslightlybelow,orslightlyabove,one.Thealgorithmpresentedherecan
beusedforeccentricitiesbetweenabout0.98and1.02.Iftheeccentricityissmallerthan0.98the
ellipticalgorithm(Kepler'sequation/etc)shouldbeusedinstead.Noknowncomethasaneccentricity
exceeding1.02.
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Asforthepurelyparabolicorbit,westartbycomputingthetimesinceperihelionindays,ddT,and
theperiheliondistance,q.Wealsoneedtoknowtheeccentricity,e.TheconstantkistheGaussian
gravitationalconstant:k=0.01720209895exactly!
Thenwecanproceedas:
a=0.75*(ddT)*k*sqrt((1+e)/(q*q*q))
b=sqrt(1+a*a)
W=cbrt(b+a)cbrt(ba)
f=(1e)/(1+e)
a1=(2/3)+(2/5)*W*W
a2=(7/5)+(33/35)*W*W+(37/175)*W**4
a3=W*W*((432/175)+(956/1125)*W*W+(84/1575)*W**4)
C=W*W/(1+W*W)
g=f*C*C
w=W*(1+f*C*(a1+a2*g+a3*g*g))
v=2*atan(w)
r=q*(1+w*w)/(1+w*w*f)
Thisalgorithmyieldsthetrueanomaly,v,andtheheliocentricdistance,r,foranearlyparabolicorbit.
Notethatthisalgorithmwillfailveryfarfromtheperihelionhowevertheaccuracyissufficientfor
allcometscloserthanPluto.
20.Riseandsettimes.
(thissubjecthasreceivedadocumentofitsown)
21.Validityoforbitalelements.
Duetoperturbationsfrommainlythegiantplanets,likeJupiterandSaturn,theorbitalelementsof
celestialbodiesareconstantlychanging.TheorbitalelementsfortheSun,Moonandthemajor
planets,asgivenhere,arevalidforalongtimeperiod.However,orbitalelemetsgivenforacometor
anasteroidarevalidonlyforalimitedtime.Howlongtheyarevalidishardtosaygenerally.It
dependsonmanyfactors,suchastheaccuracyyouneed,andthemagnitudeoftheperturbationsthe
cometorasteroidissubjectedtofrom,say,Jupiter.Acometmighttravelinroughlythesameorbit
severalorbitalperiods,experiencingonlyslightperturbations,butsuddenlyitmightpassverycloseto
Jupiterandgetitsorbitchangeddrastically.Tocomputethisinareliablewayisquitecomplicated
andcompletelyoutofscopeforthisdescription.Asaruleofthumb,though,onecanassumethatan
asteriod,ifoneusestheorbitalelementsforaspecificepoch,oneorafewrevolutionsawayfromthat
momentwillhaveanerrorinitscomputedpositionofatleastoneorafewarcminutes,andpossibly
more.Theerrorswillaccumulatewithtime.
22.Linkstoothersites.
AstronomicalCalculationsbyKeithBurnett:http://www.xylem.f2s.com/kepler/
FreeBASICprogramscanbefoundatftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/software/pc/general/in:ast.exe
(needsGWBASIC!)andduff2ed.exe(PeteDuffettSmithsprograms)
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BooksfromWillmannBellaboutMathandCelestialMechanics:
http://www.willbell.com/math/index.htm
JohnWalker'sfreewareprogramHomePlanet+otherstuff:http://www.fourmilab.ch/
ElwoodDowney'sXephemandEphemprograms,withCsourcecode:
http://www.clearskyinstitute.com/xephem/.
Ephemcanalsobefoundatftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/software/pc/general/asephem421.zip
StevenMoshier:Astronomyandnumericalsoftwaresourcecodes:http://www.moshier.net/
DanBruton'sastronomicalsoftwarelinks:http://www.physics.sfasu.edu/astro/software.html
MelBartel'ssoftware(muchATMstuff):http://www.efn.org/~mbartels/tm/software.html
AlmanacdatafromUSNO:http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/
AsteroidorbitalelementsfromLowellObservatory:http://asteroid.lowell.edu/
SACdownloads:http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/downloads.htm
EarthSatellitesoftwarefromAMSAT:http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftpsoft.html
IMCCE(formerlyBureaudesLongitudes):http://www.imcce.fr/
VSOP87:ftp://ftp.imcce.fr/pub/ephem/planets/vsop87/
DE403/404/410/414atJPL:ftp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/eph/export/
SSEphematNRAO:ftp://ftp.cv.nrao.edu/NRAOstaff/rfisher/SSEphem/
SomecataloguesatCDS,Strasbourg,Francehighaccuracyorbitaltheories:
Overview:http://cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/cgibin/qcat?VI/
Precession&meanorbitalelements:http://cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/cgibin/qcat?VI/66/
ELP200082(orbitaltheoryofMoon):http://cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/cgibin/qcat?VI/79/
VSOP87(orbitaltheoriesofplanets):http://cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/cgibin/qcat?VI/81/
AstronomicalDataCenterhttp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc.htmlhaslotsofcatalogs.Someofthemare:
Asteroidorbitalelements1998:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1245/
ftp://adc.astro.umd.edu/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1245/
JPLephemerisDE118/LE62:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1093A/
ftp://adc.astro.umd.edu/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1093A/
JPLephemerisDE200/LE200:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1094A/
ftp://adc.astro.umd.edu/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1094A/
USNOZZCAT:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1157/
XZcatalogofzodiacalstars:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1201/
TychoReferenceCatalog:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1250/
Tycho2catalog:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1259/
USNOA2.0catalog(verylarge):ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1252/
HSTGuideStarcatalog1.2:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1254/
HSTGuideStarcatalog1.3:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1255/
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Tycho2catalog:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1259/
AC2000.2catalog:ftp://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/adc/archives/catalogs/1/1275/
Othersimilarservicesareavailableat:CDS(France)ADAC(Japan)CAD(Russia)
TheoriginalZC(ZodiacalCatalogue):
http://stjarnhimlen.se/zc/
http://web.archive.org/web/20030604102426/sorry.vse.cz/~ludek/zakryty/pub.phtml#zc
http://web.archive.org/web/20030728014108/http://sorry.vse.cz/~ludek/zakryty/pub/
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