Astronomical Algorithms
Calculate sun position to
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Today's astronomical tidbit....
Here's an easy way to picture where the sunlit and dark halves of the earth are, relative to your location on the earth, at any given moment in time. Take a look at the moon above you. Imagine you could suddenly hop up on "top" of the moon, maintaining your exact orientation in space as you do so. The spot where you'd be standing on the moon would typically be a little ways "over the top" as you look up at the moon. Another way to imagine the situation would be to assume a universal gravitation from deep space always pulling in the same direction. Then, to maintain your balance on the moon you'd have to hop way up on to of it from your current earth location. Now, from your earthly view, take a look at the two halves of the moon where sunlight is and where it isn't. Most likely, your tiny imaginative image of yourself at the very top of the moon is standing in a dark area, simply because on earth you're standing in the same reletive spot on the earth. The sun is a long distance away, and therefore the light and dark areas of each sphere are "parallel" to each other. What you see on the moon is also how the earth below you is lit, with you standing "on top" in the dark part. |
John Clark Craig
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John's suggested reading about astronomical algorithms
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Introduction to Astronomical Photometry Provides an in-depth and professional coverage of the latest techniques, instruments, and experimental procedures for astronomical photometry. ISBN: 0521847117 |
Astronomical Algorithms Many programmers consider this book to be the standard source book for formulas, algorithms, and basic explanations of sun, moon, stars, and planet ephemerides. ISBN: 0943396611 |
Textbook on Spherical Astronomy Using the methods of spherical geometry, this textbook used has been used in lectures at Cambridge University by the author. It serves as a good reference work for researchers in a variety of astronomy and space physics disciplines. ISBN: 0521291801 |
Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac This book provides supplementary explanations for the Naval Observatory's planet, moon, sun, and star orbital formulas and spherical astronomy calculations. ISBN: 1891389459 |
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Practical Statistics for Astronomers This book is a little different in that it provides in-depth coverage of the statistical-based observations astronomers must use, including classical parametric and non-parametric methods, Bayesian solutions, and probability. ISBN: 0521456169 |
Astronomical Time Series This book is a complilation of topics from experts dealing with astronomical time series, including a variety of mathematical and statistical techniques. This can be a good reference for researchers studying binaries, searching for planets, analysing pulsars, and exploring gravitational galactic lensing. ISBN: 0792347064 |
Astronomy with your Personal Computer Written in 1990, this book received awards at the time for its ability to allow amateur astronomers to perform astronomical calculations on a personal computer for the first time. The formulas and equations are very useful, and if you don't mind translating from line-numbered BASIC to today's modern programming languages, it's a good reference. ISBN: 052138995X |
Easy PC Astronomy This book, written in 1997, presents "Astroscript", a DOS based pseudo-language for calculating many astronomical formulas. The explanations of astronomical phenomenon are useful, but its use with today's PCs is problematic. ISBN: 0521560527 |
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