ISBN: 3-540-67221-4
TITLE: Astronomy on the Personal Computer
AUTHOR: Montenbruck, Oliver; Pfleger, Thomas
TOC:

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Some Examples 1
1.2 Astronomy and Computing 2
1.3 Programming Languages and Techniques 4
2 Coordinate Systems 7
2.1 Making a Start 7
2.2 Calendar and Julian Dates 14
2.3 Ecliptic and Equatorial Coordinates 17
2.4 Precession 20
2.5 Geocentric Coordinates and the Orbit of the Sun 25
2.6 The COCO Program 28
3 Calculation of Rising and Setting Times 35
3.1 The Observer's Horizon System 35
3.2 Sun and M oon 38
3.3 Sidereal Time and Hour Angle 39
3.4 Universal Time and Ephemeris Time 41
3.5 Parallax and Refraction 44
3.6 Rising and Setting Times 47
3.7 Quadratic Interpolation 48
3.8 The SUNSET Program 50
3.9 The PLANRISE Program 57
4 Cometary Orbits 59
4.1 Form and Orientation of the Orbit 59
4.2 Position in the Orbit 61
4.3 Mathematical Treatment of Kepler's Equation 65
4.4 Near-Parabolic Orbits 68
4.5 Gaussian Vectors 72
4.6 Light-Time 76
4.7 The COMET Program 77
5 Special Perturbations 85
5.1 Equation of Motion 86
5.2 Planetary Coordinates 89
5.3 Numerical Integration 91
5.4 Osculating Elements 97
5.5 The NUMINT Program 100
5.6 The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database 108
6 Planetary Orbits 111
6.1 Series Expansion of the Kepler Problem 112
6.2 Perturbation Terms 115
6.3 Numerical Treatment of the Series Expansions 118
6.4 Apparent and Astrometric Coordinates 124
6.4.1 Aberration and Light-Time 125
6.4.2 Nutation 127
6.5 The PLANPOS Program 129
7 Physical Ephemerides of the Planets 135
7.1 Rotation 135
7.1.1 The Position Angle of the Axis 136
7.1.2 Planetographic Coordinates 138
7.2 Illumination Conditions 145
7.2.1 Phase and Elongation 145
7.2.2 The Position Angle of the Sun 147
7.2.3 Apparent Magnitude 148
7.2.4 Apparent Diameter 150
7.3 The PHYS Program 150
8 The Orbit of the Moon 155
8.1 General Description of the Lunar Orbit 155
8.2 Brown's Lunar Theory 159
8.3 The Chebyshev Approximation 169
8.4 The LUNA Program 174
9 Solar Eclipses 179
9.1 Phases of the Moon and Eclipses 179
9.2 Geometry of an Eclipse 181
9.3 Geographic Coordinates and the Flattening of the Earth 186
9.4 Duration of an Eclipse 189
9.5 Solar and Lunar Coordinates 190
9.6 The ECLIPSE Program 192
9.7 Local Circumstances 200
9.8 The ECLTIMER Program 203
10 Stellar Occultations 205
10.1 Apparent Positions 206
10.2 Geocentric Conjunction 210
10.3 The Fundamental Plane 214
10.4 Disappearance and Reappearance 216
10.5 The OCCULT Program 219
10.6 Estimation of DeltaT =ET-UT from Observations 229
11 Orbit Determination 231
11.1 Determining an Orbit from Two Position Vectors 231
11.1.1 The Sector-Triangle Ratio 232
11.1.2 Orbital Elements 235
11.2 The Shortened Gauss Method 239
11.2.1 The Geometry of Geocentric Observations 239
11.2.2 Successive Improvement of the Sector-Triangle Ratios 242
11.2.3 Multiple Solutions 243
11.3 The Comprehensive Gaussian Method 244
11.3.1 The Gauss-Lagrangian Equation 244
11.3.2 Improved Iteration of the Triangle-Area Ratios 247
11.3.3 Light-Time 248
11.4 The GAUSS Program 249
12 Astrometry 259
12.1 Photographic Imaging 259
12.2 Plate Constants 262
12.3 Least Squares Adjustment 264
12.4 The FOTO Program 267
12.5 The Position and Proper Motion Catalogue 272
Appendix 275
A.1 The Accompanying CD-ROM 275
A.1.2 System Requirements 277
A.1.3 Executing the Programs 277
A.2 Compiling and Linking the Programs 279
A.2.1 General Advice on Computer-Specific Modifications 279
A.2.2 Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows 95/98/NT 280
A.2.3 GNU C++ for Linux 281
A.3 List of the Library Functions 283
Symbols 289
Glossary 293
Bibliography 297
Subject Index 305
END
