pykepler 1.0.1

Algorithms for positional astronomy

Introduction

kepler contains a set of routines for performing astronomical calculations. The library is implemented in ANSI C and the optional pykepler package provides support for Python.

The intent is to supply the basic building blocks necessary for more advanced applications. Consequently, no attempt has been made to develop an user interface or to write programs for various use cases.

Prerequisites

Make sure your Unix installation has the GNU C compiler and build tools installed. The following are the minimum version requirements.

1. GNU gcc 4.4.1
2. GNU Make 3.81
3. Python 2.6.5 (needed only if you use the Python interface)

kepler can also be used with Microsoft Windows provided you have MinGW and MSYS installed. These tools may be downloaded from http://www.mingw.org/.

Installation

Instructions for downloading the source archives and accessing the development repository may be found at https://github.com/Shiva-Iyer/kepler.

Run 'make target={posix|windows}' in the kepler installation directory to compile all the library files and example programs. In order to call kepler's functions from your own applications, you will need to create your own makefile along the lines of the one in the 'examples' subdirectory.

Run 'make target={posix|windows} install' to deploy the shared library that is created in the previous step. On most systems, you will need to run this as root. You will need to do this before you run the example programs or use the pykepler Python package. On Windows, please copy src/libkepler.dll manually to your application or Windows system directory.

Run 'make target={posix|windows} clean' to remove all the files created by running 'make'. This will not remove the shared libraries or symbolic links in /usr/lib.

The 'pykepler' subdirectory contains the sources for the pykepler Python package. This package allows you to call kepler routines from Python.

Documentation

The C library is documented in the file kepler.html under the 'doc' subdirectory.

The 'pydoc' utility or the help() function in the interactive Python interpreter may be used to view the documentation for the Python interface.

Examples

The following sample programs may be found in the 'examples' subdirectory:

1. kepler_test.c calls most of the functions in kepler and displays the results in a terminal window. To test the routines in mpc_file.c, you must download the MPC Orbit Database files from http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/MPCORB.html.

2. rise_set.c is a program that accepts command-line arguments and displays the rise, transit and setting times for the Sun, Moon, planets and Pluto.

3. planpos. py demonstrates the Python wrapper by calling routines in the VSOP, ELP and Pluto modules to display the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and Pluto at the time specified on the command-line.

4. flightseg. py displays the great circle distance and bearing angles for flight segments between the airports specified on the command line. The airport database from http://openflights.org/data.html must be downloaded into the examples folder.

References

kepler is targeted towards users with a sound grasp of positional astronomy. However, it has been thought fit to include references to the relevant astronomical literature in the source code.

No work of this nature would be possible without the following standard works on astronomical algorithms:

1. Celestial Mechanics - Forest Ray Moulton
2. Astronomical Algorithms - Jean Meeus
3. Explanatory supplement to the Astronomical Almanac - P. K. Seidelmann