[AIT logo]

Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik

Abteilung Astronomie

Sand 1, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
[Uni logo]


JPLEPHINTERP Source code in jplephinterp.pro

JPLEPHINTERP

Name
   JPLEPHINTERP
Author
   Craig B. Markwardt, NASA/GSFC Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20770
   [email protected]
   UPDATED VERSIONs can be found on my WEB PAGE:
      http://cow.physics.wisc.edu/~craigm/idl/idl.html
Purpose
   Interpolate position and motion of planetary bodies (JPL Ephemeris)
Major Topics
   Planetary Orbits, Interpolation
Calling Sequence
   JPLEPHINTERP, INFO, RAWDATA, T, X, Y, Z, [VX, VY, VZ, /EARTH, /SUN,
         OBJECTNAME=, CENTER=, TBASE=, POSUNITS=, VELUNITS= ]
Description
   JPLEPHINTERP interpolates the JPL DE200 or DE405 planetary
   ephemeris to find the positions and motions of planetary bodies.
   This routine is the second stage of a two-stage process to
   interpolate the JPL ephemeris.  In this first stage, the file is
   opened using JPLEPHREAD, and the relevant portions of the table
   are read and stored into the two variables INFO and RAWDATA.  In
   the second stage, the user actually interpolates the ephemeris for
   the desired bodies and to the desired ephemeris time using
   JPLEPHINTERP.
   The only independent variable which must be specified is T, the
   ephemeris time.  For low to moderate accuracy applications, T is
   simply the conventional calendar date, expressed in Julian days.
   See below for high precision applications.
   Upon output, the position components of the desired body are
   returned in parameters X, Y and Z, and if requested velocity
   components are returned in parameters VX, VY and VZ.  Coordinates
   are referred to the ephemeris's coordinate system: FK5 for
   JPL-DE200 and ICRS for JPL-DE405.  By default, the origin of
   coordinates is the solar system barycenter (SSB), unless another
   origin is selected using the CENTER keyword.
   Users must set the VELOCITY keyword to generate body velocities.
   By default they are not generated.
   Users can select the desired body by using either the EARTH or SUN
   keywords, or the OBJECTNAME keyword.
   By default, positions are returned in units of KM and velocities
   in units of KM/DAY.  However, the output units are selectable by
   setting the POSUNITS and VELUNITS keywords.
 High Precision Applications
   If the required precision is finer than a few hundred meters, the
   user must be aware that the formal definition of the ephemeris
   time is the coordinate time of a clock placed at the solar system
   barycenter (SSB).  If the user's time is measured by a clock
   positioned elsewhere, then various corrections must be applied.
   Usually, the most significant correction is that from the
   geocenter to the SSB (see Fairhead & Bretagnon 1990; Fukushima
   1995).  Not applying this correction creates an error with
   amplitude ~170 nano-light-seconds ( = 50 m) on the earth's
   position.  (see TDB2TDT)
   For high precision, the user should also specify the TBASE
   keyword.  TBASE should be considered a fixed epoch with respect to
   which T is measured; T should be small compared to TBASE.
   Internally, subtraction of large numbers occurs with TBASE first,
   so truncation error is minimized by specifying TBASE.
 Nutations and Librations
   This routine also provides information about earth nutations and
   lunar librations, which are stored in the JPL ephemeris tables.
   The POSUNITS and VELUNITS keywords do not affect these
   computations.
   Lunar librations in the form of three Euler angles are returned in
   X, Y, Z, in units of radians, and their time derivatives are
   returned in VX, VY, and VZ in units of radians per day.
   The earth nutation angles psi (nutation in longitude) and epsilon
   (nutation in obliquity) are returned in X and Y, in units of
   radians.  Their time derivatives are returned in VX and VY
   respectively.  The quantities returned in Z and VZ are undefined.
 Verification
   The precision routine has been verified using JPLEPHTEST, which is
   similar to the original JPL program EPHTEST.  For years 1950 to
   2050, JPLEPHINTERP reproduces the original JPL ephemeris to within
   1 centimeter.
 Custom Ephemerides
   It is possible to make custom ephemerides using JPLEPHMAKE, or to
   augmented an existing ephemeris with additional data.  In the
   former case JPLEPHINTERP should automatically choose the correct
   object from the table and interpolate it appropriately.
   For augmented ephemerides, the object can be specified by name,
   which works as expected, or by number, which has a special
   behavior.  For augmented files only, the new objects begin at
   number 100.
Calling Sequence
   INFO - structure returned by JPLEPHREAD.  Users should not modify
          this structure.
   RAWDATA - raw data array returned by JPLEPHREAD.  Users should not
             modify this data array.
   T - ephemeris time(s) of interest.  May be a scalar or vector.
       The actual time is (T+TBASE).
   X, Y, Z - upon return, the x-, y- and z-components of the body
             position are returned in these parameters.  For
             nutations and librations see above.
   VX, VY, VZ - upon return, the x-, y- and z-components of the body
                velocity are returned in these parameters, if the
                VELOCITY keyword is set.  For nutations and
                librations see above.
Keyword Parameters
   EARTH, SUN - set one of these keywords if the desired body is the
                earth or the sun.  One of EARTH, SUN or OBJECTNAME
                must be specified.
   OBJECTNAME - a scalar string or integer, specifies the planetary
                body of interest.  May take any one of the following
                integer or string values.
                   1 - 'MERCURY'     9 - 'PLUTO'
                   2 - 'VENUS'      10 - 'MOON'  (earth's moon)
                   3 - 'EARTH'      11 - 'SUN'
                   4 - 'MARS'       12 - 'SOLARBARY' (solar system barycenter)
                   5 - 'JUPITER'    13 - 'EARTHBARY' (earth-moon barycenter)
                   6 - 'SATURN'     14 - 'NUTATIONS' (see above)
                   7 - 'URANUS'     15 - 'LIBRATIONS' (see above)
                   8 - 'NEPTUNE'
                For custom ephemerides, the user should specify the
                object name or number.
                For augmented ephemerides, the user should specify
                the name.  If the number is specified, then numbers
                1-15 have the above meanings, and new objects are
                numbered starting at 100.
   CENTER - a scalar string or integer, specifies the origin of
            coordinates.  See OBJECTNAME for allowed values.
            Default: 12 (Solar system barycenter)
   VELOCITY - if set, body velocities are generated and returned in
              VX, VY and VZ.
              Default: unset (no velocities)
   POSUNITS - a scalar string specifying the desired units for X, Y,
              and Z.  Allowed values:
                 'KM' - kilometers  (default)
                 'CM' - centimeters
                 'AU' - astronomical units
                 'LT-S' - light seconds
   VELUNITS - a scalar string specifying the desired units for VX, VY
              and VZ.  Allowed values:
                 'KM/DAY' - kilometers per day  (default)
                 'KM/S' - kilometers per second
                 'CM/S' - centimeters per second
                 'LT-S/S' - light seconds per second
                 'AU/DAY' - astronomical units per day
   TBASE - a scalar number, specifies a fixed epoch against wich T is
           measured.  The ephemeris time will be (T+TBASE).  Use this
           keyword for maximum precision.
Example
   Find position of earth at ephemeris time 2451544.5 JD.  Units are
   in Astronomical Units.
   JPLEPHREAD, 'JPLEPH.200', pinfo, pdata, [2451544D, 2451545D]
   JPLEPHINTERP, pinfo, pdata, 2451544.5D, xearth, yearth, zearth, $
                 /EARTH, posunits='AU'
References
   AXBARY, Arnold Rots.
      ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/xte/calib_data/clock/bary/
   HORIZONS, JPL Web-based ephermis calculator (Ephemeris DE406)
      http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.html
   Fairhead, L. & Bretagnon, P. 1990, A&A, 229, 240
   Fukushima, T. 1995, A&A, 294, 895
   Standish, E.M. 1982, "Orientation of the JPL Ephemerides,
      DE200/LE200, to the Dynamical Equinox of J2000", Astronomy &
      Astrophysics, vol. 114, pp. 297-302.
   Standish, E.M.: 1990, "The Observational Basis for JPL's DE200,
      the planetary ephemeris of the Astronomical Almanac", Astronomy
      & Astrophysics, vol. 233, pp. 252-271.
See Also
   JPLEPHREAD, JPLEPHINTERP, JPLEPHTEST, TDB2TDT, JPLEPHMAKE
Revision History
   Written and Documented, CM, Jun 2001
   Corrected bug in name conversion of NUTATIONS and LIBRATIONS, 18
     Oct 2001, CM
   Added code to handle custom-built ephemerides, 04 Mar 2002, CM
   Fix bug in evaluation of velocity (only appears in highest order
     polynomial term); JPLEPHTEST verification tests still pass;
     change is of order < 0.5 cm in position, 22 Nov 2004, CM
  $Id: jplephinterp.pro,v 1.14 2005/01/31 04:22:26 craigm Exp $

Last modified by pro2html on 2005 April 08 at 03:11 UTC

[Home Page] [Software, Documentation] [IDL Documentation] [Quick Reference] [Feedback]

Jörn Wilms ([email protected])
Updated automatically