Questions tagged [coordinate]
Questions on systems to uniquely determine position of a point or other geometric element on a manifold such as Euclidean space.
311 questions
8 votes
3 answers
2k views
How do we keep track of the positions of stars that are light years away?
We are moving constantly through space. The universe itself is expanding and therefor moving things around. Now, I always wondered how we keep track of those unbelievably far objects that are on a ...
- 97
1 vote
1 answer
1k views
How many times are Saturn and Jupiter close to each other? Were they close to each other about 2020 years ago?
The famous founder of analytical psychology Carl Jung wrote that at the birth of Christ Saturn the maleficent God and Jupiter the beneficent God, were so close to each other that they could be seen as ...
- 137
0 votes
0 answers
109 views
Calculating the position of Earth at a given point in time
I'm trying to understand the position of the Earth for a given point of time in the past. I'm familiar with ICRS and FK5 coordinate systems but these can't do what I'm after because they essentially ...
- 1
0 votes
0 answers
47 views
Calculating latitude and longitude from single GNSS constellation
I am trying to find a fast and reliable way to calculate latitude and longitude of an Android smartphone using a single GNSS constellation (For example BeiDou). What I have done so far: Collect raw ...
0 votes
1 answer
83 views
Calculation of lunar elongation based on the sub solar and sub lunar point coordinates
I have the situation as follows: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html?year=2025&month=3&day=29&hour=10&min=24&sec=0&n=&ntxt=&earth=0 The Time and Date ...
- 225
0 votes
0 answers
53 views
Moon's minimal and maximal culminations
I read this answer carefully, and understand the subject. But yet can't formulate it completely! Let the geo-position be given in any hemisphere. Need to calculate the maximum possible height of the ...
- 123
2 votes
1 answer
73 views
Why is this Horizons query suggesting a different date/time for Earth's minimum heliographic latitude than SunPy's get_earth()?
When I use Horizons to check this by setting the target body to Earth (body center) and the observer to Sun (body center), checking times from 2025-03-06 to 2025-03-08 every minute, and setting the ...
- 345
2 votes
0 answers
79 views
What are the coordinates of the direction of the sun's motion?
I've read a lot through this question and its answers, and related ones, but still can't quite find an answer to this one (or maybe one of those answers are what I'm looking for and I just don't ...
- 345
1 vote
2 answers
106 views
Using astrophotography for positioning and timekeeping
I know plate solving is common method in astrophotography for determining where the telescope/camera is pointing at. My question is, can this data (series of plate-solved observations) be used to ...
- 11
3 votes
0 answers
38 views
Trying to reconcile ICRS positions versus rotations and movements for a spacecraft
I'm looking to conceptualize directions as it relates to ICRS and yaw/pitch and RA/Dec. For a Space Sim. I'm piecing together different sources that don't show it all in one place. I'm hoping somebody ...
1 vote
1 answer
196 views
Can human body be used to measure angle to celestial objects? Like sextant?
Can the human body be used to measure the angle between a celestial object like the sun or star at dawn/dusk? I was considering using a thumb or finger up to try and duplicate the following picture of ...
- 185
1 vote
1 answer
219 views
The Moon's topocentric position
I followed The Moon's topocentric position to lern how to calculate the moon's position. I have calculated topocentric RA and Decl, but I don't know how to convert it to the moon's horizon ...
- 327
0 votes
1 answer
127 views
How to graphically draw stars using python and AAVSO data
I have a file containing information about stars that looks like this for each star: 010001 |R And *|002401.95 +383437.3 |M and i need to figure out a way to converted so i can graphically show ...
1 vote
1 answer
218 views
Code a scatter plot on a region of the sky with a circle
I am trying to do a scatter plot of a few data points on a region of the sky and then add a circle to the plot. Note, that I don't want a plot of the full sky, just of the region around the data ...
- 333
2 votes
0 answers
54 views
Why is there a discrepancy between the difference in ecliptic longitudes as found with Skyfield when accounting or not accounting for precession?
I'm using Skyfield to calculate some ecliptic longitudes for various dates. I understand that the 0° point of ecliptic longitude changes based on precession due to being the intersection between the ...
- 345