Ephemeris Objects (sbpy.data.Ephem)¶
As described in How to use Data Containers, Ephem objects
can be created on the fly. However, Ephem can also be used to
access ephemeris information from other sources with a largely uniform API.
JPL Horizons (from_horizons)¶
from_horizons uses one or more target names, an observer
location, and the ephemeris epoch. For instance, the following few lines will
query for ephemerides of asteroid Ceres on a given date and for the position of
Mauna Kea Observatory (IAU observatory code 568) from the JPL Horizons service:
>>> from sbpy.data import Ephem
>>> from astropy.time import Time
>>> epoch = Time('2018-08-03 14:20', scale='utc') # time in UT
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('Ceres',
... location='568',
... epochs=epoch)
>>> eph['epoch', 'ra', 'dec', 'rh', 'delta', 'phase']
<QTable length=1>
epoch RA DEC r delta alpha
deg deg AU AU deg
Time float64 float64 float64 float64 float64
----------------- --------- -------- -------------- ---------------- -------
2458334.097222222 169.23471 13.40412 2.573882458571 3.34213404869399 12.978
The full column name list in the data table can be retrieved with the
field_names property:
>>> eph.field_names
['targetname', 'H', 'G', 'solar_presence', 'flags', 'RA', 'DEC', 'RA_app', 'DEC_app', 'RA*cos(Dec)_rate', 'DEC_rate', 'AZ', 'EL', 'AZ_rate', 'EL_rate', 'sat_X', 'sat_Y', 'sat_PANG', 'siderealtime', 'airmass', 'magextinct', 'V', 'surfbright', 'illumination', 'illum_defect', 'sat_sep', 'sat_vis', 'ang_width', 'PDObsLon', 'PDObsLat', 'PDSunLon', 'PDSunLat', 'SubSol_ang', 'SubSol_dist', 'NPole_ang', 'NPole_dist', 'EclLon', 'EclLat', 'r', 'r_rate', 'delta', 'delta_rate', 'lighttime', 'vel_sun', 'vel_obs', 'elong', 'elongFlag', 'alpha', 'lunar_elong', 'lunar_illum', 'sat_alpha', 'sunTargetPA', 'velocityPA', 'OrbPlaneAng', 'constellation', 'TDB-UT', 'ObsEclLon', 'ObsEclLat', 'NPole_RA', 'NPole_DEC', 'GlxLon', 'GlxLat', 'solartime', 'earth_lighttime', 'RA_3sigma', 'DEC_3sigma', 'SMAA_3sigma', 'SMIA_3sigma', 'Theta_3sigma', 'Area_3sigma', 'RSS_3sigma', 'r_3sigma', 'r_rate_3sigma', 'SBand_3sigma', 'XBand_3sigma', 'DoppDelay_3sigma', 'true_anom', 'hour_angle', 'alpha_true', 'PABLon', 'PABLat', 'epoch']
Time options¶
In the above example a specific epoch was specified, but multiple epochs may be
requested, or even a range of epochs. All time references are
Time objects.
>>> epochs = Time(['2022-06-04', '2023-06-04'])
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('Ceres', location='568', epochs=epochs)
>>> eph['epoch', 'rh', 'delta']
<QTable length=2>
epoch r delta
AU AU
Time float64 float64
--------- -------------- ----------------
2459734.5 2.60719514844 3.49018226961962
2460099.5 2.603599947555 2.18175266069806
Note that the total number of epochs queried using this option should be less
than a few hundred to prevent corruption of the query (see
ephemerides for details).
To specify a range of epochs:
>>> import astropy.units as u
>>>
>>> epochs = {'start': Time('2022-01-01'),
... 'stop': Time('2023-01-01'),
... 'step': 30 * u.day}
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('Ceres', location='568', epochs=epochs)
>>> eph['epoch', 'rh', 'delta']
<QTable length=13>
epoch r delta
AU AU
Time float64 float64
--------- -------------- ----------------
2459580.5 2.718302197006 1.9062817959135
2459610.5 2.694384101844 2.22554330199232
...
2459940.5 2.549833352462 2.30003114258051
As an alternative to 'step' one could specify the number of epochs with
''number'.
Mulitple targets¶
An additional feature of from_horizons is that you can
automatically concatenate queries for a number of objects:
>>> epoch1 = Time('2018-08-03 14:20')
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons(['Ceres', 'Pallas', 12893, '1983 SA'],
... location='568',
... epochs=epoch1)
>>> eph
<QTable masked=True length=4>
targetname H G ... PABLat epoch
mag ... deg
str26 float64 float64 ... float64 object
-------------------------- ------- ------- ... -------- -----------------
1 Ceres 3.34 0.12 ... 9.3473 2458334.097222222
2 Pallas 4.13 0.11 ... -20.1396 2458334.097222222
12893 Mommert (1998 QS55) 13.9 0.15 ... -2.0567 2458334.097222222
3552 Don Quixote (1983 SA) 12.9 0.15 ... 13.3365 2458334.097222222
Please be aware that these queries are not simultaneous. The more targets you
query, the longer the query will take. Furthermore, keep in mind that asteroids
and comets have slightly different table layouts (e.g., different magnitude
systems: T-mag and N-mag instead of V-mag), which will complicate
the interpretation of the data. It might be safest to query asteroids and comets
separately.
Observer locations¶
Observer locations can be defined as strings using official IAU observatory
codes as above,
or by using EarthLocation as shown in the following
example:
>>> from astropy.coordinates import EarthLocation
>>> lowell = EarthLocation.of_site('Lowell Observatory')
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons(1, epochs=Time('2018-01-01'),
... location=lowell)
>>> eph
<QTable masked=True length=1>
targetname H G solar_presence ... PABLon PABLat epoch
mag ... deg deg
str7 float64 float64 str1 ... float64 float64 object
---------- ------- ------- -------------- ... -------- ------- ---------
1 Ceres 3.34 0.12 * ... 130.4303 9.2004 2458119.5
Optional parameters¶
from_horizons is actually a wrapper around
astroquery.jplhorizons.HorizonsClass. Additional optional parameters provided
to from_horizons are directly passed on to
astroquery.jplhorizons.HorizonsClass.ephemerides, maintaining the full
flexibility of the latter function. For example one may use the
skip_daylight keyword argument:
>>> epoch1 = Time('2018-08-03 14:20', scale='utc')
>>> epoch2 = Time('2018-08-04 07:30', scale='utc')
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('Ceres',
... location='568',
... epochs={'start': epoch1,
... 'stop': epoch2,
... 'step': 10 * u.minute},
... skip_daylight=True)
Or, a common option for periodic cometary targets is to limit orbit look-ups to
the apparition closest to the epochs being queried (requires
id_type='designation'):
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('2P')
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
ValueError: Ambiguous target name; provide unique id:
Record # Epoch-yr >MATCH DESIG< Primary Desig Name
-------- -------- ------------- ------------- -------------------------
90000034 1786 2P 2P Encke
90000035 1796 2P 2P Encke
90000036 1805 2P 2P Encke
...
>>> eph = Ephem.from_horizons('2P', id_type='designation', closest_apparition=True)
>>> print(eph['targetname'])
targetname
----------
2P/Encke
Minor Planet Center’s Ephemeris Service (from_mpc)¶
Offering similar functionality, the from_mpc method will
retrieve ephemerides from the Minor Planet Center’s Ephemeris Service:
>>> eph = Ephem.from_mpc('2P', location='568',
... epochs={'start': Time('2018-10-22'),
... 'stop': Time('2018-10-26'),
... 'step': 1*u.day})
>>> eph
<QTable length=5>
Targetname Date ... Moon distance Moon altitude
... deg deg
str2 object ... float64 float64
---------- ----------------------- ... ------------- -------------
2P 2018-10-22 00:00:00.000 ... 28.0 -33.0
2P 2018-10-24 00:00:00.000 ... 54.0 -48.0
2P 2018-10-25 00:00:00.000 ... 67.0 -53.0
2P 2018-10-26 00:00:00.000 ... 81.0 -56.0
2P 2018-10-23 00:00:00.000 ... 41.0 -41.0
IMCCE’s Miriade (from_miriade)¶
Finally, from_miriade will retrieve ephemerides from the
Miriade ephemeris generator at
Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides:
>>> eph = Ephem.from_miriade('2P', objtype='comet', location='568',
... epochs={'start': Time('2018-10-22'),
... 'stop': Time('2018-10-26'),
... 'step': 1*u.day})
>>> eph
<QTable masked=True length=5>
target epoch RA ... DEC_rate delta_rate
deg ... arcsec / min km / s
bytes20 object float64 ... float64 float64
------- --------- ------------------ ... ------------ ------------
2P 2458413.5 329.99213124999994 ... -0.063365 24.7933113
2P 2458414.5 329.91132124999996 ... -0.059361 25.0280603
2P 2458415.5 329.83517041666664 ... -0.055369 25.253586
2P 2458416.5 329.76366666666667 ... -0.051392 25.4700287
2P 2458417.5 329.6967958333333 ... -0.04743 25.677518
Using an orbit and OpenOrb (from_oo)¶
Ephemerides can also be derived from Orbit objects using sbpy’s
interface to OpenOrb with the function
from_oo. The following example computes ephemerides for the
next ten days in steps of 1 hr for Ceres as seen from the Discovery Channel
Telescope:
>>> import numpy as np
>>> from astropy.time import Time
>>> import astropy.units as u
>>> from sbpy.data import Orbit, Ephem
>>>
>>> ceres = Orbit.from_dict({'targetname': 'Ceres',
... 'orbtype': 'KEP',
... 'a': 2.77 * u.au,
... 'e': 0.0786,
... 'i': 10.6 * u.deg,
... 'w': 73.6 * u.deg,
... 'Omega': 80.3 * u.deg,
... 'M': 320.3 * u.deg,
... 'epoch': Time(2459735.0, format='jd'),
... 'H': 3.3 * u.mag,
... 'G': 0.15})
>>> epochs = Time('2022-06-01') + np.arange(31) * u.day
>>> eph = Ephem.from_oo(ceres, epochs, 'G37')
>>> print(eph)
<QTable length=31>
targetname RA DEC ... trueanom epoch
deg deg ... deg
str5 float64 float64 ... float64 Time
---------- ------------------ ------------------ ... ------------------ -----------------
Ceres 97.53508969190534 26.840028524616123 ... 313.25073865769383 2459731.500800741
Ceres 98.00890363845723 26.840660100535846 ... 313.4904467480157 2459732.500800741
Ceres 98.48352873396654 26.83985349294406 ... 313.7302633914505 2459733.500800741
Ceres 98.958932708787 26.83760580100297 ... 313.97018822933694 2459734.500800741
Ceres 99.43508364177217 26.833914483074352 ... 314.2102209001088 2459735.500800741
Ceres 99.91195006004624 26.828777353292317 ... 314.4503610392964 2459736.500800741
Ceres 100.38950104500788 26.822192575950346 ... 314.6906082795292 2459737.500800741
Ceres 100.86770636534342 26.814158657288353 ... 314.93096225053836 2459738.500800741
... ... ... ... ... ...
Ceres 108.10282016659154 26.519545221745105 ... 318.54881889008544 2459753.500800741
Ceres 108.58838133652219 26.488326782806954 ... 318.79082784334094 2459754.500800741
Ceres 109.07422128038874 26.455671250331037 ... 319.03293679237225 2459755.500800741
Ceres 109.56031412985443 26.42158188064386 ... 319.2751453153177 2459756.500800741
Ceres 110.04663355942071 26.386062295091307 ... 319.5174529874914 2459757.500800741
Ceres 110.53315292361725 26.34911647975649 ... 319.7598593813884 2459758.500800741
Ceres 111.01984538555946 26.310748782938763 ... 320.0023640666907 2459759.500800741
Ceres 111.50668404363827 26.270963909983408 ... 320.24496661027257 2459760.500800741
Ceres 111.99364205884406 26.229766915255638 ... 320.48766657620695 2459761.500800741
The properties computed by pyoorb and listed in the resulting table are defined
in the pyoorb documentation. Note that this function
requires pyoorb to be installed, which is not a requirement for sbpy.
Executable scripts¶
Ephemerides may be generated from the command line using the sbpy-ephem
script installed during sbpy’s installation. The script supports ephemeris
generation from Horizons, the Minor Planet Center, and Miriade.
For example, to display the ephemeris of comet 2P/Encke from the Minor Planet Center:
$ sbpy-ephem mpc 2P
# requested target: 2P
# returned target: 2P
# location: 500
date RA Dec rh delta phase solarelong V Proper motion Direction
deg deg AU AU deg deg mag arcsec / h deg
----------------------- ----------- ----------- ----- ----- ----- ---------- ---- ------------- ---------
2024-08-17 00:00:00.000 21:55:57.10 -15:12:47.0 3.368 2.356 0.9 177.1 21.1 47.72 253.7
2024-08-18 00:00:00.000 21:54:41.20 -15:18:06.0 3.373 2.361 0.7 177.5 21.1 47.54 253.9
2024-08-19 00:00:00.000 21:53:25.60 -15:23:21.0 3.378 2.367 0.8 177.4 21.1 47.32 254.0
2024-08-20 00:00:00.000 21:52:10.30 -15:28:32.0 3.383 2.372 1.0 176.7 21.2 47.07 254.1
2024-08-21 00:00:00.000 21:50:55.30 -15:33:38.0 3.388 2.378 1.3 175.8 21.2 46.79 254.3
2024-08-22 00:00:00.000 21:49:40.70 -15:38:40.0 3.393 2.385 1.6 174.7 21.2 46.47 254.4
2024-08-23 00:00:00.000 21:48:26.50 -15:43:37.0 3.398 2.391 1.9 173.5 21.3 46.13 254.6
2024-08-24 00:00:00.000 21:47:12.90 -15:48:29.0 3.403 2.398 2.3 172.3 21.3 45.75 254.7
2024-08-25 00:00:00.000 21:45:59.80 -15:53:16.0 3.408 2.406 2.6 171.1 21.3 45.34 254.9
2024-08-26 00:00:00.000 21:44:47.30 -15:57:57.0 3.413 2.413 3.0 169.9 21.4 44.9 255.0
2024-08-27 00:00:00.000 21:43:35.40 -16:02:33.0 3.418 2.421 3.3 168.7 21.4 44.44 255.2
2024-08-28 00:00:00.000 21:42:24.30 -16:07:04.0 3.423 2.43 3.7 167.4 21.4 43.94 255.3
2024-08-29 00:00:00.000 21:41:13.90 -16:11:28.0 3.427 2.438 4.0 166.2 21.5 43.41 255.5
2024-08-30 00:00:00.000 21:40:04.30 -16:15:47.0 3.432 2.447 4.4 165.0 21.5 42.86 255.6
...
A limited number of input parameters are supported. Run with the --help
option for more details.