Skip to main content

Abstract

Recent years have seen a continuous increase in the power of small computers and a simultaneous decrease in their price. As a result many people interested in astronomy have such equipment at their disposal. This prompts the idea of using these computers for astronomical computation. What positive advantages are there in using one’s own computer, when one can obtain all the most important data required for observing, fully as accurately, in one of the many yearly handbooks?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Astronomical Almanac; U. S. Government Printing Office, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office; Washington, London. The leading English-language almanac. The 1984 edition contains a summary of the numerical values and constants (sidereal time, precession and nutation, planetary masses and diameters, elements for physical ephemerides, etc.), that had just been recommended by the IAU for astronomical calculations.

    Google Scholar 

  2. H. Bucerius, M. Schneider; Himmelsmechanik I–II; Bd. 143/144, Bibliographisches Institut; Mannheim (1966). A modern description of celestial mechanics. Among other subjects discussed are general perturbation theory, lunar theory, and orbital determination.

    Google Scholar 

  3. L. E. Doggett, G. H. Kaplan, P. K. Seidelmann; Almanac for Computers for the Year 19xx; Nautical Almanac Office, United States Naval Observatory; Washington. This yearly publication contains descriptions of the coordinates of the Sun, Moon and planets in terms of Chebyshev polynomials, which allow simple and accurate calculation of any required ephemerides, even on small computers. The introductory chapter gives advice, and simple formulae for calculation of astronomical phenomena.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Explanatory Supplement to the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac; U.S. Government Printing Office, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office; Washington, London (1974). Completely revised edition by P. K. Seidelmann (ed.); University Science Books (1992). The volume supplements the yearly Astronomical Almanac. Details of the data used and calculation methods.

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. M. Green; Spherical Astronomy; Cambridge University Press; Cambridge (1985). The modern standard work on spherical astronomy.

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. Herschel, F. Pieper; Pascal und Pascal-Systeme; Oldenbourg Verlag; München, 5. Aufl. (1985). Textbook on the Pascal language.

    Google Scholar 

  7. D. McNally; Positional Astronomy; Muller Educational; London (1974). Introduction to spherical astronomy.

    Google Scholar 

  8. J. Meeus; Astronomical Algorithms; Willmann-Bell; Richmond, Virginia (1991). Revised and greatly extended edition of Astronomical Formulae for Calculators. Practically orientated collection of interesting and unusual calculation procedures for amateur astronomers. Comprehensive examples, which also can be implemented on small computers. In addition floppy disks with Basic, Pascal or C programs are available.

    Google Scholar 

  9. J. Meeus; Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets; Willmann-Bell; Richmond, Virginia (1983). Comprehensive collection of interesting astronomical data and results include: phases of the Moon, solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions, occultations of planets by the Moon, etc.

    Google Scholar 

  10. I.I. Mueller; Spherical and practical astronomy; Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.; New York (1969). Description of spherical astronomy and its applications to geodesy. Among other topics covered are: the basis for the various definitions of time and their practical application; and the prediction and reduction of solar eclipses and lunar occultations.

    Google Scholar 

  11. W. H. Press, S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling, B. P. Flannery; Numerical Recipes; Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, 2nd ed. (1992). A comprehensive collection of important procedures covering all fields of mathematical computation. Converted into Fortran, Pascal or C-programs, which are also available on diskette.

    Google Scholar 

  12. A. E. Roy; Orbital Motion; Adam Hilger Ltd.; Bristol, 2nd ed. (1982). General introduction to celestial mechanics.

    Google Scholar 

  13. H. R. Schwarz; Numerische Mathematik; B. G. Teubner Verlag; Stuttgart, 2. Aufl. (1988). Practically orientated description of important algorithms in mathematical computation.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. K. StumpfF; Himmelsmechanik I–III; VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften; Berlin (1959,1965,1974). Comprehensive discussion of celestial mechanics.

    Google Scholar 

  15. R. S. Pressman; Software Engineering —A Beginner’s Guide; McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1988). Practically orientated discussion of modern software engineering techniques.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Montenbruck, O., Pfleger, T. (1994). Introduction. In: Astronomy on the Personal Computer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02982-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02982-4_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-02984-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-02982-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics