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Ground Position of the Moon

Posted 8 years ago
POSTED BY: Thomas Dobroth
9 Replies
Posted 8 years ago
POSTED BY: Thomas Dobroth
Posted 8 years ago

An update. Using the fact that, in the Southern hemisphere, Mathematica azimuth zero is at local meridian North. As is common. With positive direction towards East. And so coincides with longitude zero and direction, when seen from the South pole..

moonGeoPositionNr2[datetime_DateObject] := Module[
    {latitude, longitude},
    latitude = First@Last@MoonPosition[datetime, CelestialSystem -> "Equatorial"];
    longitude = First@First@MoonPosition[GeoPosition@{-90, 0}, datetime];
    GeoPosition@{latitude, longitude}
  ]

theTime = DateObject[{2016, 2, 27, 18, 0, 0}, TimeZone -> 0]

moonGeoPositionNr2@theTime

GeoPosition[{-9.209, 145.40}]
POSTED BY: Hans Milton
Posted 8 years ago

Deleted, duplicate

POSTED BY: Hans Milton
Posted 8 years ago

Got carried away, and added date/time specification:

moonGeoPosition[datetime_DateObject] := Module[
    {longitude, declination},
    longitude = 180 - First@First@MoonPosition[GeoPosition@{90, 0}, datetime];
    declination =First@Last@MoonPosition[datetime, CelestialSystem -> "Equatorial"];
    {longitude, declination}
  ]

moonGeoPosition@DateObject[{2016, 2, 26, 22, 0, 0}, TimeZone -> 0]

{76.69, -6.414}
POSTED BY: Hans Milton
Posted 8 years ago

A more simple approach than Shenghui's. As seen from either North or South poles, the azimuth of a celestial object is just an offset from the objects geo position longitude. There are different conventions for azimuth zero and direction. Mathematica appears to use North as zero azimuth, with positive direction towards East. Which is the most common convention. While longitude is as usual measured from the Greenwich meridian South towards East.

So:

Module[
    {longitude, declination},
    longitude = 180 - First@First@MoonPosition@GeoPosition@{90, 0};
    declination = First@Last@MoonPosition[CelestialSystem -> "Equatorial"];
    {longitude, declination}
 ]

At about UTC 2200 tonight, February 26:

{75.64, -6.425}
POSTED BY: Hans Milton

Awesome! There is a piece of code does the similar thing in the document page of MoonPosition --> Neat Example:

trans

The CelestialSystem basically wraps the change of basis thing into one option.

POSTED BY: Shenghui Yang

This is a very interesting problem involving basis transformation in vector calculus. I have opened a new thread with detailed discussion on this top. Please check this link.

POSTED BY: Shenghui Yang
Posted 8 years ago

Sorry, this still results in a visible reference from a point on earth. Getting to ground position is either a very complex proof or an already solved problem. Does anybody now how to get to the ground position. I did not ask this without trying for hours.

POSTED BY: Thomas Dobroth

You can give MoonPosition the option CelestialSystem->"Equatorial", which will give you the right ascension/declination values. From there it should not be difficult to find what you need.

POSTED BY: Gianluca Gorni
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