NAME

Astro::Utils - Provides utility functions for astronomical calculations

SYNOPSIS

use Astro::Utils :ALL;
my $x = 1.234;
my $y = 5.5678;
say Frac $x;       # OUTPUT: «0.234␤»
say Modulo $x, $y; # OUTPUT: «1.234␤»
say Modulo $y, $x; # OUTPUT: «0.6318␤»

DESCRIPTION

Raku module Astro::Utils is a collection of utility functions from several popular astronomy-related books by authors such as Montenbruck, Meeus, and Lawrence. Also included are functions from Perl module Astro::Montenbruck.

Exported functions

Frac

sub Frac($x --> Real) is export(:Frac) {...}

Returns the fractional part of a number (from Ref. 1, p. 8). (Note it is the same as the frac function from Raku module Math::FractionalPart.)

Modulo

sub Modulo($x, $y) is export(:Modulo) {...}

Returns y (from Ref. 1, p. 8). (Note it is the same as the Raku infix operator %.)

delta-T

sub delta-T($year, $month --> Real) is export(:delta-T) {...}

Returns the delta-T value for the given year and month.

From https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/deltatpoly2004.html:

The orbital positions of the Sun and Moon required by eclipse predictions, are calculated using Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) because it is a uniform time scale. However, world time zones and daily life are based on Universal Time[1] (UT). In order to convert eclipse predictions from TD to UT, the difference between these two time scales must be known. The parameter delta-T (ΔT) is the arithmetic difference, in seconds, between the two as:

ΔT = TD - UT

delta-T2

sub delta-T2(DateTime $T --> Real) is export(:delta-T2) {...}

Also returns ΔT (see routine delta-T), but using code based on the delta_t function from Ref. 3, file '../Time/DeltaT.pm'.

dayfrac2hms

sub dayfrac2hms($dayfraction is copy --> List) is export(:dayfrac2hms) {...}

Returns the $dayfraction as a list of hours (Int), minutes (Int), and minutes (Real) (from Ref. 2).

$dayfraction must be a fraction of a day of 24 hours. The input's integral portion, if any, is ignored.

polynome

sub polynome($t, @terms) is export(:polynome) {...}

Calculates the polynomial a0*t**0 + a1*t**1 + a2*t**2 + a3*t**3... using code based on the polynome function from Ref. 3, file '../Montenbruck/MathUtils.pm'.

Parameters: $t is the coefficient (in astronomical routines it's usually time in centuries) and @terms is a list of any number of decimal values.

References

1. Astronomy on the Personal Computer, 4th Edition, Oliver Montenbruck and Thomas Pfleger, 2000, Springer-Verlag.

2. Celestial Calculations, J. L. Lawrence.

3. Perl module Astro::Montenbruck.

AUTHOR

Tom Browder ([email protected])

COPYRIGHT and LICENSE

Copyright © 2021 Tom Browder

This library is free software; you may redistribute or modify it under the Artistic License 2.0.