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@nnorris7
Created November 11, 2022 07:17
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This code loads the ephemerides file DE440 and calculates the distance from the Earth to Saturn for dates in April of 2133, thanks to the very useful Skyfield module.
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
Created on Thu Nov 10 22:24:38 2022
@author: norm
Calculate the distance from Earth to Saturn.
Uses the Skyfield package and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's DE440
ephemeris to calculate the planets' distance from Earth at a specific point in
the future. The calculations are dumped to `stdout` as a CSV file.
"""
import csv
import datetime
import sys
from skyfield.api import load
output = csv.writer(sys.stdout)
output.writerow(("planet", "date", "distance"))
# de440.bsp covers the years 1550 to 2650
planets = load("de440.bsp")
earth, saturn = (
planets["EARTH"],
planets["SATURN BARYCENTER"],
)
ts = load.timescale()
# Use the date Bob starts his journey
date = datetime.date(2133, 8, 17)
# This will calculate the distance to Saturn over the 6 days of Bob's trip.
# Really, only the last day is probably most relevant in terms of the distance.
while date != datetime.date(2133, 8, 23):
t = ts.utc(date)
earth_at_time = earth.at(t)
astrometric = earth_at_time.observe(saturn)
_, _, distance = astrometric.radec()
output.writerow(
('Saturn', t.utc_strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), distance.au)
)
date += datetime.timedelta(days = 1)
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