[sci.astro] celestial navigation

luce@aati.UUCP (dave luce) (02/05/88)

I am looking for information on celestial navigation software.  The
ideal software would contain a nautical almanac, updateable from the
constants published for the year by the Naval Observatory, as well as
sight reduction and plotting.  The software would estimate the
geographic center of the polygon formed by multiple intersecting lines
of position, and describe the apparent error of the fix.  It would be
written in BASIC for the Tandy TRS model 100, or available as ROM for
that small laptop.  If you know of any, please send me mail.  If I get
more than ten replies, I'll summarize to rec.boats.
			D. L. Luce (hsi!aati!luce)

ryders@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Steve Ryder) (02/25/88)

I need input regarding the mechanics (mathematics, more like) of celestial
navigation for a computer simulation on a PC (IBM PC-AT). What is required is
a system capable of moving an object to any position in our known universe. Not
so complicated. The complication is the location of bodies (planets, stars, ...)Does anyone have any experience with plotting positions in this regard that
would be useful? Any help would be most appreciated! :-)

steve
-- 
 ___ ___ __      __   Steve Ryder             ryders@watdcsu.waterloo.EDU        | | | | \ \    / /   {allegra,decvax,ihnp4,utzoo}!watmath!watdcsu!ryders
 | |_| |of\ \/\/ /    I.S., University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., N2L 3G1      |_____|   \_/\_/     (519)885-1211 x2352 x2345
     "The most fluent talkers or most plausible reasoners are not                     always the justest thinkers."   - WILLIAM HAZLITT