Re: Astronomical Information [OT]

[Ged Haywood <ge...@www2.jubileegroup.co.uk>]

Hi there,

On 2 Apr 2002, simran wrote:

> I have (for weeks) been trying to find a Perl Module (preferablly
> one that works under mod_perl) that does various astronomical
> calculations - in particular i want to be able to work out the
> distance of a planet (in our solar system) on a given date.

If you need only approximate answers then you can assume that the
planets are all in the same plane, and use Kepler's laws (very simple
geometry) to calculate the positions based on a known set of initial
positions at a given date and time.  You could modify your inital
conditions occasionally to maintain reasonable accuracy.

Please contact me privately if you wish to pursue the idea, this is
way Off Topic for this list.

73,
Ged.