Practical Astronomy with your Calculator 3rd Edition

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface to the third edition......Page 11
About this book and how to use it......Page 13
Dedication......Page 16
1 Calendars......Page 17
2 The date of Easter......Page 18
3 Converting the date to the day number......Page 20
4 Julian day numbers......Page 22
5 Converting the Julian day number to the calendar date......Page 24
6 Finding the day of the week......Page 25
7 Converting hours, minutes and seconds to decimal hours......Page 26
8 Converting decimal hours to hours, minutes and seconds......Page 27
9 Converting the local time to UT......Page 28
10 Converting UT to local civil time......Page 31
11 Sidereal time (ST)......Page 32
12 Conversion of UT to GST......Page 33
13 Conversion of GST to UT......Page 34
14 Local sidereal time (LST)......Page 36
15 Converting LST to GST......Page 37
16 Ephemeris time (ET) and terrestrial dynamic time (TDT)......Page 38
Coordinate systems......Page 41
17 Horizon coordinates......Page 42
18 Equatorial coordinates......Page 43
19 Ecliptic coordinates......Page 46
20 Galactic coordinates......Page 48
22 Converting between angles expressed in degrees and angles expressed in hours......Page 49
23 Converting between one coordinate system and another......Page 50
24 Converting between right ascension and hour-angle......Page 51
25 Equatorial to horizon coordinate conversion......Page 52
26 Horizon to equatorial coordinate conversion......Page 54
27 Ecliptic to equatorial coordinate conversion......Page 56
28 Equatorial to ecliptic coordinate conversion......Page 58
29 Equatorial to galactic coordinate conversion......Page 59
30 Galactic to equatorial coordinate conversion......Page 60
31 Generalised coordinate transformations......Page 61
32 The angle between two celestial objects......Page 67
33 Rising and setting......Page 68
34 Precession......Page 72
35 Nutation......Page 76
36 Aberration......Page 78
37 Refraction......Page 80
38 Geocentric parallax and the figure of the Earth......Page 82
39 Calculating corrections for parallax......Page 85
40 Heliographic coordinates......Page 88
41 Carrington rotation numbers......Page 93
42 Selenographic coordinates......Page 94
43 Atmospheric extinction......Page 98
The Sun......Page 99
44 Orbits......Page 100
45 The apparent orbit of the Sun......Page 101
46 Calculating the position of the Sun......Page 102
47 Calculating orbits more precisely......Page 105
48 Calculating the Sun's distance and angular size......Page 108
49 Sunrise and sunset......Page 109
50 Twilight......Page 112
51 The equation of time......Page 114
52 Solar elongations......Page 116
The planets, comets and binary stars......Page 117
53 The planetary orbits......Page 118
54 Calculating the coordinates of a planet......Page 119
55 Finding the approximate positions of the planets......Page 127
56 Perturbations in a planet's orbit......Page 129
57 The distance, light-travel time and angular size of a planet......Page 132
58 The phases of the planets......Page 134
59 The position-angle of the bright limb......Page 135
60 The apparent brightness of a planet......Page 137
61 Comets......Page 139
62 Parabolic orbits......Page 146
63 Binary-star orbits......Page 149
The Moon and eclipses......Page 154
64 The Moon's orbit......Page 155
65 Calculating the Moon's position......Page 158
66 The Moon's hourly motions......Page 162
67 The phases of the Moon......Page 163
68 The position-angle of the Moon's bright limb......Page 165
69 The Moon's distance, angular size and horizontal parallax......Page 166
70 Moonrise and moonset......Page 167
71 Eclipses......Page 170
72 The 'rules' of eclipses......Page 172
73 Calculating a lunar eclipse......Page 173
74 Calculating a solar eclipse......Page 177
75 The Astronomical Calendar......Page 180
Glossary of terms......Page 183
Symbols and abbreviations......Page 191
Index......Page 194