Chapter 1 - Spherical Astronomy

This chapter shows how you can use Mathcad to carry out a variety of calculations in spherical astronomy. The topics covered are the standard ones of this subject: coordinate transformations, coordinate reductions (corrections for proper motion, precession, nutation, aberration, parallax, the Earth's figure and refraction) and time. The principles of astrometry as applied to astronomical photography and more modern imaging techniques are also covered. Each topic contains a fully worked numerical example with intermediate results shown. By changing the input parameters (star position, your location, a new time or date, etc.), you can solve your own spherical astronomy problem.

Topics

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