Planets

Everything you want to know about the positions of the planets, presented in pictorial and tabular form. This includes pictures of the positions in the Zodiac, what you see from your window and when a planet is visible to you. It includes a compass for true North, with a magnetic compass if your device supports that. Measure elevation and azimuth of a planet or star and see where it is in the Zodiac (if your device supports the required sensors).

Phenomena such as conjunctions of planets, blue Moons etc..

Tabular displays show where the planets are, their rise and setting times etc.. This program replaces much of the need for an ephemeris, with accurate calculations.

Most of the program's utilities are available even if the magnetic field or accelerometer sensors are not available on your device.Planets - Detailed information about all the planets

This provides the following features:

- Linear picture of the Zodiac and the positions of the planets in it

- Circular picture of the Zodiac and planets

- What planets are visible from your window

- A pictorial representation of the visibility of a planet for the next year

- The path of a planet relative to the Earth e.g. the famous pentagram for Venus

- Your analemna: the figure-of-eight loop made by the Sun for the next year

- Compass: shows a compass with the direction of the Sun or Moon so that true North can be determined

- A magnetic compass is included if your device has a magnetometer sensor,in which case you can determine and store the local magnetic deviation

- Measure the altitude of an object, assuming your device has an accelerometer

- Measure the azimuth of an object assuming your device has an accelerometer: this includes a spirit-level for greater accuracy

- Calculate the Right Ascension and Declination of the object measured above and show its position in the Zodiac

- Geocentric aspects: find the next conjunction, opposition or other aspect for two planets

- Heliocentric aspects (as for geocentric ones)

- List all conjunctions for the next year

- Find the next full and new Moon

- List the phases of the Moon for the next month

- Find the next blue Moon

- List the start and end of all retrograde motions for the next year

- List the dates of the greatest elongations of Venus and Mercury

- Summarise in tabular form the visibility dates of the planets for the next year

- Find the next date of the greatest brightness of Venus

- Show a table of the altitude and azimuth of all the planets for your location at a specified time of day

- Show a table of the Right Ascensions and Declinations of all the planets (including our Moon)

- Show a table of the geocentric latitude and longitude of all the planets

- Show a table of the heliocentric latitude and longitude of all the planets

- Show a table of the rise, transit and set times of all the planets

- Show a table of the nodes and apsides of the planets

- Show a table of the geocentric and heliocentric aspects of all the planets

- Summarise the information on the current positions of one planet, its elongation, and its rise, transit and set times

- Display the orbital elements of a planet and the Julian date, the obliquity of the Ecliptic, the Greenwich hour angle of Aries at midnight and the planet's velocity in its orbit

- Load osculating elements for the current date, which gives more accurate but slower calculations. These are provided at 40-day intervals between 1800 and 2200AD. The author can be contacted for more.

- Glossary of astronomical terms

- Set your location which may be chosen from 169 capital cities, or may be entered explicitly and saved

- Set your local time