The C# version of the altitude searches now work correctly
near the Earth's poles. This is a port of the C version.
Cleaned up a little code in the C version.
This is a whole new algorithm that efficiently finds
all rise/set events, even near the poles.
It uses a recursive bisection search that limits
recursion depth by knowing the maximum possible
|da/dt| = change in altitude with respect to time.
This is my second attempt to release eclipse obscuration.
I discovered there was a missing unit test for obscuration
for lunar eclipses in the Kotlin library. It has been added.
I ported the NOVAS C 3.1 functions julian_date and cal_date to Python,
and removed the dependence on the standard datetime class for calculating UT.
Now we can create Time objects for a much wider range of year values.
Simplified the julian_date formula in C and C#.
In the Python version, I had to account for a difference
in the way integer division works for negative numbers.
In Python, integer division always rounds down, not toward
zero like it does in C/C#. So I reworked the formulas to
avoid dividing a negative integer (month-14), dividing the
positive quantity (14-month) instead and toggling addition
of the term with subtraction of the term.
I use the reworked (14-month) version in C and C# for consistency.
Also, the formatting of the formula was wacky and didn't make sense,
so now it easier to read and understand.
The Python regex for parsing dates has been expanded to allow
years before 0 and after 9999.
Allow converting Python Time to string for years before 0 and after 9999.
The .NET type System.DateTime is limited to the years 0000..9999.
The Astronomy Engine type AstroTime was using System.DateTime to
convert a (year, month, day, hour, minute, second) tuple into a
fractional day value. This caused an exception for years outside
the supported range 0000..9999.
I ported the NOVAS C 3.1 functions julian_date and cal_date to C#,
and removed the dependence on System.DateTime.
Now we can create AstroTime for a much wider range of year values.
Allow converting AstroTime to string for years before 0 and after 9999.
The following Python functions now support searching
in forward or reverse chronological order:
SearchRiseSet
SearchAltitude
SearchHourAngle
Made some minor performance improvements to the
other implementations: return sooner if we
go past time window.
The following C# functions now support searching
in forward or reverse chronological order:
Astronomy.SearchRiseSet
Astronomy.SearchAltitude
Astronomy.SearchHourAngle
Also fixed places where I forgot to update documentation
for the corresponding changes to the C code.
Enhanced the C# function Astronomy.SearchMoonPhase
to allow searching forward in time when the `limitDays`
argument is positive, or backward in time when `limitDays`
is negative.
Added unit test "moon_reverse" to verify this new feature.
It turns out that "sed" does not work on Mac OS,
and I wasn't even trying to patch the version
numbers on Windows. I decided to write a Python
program for this task, so it will work identically
on all 3 operating systems.
Provide shield.io badges for pypi, npm, and nuget packages.
On the main README page, moved the badges into the supported
languages grid.
Added link and badge on each language documentation page.
Now that I have retargeted astronomy.csproj from
net5.0 to netstandard2.0, there are a couple of
other little improvements that are now possible:
1. In my manual Framework 4 test project, instead
of directly pulling in the source file astronomy.cs,
add astronomy.csproj as a project reference.
This demonstrates that the same binary astronomy.dll
works in both Framework and Core.
2. Now there is no need/use for conditional compilation
directives in the Astronomy.CubeRoot function.
Instead, always use my own implementation since the
Math.Cbrt function is never available.
From a testing standpoint, this was probably
the better option all along.
https://www.nuget.org/packages/CosineKitty.AstronomyEngine/2.1.2
This is my first attempt at publishing a NuGet package.
I have never done this before, so I'm not sure it is going to work.
Changed astronomy.csproj to target netstandard2.0, which still
works fine with all my net6.0 unit tests.
The csdown utility was not generating the correct ID
string that matched the C# compiler's XML output file
when a parameter was of a generic type.
Because the GravitySimulator constructor has a bodyStates
parameter of type IEnumerable<StateVector>, we were not
generating the correct method ID string:
CosineKitty.GravitySimulator.#ctor(CosineKitty.Body,CosineKitty.AstroTime,System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable{CosineKitty.StateVector})
This caused the constructor to not show up in the markdown docs.
I fixed this and now the constructor is documented.
Corrected a mistake in the explanation of the
C function Astronomy_GravSimInit: the `bodyStates`
parameter is NOT barycentric -- it is relative to the
originBody parameter.
Python had improperly formatted documentation for
Time.FromTerrestrialTime parameter `tt`.
The Python markdown generator `pydown` did not
correctly handle links to compound symbols like
`#GravitySimulator.Update`. It also was trying
to link to `StateVector[]` instead of `StateVector`.
Removed unnecessary and unhelpful documentation
for C# internal class constructors. They do not appear
in the generated markdown documentation anyway.
Other minor wording revisions in the documentation.
The C# markdown generator (csdown) was not generating
documentation about constructors. This was especially
needed for the new GravitySimulator class.
Also added markdown for properties like
GravitySimulator.NumSmallBodies
GravitySimulator.Time
Made several constructors internal so they don't
need to be listed in the markdown docs.
C# builds for .NET Framework 4 were broken because
the Math.Cbrt function does not exist there.
.NET Core provides a standard cube root function,
but Framework doesn't. Added conditional compilation
to fall back to a less efficient substitute function
on Framework builds.
Finished coding the Python version of the gravity simulator.
No unit tests have been written yet.
Cleaned up documentation in the other languages.
Made some functions static that did not need to be members.
Starting the C# version of class GravitySimulator.
There are no unit tests for it yet.
Added a fix to the C# markdown generator `csdown`
to show `void` as a function return type.
This is the first time I have had any function
in the C# version of Astronomy Engine that has
a void return type!
Fixed and improved documentation in the Kotlin version
of the gravity simulator. Fixed some comments too.
Added the following iterator functions that wrap
search/next pairs of functions:
GlobalSolarEclipsesAfter
LocalSolarEclipsesAfter
LunarApsidesAfter
LunarEclipsesAfter
MoonNodesAfter
MoonQuartersAfter
PlanetApsidesAfter
TransitsAfter
I updated the following C# demos:
moonphase.cs ==> MoonQuartersAfter
lunar_eclipse.cs ==> LunarEclipsesAfter
Fixed an issue in the C# Markdown generator
so that it can now handle generic types like
`IEnumerable<MoonQuarterInfo>`.
It makes more sense to report Jupiter's moons with
individually named structure fields rather than an array.
It reduces the overall code and documentation size,
and outside of unit testing, there are few cases
where iterating over an array of moons is more
lucid than using the names of the moons.
This is a breaking change, but hopefully very few
developers are using this function yet.
Fixing the breakage is very simple.
The existing lunar libration functions in the
other languages (C, C#, Python, JavaScript) were
calculating the Moon's ecliptic latitude and longitude
in radians, not degrees as intended. They have been fixed.
Implemented the libration function for Kotlin.
Implemented the `illumination` function, which calculates
visual magnitude, illuminated phase angle/fraction, and
ring tilt for Saturn.
Implemented `searchPeakMagnitude` for finding when
Venus appears brightest in the sky.
Implemented searchRelativeLongitude, which finds
planetary conjunctions and oppositions.
Discovered I can make all languages' unit tests
more strict: 6.8 minute error tolerance instead of 15.
Fixed documentation mistake in C# function SearchRelativeLongitude:
the function cannot return null. It either finds a solution time
or throws an exception.
Simplified Kotlin unit tests: use a more compact pattern of
scanning space-delimited tokens in lines.
For years before 1582 or years after 3668, the Seasons functions
were unable to find many equinoxes and/or solstices.
The problem was that over time, the Earth's axis precesses
enough that the calendar dates of these events drifts outside
the fixed search ranges I had provided for them.
I expanded the search ranges so all season changes can be found
for a much wider range of years, as verified by unit tests:
C/C++: -2000..9999
C#: 1..9999
JavaScript: -2000..9999
Python: 1..9999
Kotlin: 1..9999
Note: C#, Python, and Kotlin currently do not allow
years values below +1. In fact, I discovered we were not
noticing when an invalid year was passed into the Kotlin code.
I updated that code to throw an exception when the year does
not match what was expected. It is disturbing that the
GregorianCalendar class silently ignores invalid years!
Constricted the search tolerance from 1 second to 0.01
seconds for the seasons search, to ensure more consistent
behavior.
Fixed a bug in the Kotlin search() function's
quadratic interpolation that was causing the convergence
to be slower than it should have been.
Implemented the following Kotlin functions:
Astronomy.searchHourAngle
Astronomy.searchRiseSet
The Kotlin code can now search for rise/set
times for a given Earthbound observer for the
Sun, Moon, or any planet.
It can also search for times when a given body
reaches a desired hour angle. This has its own
value (for example, culmination), but is also
used to assist finding time brackets that bound
rise/set events.
Added special case exception type:
EarthNotAllowedException.
This follows the pattern of the other languages,
and makes diagnosing a violation easier than
the more generic InvalidBodyException.
Minor simplifications to the C# function
Astronomy.InternalSearchAltitude.
Improved the comments for the C# unit test
function RiseSetTest. They make the algorithm
easier to understand.
