/python-jplephem

Python version of NASA DE4xx ephemerides, the basis for the Astronomical Alamanac

Primary LanguagePythonMIT LicenseMIT

Welcome to the repository for the jplephem Python library!

The package is a Python implementation of the math that standard JPL ephemerides use to predict raw (x,y,z) planetary positions. It is one of the foundations of the Skyfield astronomy library for Python:

http://rhodesmill.org/skyfield/

But you can also use jplephem standalone to generate raw vectors. If that is your use case, then simply head over to its documentation and download link on the Python Package Index:

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/jplephem

If you want to install it with conda, there is a recipe at:

https://github.com/conda-forge/jplephem-feedstock

This repository is where jplephem is maintained. You will find its source code beneath the jplephem directory that sits alongside the setup.py file. You can run its tests with:

wget https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/spk/planets/a_old_versions/de405.bsp
wget https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/spk/planets/a_old_versions/de421.bsp
pip install de421
python -m unittest discover jplephem

Enjoy!