input

Apparent geocentric position of the Moon

Input Output
Date and time Geocentric apparent coordinates d m s
Year 2015 Longitude 86.575 86 34 28.8 degrees 64 2.12111921 3
Month 7 Latitude -4.994 -4 -59 -37.2degrees 424 14.1211192 3
Day 14 Right ascension 5.760 5 45 36.9 hours
Hour (TDT) 0 Declination 18.398 18 23 53.3 degrees
Minute 0 Distance 0.0025775 au
Parallax 0.9478 0 56 52.1 degrees
Semi-diameter 0.2583 0 15 29.8 degrees

Time
JD 2457218
Days to J2000 5672.5
Julian centuries from J2000 0.155305

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Geocentric longitude and latitude of moon (mean equinox and ecliptic) series

Date and time Results Periodic Terms (longitude and radius vector) Periodic Terms (latitude)

Year 2015 lamda (degs) 86.574042 line D M M' F L coeff R coeff L eccen R eccen L term R term line D M M' F B coeff B eccen
Month 7 beta (degs) -4.990958 1 0 0 1 0 6288774 -20905355 6288774 -20905355 6274479.6349 -1408721.2246 1 0 0 0 1 5128122 5128122
Day 14 distance (km) 385584.5 2 2 0 -1 0 1274027 -3699111 1274027 -3699111 -705274.85991 3080606.8007 2 0 0 1 1 280602 280602
Hour (UT) 0 pi (degs) 0.947800 3 2 0 0 0 658314 -2955968 658314 -2955968 -571552.74881 -1466758.3536 3 0 0 1 -1 277693 277693
Minute 0 4 0 0 2 0 213618 -569925 213618 -569925 28724.142843 564749.13756 4 2 0 0 -1 173237 173237
JD 2457217.5 5 0 1 0 0 -185116 48888 -185043.63356 48868.888467 26861.442486 -48351.258974 5 2 0 -1 1 55413 55413
Days to J2000.0 5672.5 6 0 0 0 2 -114332 -3149 -114332 -3149 -50974.484391 2818.7001234 6 2 0 -1 -1 46271 46271
T 0.1553045859 7 2 0 -2 0 58793 246158 58793 246158 46658.141393 -149772.24374 7 2 0 0 1 32573 32573
Arguments 8 2 -1 -1 0 57066 -152138 57043.691484 -152078.52548 24347.64793 -137529.85023 8 0 0 2 1 17198 17198
9 2 0 1 0 53322 -170733 53322 -170733 23278.775669 -153603.42338 9 2 0 1 -1 9266 9266
Symbol Degrees Radians 10 2 -1 0 0 45758 -204586 45740.112062 -204506.02225 42585.908675 74627.356264 10 0 0 2 -1 8822 8822
L' 81.425446 1.421142 11 0 1 -1 0 -40923 -129620 -40907.002183 -129569.32832 -39981.562317 27404.521273 11 2 -1 0 -1 8216 8212.7881617
D 329.874534 5.757397 12 1 0 0 0 -34720 108743 -34720 108743 17425.801993 94054.912291 12 2 0 -2 -1 4324 4324
M 188.346704 3.287270 13 0 1 1 0 -30383 104755 -30371.122531 104714.04867 30278.209914 8184.5436007 13 2 0 1 1 4200 4200
M' 86.136158 1.503360 14 2 0 0 -2 15327 10321 15327 10321 8520.4385039 -8579.2510342 14 2 1 0 -1 -3359 -3357.6868835
F 256.761255 4.481329 15 0 0 1 2 -12528 0 -12528 0 10812.05708 0 15 2 -1 -1 1 2463 2462.0371522
A1 140.226754 2.447419 16 0 0 1 -2 10980 79661 10980 79661 -10135.842848 30630.866081 16 2 -1 0 1 2211 2210.1356652
A2 325.032095 5.672880 17 4 0 -1 0 10675 -34782 10675 -34782 4786.1614566 31090.130744 17 2 -1 -1 -1 2065 2064.1927402
A3 176.342005 3.077749 18 0 0 3 0 10034 -23210 10034 -23210 -9829.3563421 4663.6559693 18 0 1 -1 -1 -1870 -1869.2689706
19 4 0 -2 0 8548 -21636 8548 -21636 7881.5781633 -8375.2981308 19 4 0 -1 -1 1828 1828
E 0.9996090752 20 2 1 -1 0 -7888 24208 -7884.916385 24198.536492 -5271.9072635 17994.426027 20 0 1 0 1 -1794 -1793.2986809
E^2 0.9992183032 21 2 1 0 0 -6766 30824 -6763.3550027 30811.950133 -5322.6288873 -19010.289137 21 0 0 0 3 -1749 -1749
22 1 0 -1 0 -5163 -8379 -5163 -8379 4630.0905925 3707.4614579 22 0 1 -1 1 -1565 -1564.3882027
Totals and additive terms - longitude and radius vector 23 1 1 0 0 4987 -16675 4985.0504579 -16668.481329 1849.5716218 15478.742085 23 1 0 0 1 -1491 -1491
24 2 -1 1 0 4036 -12831 4034.4222274 -12825.984044 -1215.7608348 12229.762528 24 0 1 1 1 -1475 -1474.4233859
Totals 5146406.157 583981.63632455 25 2 0 2 0 3994 -10445 3994 -10445 3702.6136597 3916.3799802 25 0 1 1 -1 -1410 -1409.448796
Additional A1 2532.133978 26 4 0 0 0 3861 -11650 3861 -11650 -3326.6864252 5913.1485406 26 0 1 0 -1 -1344 -1343.474597
Terms L'-F -159.541212 27 2 0 -3 0 3665 14403 3665 14403 2420.8562798 10813.719588 27 1 0 0 -1 -1335 -1335
A2 -182.25136 28 0 1 -2 0 -2689 -7003 -2687.9488032 -7000.2623535 -744.25308658 -6726.5732515 28 0 0 3 1 1107 1107
Final total 5148596.499 583981.63632455 29 2 0 -1 2 -2602 0 -2602 0 -323.20722298 0 29 4 0 0 -1 1021 1021
30 2 -1 -2 0 2390 10056 2389.0656897 10052.06886 -2086.8896094 4893.2823476 30 4 0 -1 1 833 833
Totals and additive terms - latitude 31 1 0 1 0 -2348 6322 -2348 6322 -1946.8251998 3534.2394294 31 0 0 1 -3 777 777
32 2 -2 0 0 2236 -9884 2234.2521259 -9876.2737086 -2176.4991095 -2231.0256113 32 4 0 -2 1 671 671
Total -4988735 33 0 1 2 0 -2120 5751 -2119.1712394 5748.7517913 -22.894930966 5748.4162834 33 2 0 0 -3 607 607
Additional L' -2210.01872 34 0 2 0 0 -2069 0 -2067.3826693 0 -593.85631072 0 34 2 0 2 -1 596 596
Terms A3 24.37186359 35 2 -2 -1 0 2048 -4950 2046.3990849 -4946.1306007 -595.55914573 4732.0352533 35 2 -1 1 -1 491 490.80805591
A1-F -156.566466 36 2 0 1 -2 -1773 4130 -1773 4130 1404.0252717 -2522.028335 36 2 0 -2 1 -451 -451
A1+F 105.288379 37 2 0 0 2 -1595 0 -1595 0 -1592.4005459 0 37 0 0 3 -1 439 439
L'-M' -10.4298543 38 4 -1 -1 0 1215 -3958 1214.5250263 -3956.4527196 -696.35769353 -3241.5411823 38 2 0 2 1 422 422
L'+M' 24.76982521 39 0 0 2 2 -1110 0 -1110 0 623.99544117 0 39 2 0 -3 -1 421 421
Final total -4990957.62 40 3 0 -1 0 -892 3258 -892 3258 54.26018246 -3251.9666824 40 2 1 -1 1 -366 -365.85692151
41 2 1 1 0 -810 2616 -809.68335089 2614.9773407 455.48267426 -2161.9775227 41 2 1 0 1 -351 -350.86278539
42 4 -1 -2 0 759 -1897 758.70328806 -1896.2584156 -649.50976669 980.07243339 42 4 0 0 1 331 331
43 0 2 -1 0 -713 -2117 -712.44265017 -2115.3451478 667.07558253 -742.78889982 43 2 -1 1 1 315 314.87685868
44 2 2 -1 0 -700 2354 -699.45281222 2352.1598857 538.20794164 -1502.2844861 44 2 -2 0 -1 302 301.76392756
45 2 1 -2 0 691 0 690.72987095 0 -481.3499997 0 45 0 0 1 3 -283 -283
46 2 -1 0 -2 596 0 595.76700881 0 -399.57347063 0 46 2 1 1 -1 -229 -228.91047822
47 4 0 1 0 549 -1423 549 -1423 -309.89569978 -1174.6174902 47 1 1 0 -1 223 222.91282376
48 0 0 4 0 537 -1117 537 -1117 -143.10387141 -1076.6074162 48 1 1 0 1 223 222.91282376
49 4 -1 0 0 520 -1571 519.79671909 -1570.3858571 404.82107948 -985.04684223 49 0 1 -2 -1 -220 -219.91399654
50 1 0 -2 0 -487 -1739 -487 -1739 -185.56384245 1607.8112057 50 2 1 -1 -1 -220 -219.91399654
51 2 1 0 -2 -399 0 -398.844021 0 171.24633724 0 51 1 0 1 1 -185 -185
52 0 0 2 -2 -381 -4421 -381 -4421 -122.46720888 -4186.3829371 52 2 -1 -2 -1 181 180.92924261
53 1 1 1 0 351 0 350.86278539 0 -316.30665472 0 53 0 1 2 1 -177 -176.93080631
54 3 0 -2 0 -340 0 -340 0 -337.20530493 0 54 4 0 -2 -1 176 176
55 4 0 -3 0 330 0 330 0 -106.94907887 0 55 4 -1 -1 -1 166 165.93510648
56 2 -1 2 0 327 0 326.87216758 0 -317.60654718 0 56 1 0 1 -1 -164 -164
57 0 2 1 0 -323 1165 -322.74751193 1164.0893232 -314.69008886 -258.48796388 57 4 0 1 -1 132 132
58 1 1 -1 0 299 0 298.88311348 0 284.39156653 0 58 1 0 -1 -1 -119 -119
59 2 0 3 0 294 0 294 0 -91.619474826 0 59 4 -1 0 -1 115 114.95504365
60 2 0 -1 -2 0 8752 0 8752 0 4364.0359732 60 2 -2 0 1 107 106.91635844

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 series

B term
-4991838.3866
-82520.411426
-45234.466637
118120.39709
51946.310933
-31644.257157
-9256.8588159
16059.324619
7188.4005354
-8781.221872
-4668.429548
-3346.8256841
-4098.1057836
2621.7051712
-2407.990112
313.8402313
1615.3430358
803.24748735
-1778.2396466
-1786.7659665
-1345.3632253
28.07215092
1083.9625352
-224.44390501
-429.02534419
1249.2566565
-1277.4360414
464.86431065
-302.99221421
639.26518628
455.08818082
-394.52635007
-568.43117882
-344.06456626
-421.68411843
-185.14812908
12.619241099
64.433656903
244.00110687
320.84598059
-147.48706399
228.85162818
313.99061407
133.67648497
-195.09105294
154.7360396
-220.44125241
182.56041934
-191.75556636
-125.5130758
135.80155141
121.92823032
172.65644191
29.155730303
154.12642445
-58.105238626
123.12749161
26.815474538
49.688209682
0.3416423176

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 nutation

Low precision nutation corrections

JD 2457217.5 note low precision formulas are good to

Days to J2000 5672.5 about 0.5 arcsec in delta phi and 0.1
T 0.1553045859 arcsec in delta e, so the error in lunar
mean lambda 86.5740 position from the truncation of the series
mean beta -4.9910 is still the most important error term

quantity degs radians

ecliptic of date 23.4373 0.409058
long asc lunar node (omega) 184.6643 3.223
mean long sun (L) 111.5511 1.946935
mean long moon (L') 81.4255 1.421143
arcsec degs
delta phi 2.27 0.00063
delta e -9.77 -0.002714

degs radians
true lambda 86.5747 1.511013
true beta -4.9937 -0.087156
true ecliptic 23.4346 0.40901

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 equatorial

Conversion to geocentric equatorial coordinates

radians sin cos tan

JD 2457217.5
Days to J2000 5672.5
T 0.1553045859
true lambda 86.5747 1.511013 0.998214 0.059748 16.707161
true beta -4.9937 -0.087156 -0.087046 0.996204 -0.087377
distance 385584.5416

degrees hours radians sin cos tan

true ecliptic of date 23.43455759321 0.409010 0.397701 0.917515 0.433455
nutation in longitude 0.000629677976

geocentric equatorial
degrees hours radians a b tan
alpha 86.40364214201 5.760242809 1.5080280411 0.950626 0.059748 15.9106842
delta 18.39814281257 0.3211081683 0.315618 0.948886 0.33261972

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 notes

moon position spreadsheet

,Tushar kumar Bhowmik
tushartex62@gmai.com

This spreadsheet produces the apparent geocentric coordinates of the moon for a given date
and dynamic time, and was produced to demonstrate the modern series methods used to find
;planet positions. The lunar series used is taken from

Astronomical Algorithms
Jean Meeus
Willmann-Bell
corrected re-printing ,1991
ISBN 0-943396-35-2

Meeus claims 10" in the geocentric ecliptic longitude of the moon, and 4" in the latitude. The
simple one line formula used to find the number of days from J2000 is only good for years
.from 1901 to 2099

This spreadsheet gives results consistent with Meeus' worked example in Chapter 45, bearing
in mind that an approximate nutation theory (see Meeus Chapter 21, formulae on page 132)
.has been used

Results for the RA and DEC have been checked with the Interactive Computer Ephemeris
and with Dr Ahmed Monsur's Mooncalc 4.0, and are within the expected limits. Below are
;some values from the ICE to check the spreadsheet with
Apparent Places of MOON
Date Time RA Dec Dist
Julian Date Year Mon Da h m s h m s ° ' " AU
Jan 1 0 00 00 4 30 05.063 + 17 10 03.67 .0024723 1904 2416480.50000
Jan 1 0 00 00 19 33 28.093 - 26 32 07.84 .0027169 1930 2425977.50000
Feb 13 0 00 00 17 12 03.334 - 19 25 55.90 .0025736 1958 2436247.50000
Feb 13 0 00 00 17 12 03.334 - 19 25 55.90 .0025736 1958 2436247.50000
Aug 8 19 34 00 21 50 31.006 - 12 29 25.14 .0024763 1998 2451034.31528
Apr 3 14 00 00 5 36 40.644 + 28 35 59.09 .0024906 2025 2460769.08333

Times must be in UT (strictly TDT), and I am seeing up to 10" error on the declination. There
are 'notes' embedded in various cells of the spreadsheet to explain aspects of the
.implementation

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