<p>PyEphem will get you Alt, Az from RA, Dec, Lat, Lng, Date, Time, and Elevation 
<a href="http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/" rel="nofollow">http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-14T00:29:47.023Z
2014-06-14T00:29:47.023Z
Aaron
<p>I'm parsing FITS files for a project based on data from a telescope. These files include 'DEC', 'RA' and lat long values. I understand roughly the concept of celestial coordinates and I assume that these values are sufficient to calculate the direction that the telescope is facing and the angle that it's at but my trigonometry is not up to the task.</p>

<p>I am using astropy for the project so any answers which reference that would be great.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-21T10:34:42.630Z
What do you need to calculate? DEC and RA are the celestial coordinates, so they are "where" the telescope is pointing at.
Envite
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-21T19:32:06.453Z
In order to determine the position of the telescope relative to the earth from RA and declination, you need to know the latitude and longitude of the telescope and the date and time. 
 *** 
A new question by a different user, @ruadath, has appeared here http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2507/calculation-of-horizontal-coordinates . You might want to track that question.
outis nihil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-23T05:16:00.523Z
Especially, if it is a space telescope, it is a mess :) you need much more than two coordinates.
Py-ser
<telescope><coordinate>
Calculate telescope orientation based on RA, DEC and Lat/Long
neutrino
# Calculate telescope orientation based on RA, DEC and Lat/Long

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-21)

I'm parsing FITS files for a project based on data from a telescope. These files include 'DEC', 'RA' and lat long values. I understand roughly the concept of celestial coordinates and I assume that these values are sufficient to calculate the direction that the telescope is facing and the angle that it's at but my trigonometry is not up to the task.

I am using astropy for the project so any answers which reference that would be great.

**Tags:** telescope, coordinate

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you need to calculate? DEC and RA are the celestial coordinates, so they are "where" the telescope is pointing at.  
> **username_2**: In order to determine the position of the telescope relative to the earth from RA and declination, you need to know the latitude and longitude of the telescope and the date and time.   ***  A new question by a different user, @ruadath, has appeared here http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/2507/calculation-of-horizontal-coordinates . You might want to track that question.  
> **username_3**: Especially, if it is a space telescope, it is a mess :) you need much more than two coordinates.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-06-14. Score: 1

PyEphem will get you Alt, Az from RA, Dec, Lat, Lng, Date, Time, and Elevation
<http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/>


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