<p>The short answer is &quot;no&quot;.  The IAU has formalized standards for positional astronomy far beyond what's in this book.  The only definitive book I'm aware of on the new processes is &quot;The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac&quot;.  Spherical Trigonometry really isn't used in the new processes, so this book is only useful from a historical perspective, or if you just want to compute the position of something and aren't too particular that it matches modern software to the microarcsecond level.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-25T17:08:54.123Z
2021-11-25T17:08:54.123Z
Greg Miller
<p>I'm a math undergrad, but I'm really interested in learning positional astronomy; However, the only well-referenced textbook I've come up with is <em>Spherical Astronomy</em> by W. M. Smart. </p>

<p>I would like to understand how suitable it is today. I have the 6th edition which seems to be the latest, but which was issued <em>back in 1977</em>. I know that a relatively old math text book, for example Apostol's Calculus (published in the 60's, if I'm not wrong), won't present too much trouble, but I'm a newcomer to astronomy, so I don't know if a book printed in 1977 is "up to date".</p>

<p>Given the case that there are better or more up-to-date books, are there other recommended texts for me to read as well or is this one a good choice?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T18:08:51.417Z
Ok, math hasn't changed, but I'm more worried about the position of the celestial bodies; I mean, according to what I've read, there are astronomical tables for each decade, given that the position of astronomical objects change, so I don't want to make a calculation I learnt from the book, and end up with one that is correct, but was only valid in the 70's. 
Or does the book teach how to do that no matter the year, and I only would have to use modern astronomical tables?
Daniel Bonilla Jaramillo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T18:10:35.677Z
@DrChuck I'll try to find a copy locally. Some chapters are viewable here: https://books.google.com/books/about/Spherical_Astronomy.html?id=wOpaUFQFwTwC&redir_esc=y
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T18:30:50.623Z
If you want to make positional calculations, you would implement the algorithms that you learn from the book, but not use any positional information from them.  You would get your positional information out of a [star catalog](http://ad.usno.navy.mil/star/) (if you are doing stars), or get the [latest ephemerides](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?ephemerides) from JPL.
Dave
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T19:20:51.910Z
Great, thank you. 
Yes, uhoh and Dr Chuck, the book is listed on amazon, but it seems to be impossible to find in google.
Daniel Bonilla Jaramillo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-09T01:51:06.637Z
This has been flagged for closure as POB, but I think it's more an issue that questions about academic resources are *off-topic* here. However, **it would be appropriate for migration to Meta**.
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T05:58:49.740Z
Do you mean [*Spherical Astronomy* by W.M. Smart](https://archive.org/details/SphericalAstronomy) (from [this comment](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/25306/measuring-misalignment-between-two-positions-on-sky#comment43332_25306)) or are you talking about a different book? Or perhaps *Positional Astronomy* by D. McNally?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T06:02:46.160Z
Exactly, but that seems to be the fourth edition, I have the sixth one. That's the only detail.
Daniel Bonilla Jaramillo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T09:57:45.960Z
Spherical trig has not changed since 1977.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T11:15:36.173Z
There is another book called Spherical Astronomy, by Robin M Green.   Green updated Smart's book (the 6th edition, 1977) and then wrote his own text.  I haven't read it, but it appears more modern in style, although as noted above the subject hasn't changed 1977, albeit the ready availability of computational power has made life easier.
Dr Chuck
<positional-astronomy><resource-request>
Is Spherical Astronomy by W. M. Smart a good book on positional/spherical astronomy?
Daniel Bonilla Jaramillo
# Is Spherical Astronomy by W. M. Smart a good book on positional/spherical astronomy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-08)

I'm a math undergrad, but I'm really interested in learning positional astronomy; However, the only well-referenced textbook I've come up with is *Spherical Astronomy* by W. M. Smart.

I would like to understand how suitable it is today. I have the 6th edition which seems to be the latest, but which was issued *back in 1977*. I know that a relatively old math text book, for example Apostol's Calculus (published in the 60's, if I'm not wrong), won't present too much trouble, but I'm a newcomer to astronomy, so I don't know if a book printed in 1977 is "up to date".

Given the case that there are better or more up-to-date books, are there other recommended texts for me to read as well or is this one a good choice?

**Tags:** positional-astronomy, resource-request

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you mean [*Spherical Astronomy* by W.M. Smart](https://archive.org/details/SphericalAstronomy) (from [this comment](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/25306/measuring-misalignment-between-two-positions-on-sky#comment43332_25306)) or are you talking about a different book? Or perhaps *Positional Astronomy* by D. McNally?  
> **username_0**: Exactly, but that seems to be the fourth edition, I have the sixth one. That's the only detail.  
> **username_4**: Spherical trig has not changed since 1977.  
> **username_5**: There is another book called Spherical Astronomy, by Robin M Green.   Green updated Smart's book (the 6th edition, 1977) and then wrote his own text.  I haven't read it, but it appears more modern in style, although as noted above the subject hasn't changed 1977, albeit the ready availability of computational power has made life easier.  
> **username_0**: Ok, math hasn't changed, but I'm more worried about the position of the celestial bodies; I mean, according to what I've read, there are astronomical tables for each decade, given that the position of astronomical objects change, so I don't want to make a calculation I learnt from the book, and end up with one that is correct, but was only valid in the 70's.  Or does the book teach how to do that no matter the year, and I only would have to use modern astronomical tables?  
> **username_1**: @username_5 I'll try to find a copy locally. Some chapters are viewable here: https://books.google.com/books/about/Spherical_Astronomy.html?id=wOpaUFQFwTwC&redir_esc=y  
> **username_2**: If you want to make positional calculations, you would implement the algorithms that you learn from the book, but not use any positional information from them.  You would get your positional information out of a [star catalog](http://ad.usno.navy.mil/star/) (if you are doing stars), or get the [latest ephemerides](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?ephemerides) from JPL.  
> **username_0**: Great, thank you.  Yes, username_1 and Dr username_5, the book is listed on amazon, but it seems to be impossible to find in google.  
> **username_3**: This has been flagged for closure as POB, but I think it's more an issue that questions about academic resources are *off-topic* here. However, **it would be appropriate for migration to Meta**.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2021-11-25. Score: 1

The short answer is "no". The IAU has formalized standards for positional astronomy far beyond what's in this book. The only definitive book I'm aware of on the new processes is "The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac". Spherical Trigonometry really isn't used in the new processes, so this book is only useful from a historical perspective, or if you just want to compute the position of something and aren't too particular that it matches modern software to the microarcsecond level.


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