<p>I'm looking for a simple way to calculate positions of satellites in the ecliptic of the date. I've found an implementation for Jupiters satellites in the Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus, and I've found TASS 1.7 for Saturn, GUST86 for Uranus, but the last two are too hard for me to understand. An implementation like <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210528064645/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/txt/aprx_pos_planets.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> I have implemented for planets, but I haven't found similar elements and rates for satellites. Even finding the mean longitude would be appreciated.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T10:40:55.087Z
You could just use Horizons... https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/horizons.html
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T11:15:19.550Z
@pm-2ring Although Horizons is very precise, im looking for something that could be implemented in a few lines of code. Orbital elements are more than enough.
someCO_OLguy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T13:01:00.633Z
What about taking the code from Meeus and applying it to the planets and other bodies in the solar system itself, with the Sun as the central object instead of Jupiter?
planetmaker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T15:35:40.163Z
@planetmaker   Meeus only had a section about the satellites of Jupiter (ch.43/p.285), and about the Moon too, but nothing about Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Right now I have 3 choices: to try to understand TASS 1.7 and GUST86, try to use elements from this [link](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/elem/#refs) from which I will need to convert from Laplace planes, or to find a completely new source. Right now, only the 2nd choice seems plausible.
someCO_OLguy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T16:10:20.387Z
HORIZONS or [MULTI-SAT](http://nsdb.imcce.fr/multisat/nssephme.htm) can output osculating orbital elements.
Mike G
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-05T17:53:08.300Z
@mike-g        I don't need that much accuracy, mean values or linear approximations are fine for this job.
someCO_OLguy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-06T05:04:48.013Z
A quick look showed me that GUST86 has orbital elements relative to Uranus’ equator. I presume it’s the same for TASS 1.7 (with Saturn’s equator, of course). You need to rotate the resulting positions to an Earth-centered and ecliptic frame.
Pierre Paquette
<natural-satellites><positional-astronomy>
Simple position calculation of solar system satellites
someCO_OLguy
# Simple position calculation of solar system satellites

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-05)

I'm looking for a simple way to calculate positions of satellites in the ecliptic of the date. I've found an implementation for Jupiters satellites in the Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus, and I've found TASS 1.7 for Saturn, GUST86 for Uranus, but the last two are too hard for me to understand. An implementation like [this](https://web.archive.org/web/20210528064645/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/txt/aprx_pos_planets.pdf) I have implemented for planets, but I haven't found similar elements and rates for satellites. Even finding the mean longitude would be appreciated.

**Tags:** natural-satellites, positional-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You could just use Horizons... https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/horizons.html  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Although Horizons is very precise, im looking for something that could be implemented in a few lines of code. Orbital elements are more than enough.  
> **username_2**: What about taking the code from Meeus and applying it to the planets and other bodies in the solar system itself, with the Sun as the central object instead of Jupiter?  
> **username_0**: @username_2   Meeus only had a section about the satellites of Jupiter (ch.43/p.285), and about the Moon too, but nothing about Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Right now I have 3 choices: to try to understand TASS 1.7 and GUST86, try to use elements from this [link](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/elem/#refs) from which I will need to convert from Laplace planes, or to find a completely new source. Right now, only the 2nd choice seems plausible.  
> **username_3**: HORIZONS or [MULTI-SAT](http://nsdb.imcce.fr/multisat/nssephme.htm) can output osculating orbital elements.  
> **username_0**: @username_3        I don't need that much accuracy, mean values or linear approximations are fine for this job.  
> **username_4**: A quick look showed me that GUST86 has orbital elements relative to Uranus’ equator. I presume it’s the same for TASS 1.7 (with Saturn’s equator, of course). You need to rotate the resulting positions to an Earth-centered and ecliptic frame.  

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## 0 answers

