Institut für Astronomie und AstrophysikAbteilung AstronomieSand 1, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany |
PRECESS
Precess coordinates from EQUINOX1 to EQUINOX2.
For interactive display, one can use the procedure ASTRO which calls PRECESS or use the /PRINT keyword. The default (RA,DEC) system is FK5 based on epoch J2000.0 but FK4 based on B1950.0 is available via the /FK4 keyword. Use BPRECESS and JPRECESS to convert between FK4 and FK5 systems
PRECESS, ra, dec, [ equinox1, equinox2, /PRINT, /FK4, /RADIAN ]
RA - Input right ascension (scalar or vector) in DEGREES, unless the /RADIAN keyword is set DEC - Input declination in DEGREES (scalar or vector), unless the /RADIAN keyword is set The input RA and DEC are modified by PRECESS to give the values after precession.
EQUINOX1 - Original equinox of coordinates, numeric scalar. If omitted, then PRECESS will query for EQUINOX1 and EQUINOX2. EQUINOX2 - Equinox of precessed coordinates.
/PRINT - If this keyword is set and non-zero, then the precessed coordinates are displayed at the terminal. Cannot be used with the /RADIAN keyword /FK4 - If this keyword is set and non-zero, the FK4 (B1950.0) system will be used otherwise FK5 (J2000.0) will be used instead. /RADIAN - If this keyword is set and non-zero, then the input and output RA and DEC vectors are in radians rather than degrees
Accuracy of precession decreases for declination values near 90 degrees. PRECESS should not be used more than 2.5 centuries from 2000 on the FK5 system (1950.0 on the FK4 system).
(1) The Pole Star has J2000.0 coordinates (2h, 31m, 46.3s, 89d 15' 50.6"); compute its coordinates at J1985.0 IDL> precess, ten(2,31,46.3)*15, ten(89,15,50.6), 2000, 1985, /PRINT ====> 2h 16m 22.73s, 89d 11' 47.3" (2) Precess the B1950 coordinates of Eps Ind (RA = 21h 59m,33.053s, DEC = (-56d, 59', 33.053") to equinox B1975. IDL> ra = ten(21, 59, 33.053)*15 IDL> dec = ten(-56, 59, 33.053) IDL> precess, ra, dec ,1950, 1975, /fk4
Algorithm from Computational Spherical Astronomy by Taff (1983), p. 24. (FK4). FK5 constants from "Astronomical Almanac Explanatory Supplement 1992, page 104 Table 3.211.1.
Function PREMAT - computes precession matrix
Written, Wayne Landsman, STI Corporation August 1986 Correct negative output RA values February 1989 Added /PRINT keyword W. Landsman November, 1991 Provided FK5 (J2000.0) I. Freedman January 1994 Precession Matrix computation now in PREMAT W. Landsman June 1994 Added /RADIAN keyword W. Landsman June 1997 Converted to IDL V5.0 W. Landsman September 1997 Correct negative output RA values when /RADIAN used March 1999 Work for arrays, not just vectors W. Landsman September 2003
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