Quick observed to apparent place
’
R’
, ’
H’
or ’
A’
(see below) ob1 = double (Given) Observed Az, HA or RA
(radians; Az is N=0;E=90) ob2 = double (Given) Observed ZD or Dec (radians) aoprms = const double [14]
(Given) Star-independent apparent-to-observed parameters. See palAopqk for details. rap = double
∗ (Given) Geocentric apparent
right ascension dap = double ∗
(Given) Geocentric apparent declination Only the first character of the TYPE argument is significant. ’
R’
or ’
r’
indicates that OBS1 and OBS2
are the observed right ascension and declination; ’
H’
or ’
h’
indicates that they are hour angle (west
+ve) and
declination; anything else (’
A’
or ’
a’
is recommended) indicates that OBS1 and OBS2
are azimuth (north zero, east 90 deg) and zenith distance. (Zenith distance is used rather
than elevation in order to reflect the fact that no allowance is made for depression of the
horizon.)
The accuracy of the result is limited by the corrections for refraction. Providing the meteorological parameters are known accurately and there are no gross local effects, the predicted apparent RA,Dec should be within about 0.1 arcsec for a zenith distance of less than 70 degrees. Even at a topocentric zenith distance of 90 degrees, the accuracy in elevation should be better than 1 arcmin; useful results are available for a further 3 degrees, beyond which the palREFRO routine returns a fixed value of the refraction. The complementary routines palAop (or palAopqk) and palOap (or palOapqk) are self-consistent to better than 1 micro- arcsecond all over the celestial sphere.
It is advisable to take great care with units, as even unlikely values of the input parameters are accepted and processed in accordance with the models used.
"
Observed"
Az,El means the position that would be seen by a perfect theodolite located at the
observer. This is related to the observed HA,Dec via the standard rotation, using the geodetic latitude
(corrected for polar motion), while the observed HA and RA are related simply through the local
apparent ST. "
Observed"
RA,Dec or HA,Dec thus means the position that would be seen by a
perfect equatorial located at the observer and with its polar axis aligned to the Earth’
s
axis of rotation (n.b. not to the refracted pole). By removing from the observed place the
effects of atmospheric refraction and diurnal aberration, the geocentric apparent RA,Dec is
obtained.
Frequently, mean rather than apparent RA,Dec will be required, in which case further transformations
will be necessary. The palAmp etc routines will convert the apparent RA,Dec produced by the present
routine into an "
FK5"
(J2000) mean place, by allowing for the Sun’
s gravitational lens effect, annual
aberration, nutation and precession. Should "
FK4"
(1950) coordinates be needed, the routines
palFk524 etc will also need to be applied.
To convert to apparent RA,Dec the coordinates read from a real telescope, corrections would have to be applied for encoder zero points, gear and encoder errors, tube flexure, the position of the rotator axis and the pointing axis relative to it, non-perpendicularity between the mounting axes, and finally for the tilt of the azimuth or polar axis of the mounting (with appropriate corrections for mount flexures). Some telescopes would, of course, exhibit other properties which would need to be accounted for at the appropriate point in the sequence.
The star-independent apparent-to-observed-place parameters in AOPRMS may be computed by means of the palAoppa routine. If nothing has changed significantly except the time, the palAoppat routine may be used to perform the requisite partial recomputation of AOPRMS.
The azimuths etc used by the present routine are with respect to the celestial pole. Corrections from the terrestrial pole can be computed using palPolmo.