Astronomical Computation & Data
Topic Overview The Wolfram Language provides seamless access to the curated and continuously updated Wolfram Knowledgebase used in Wolfram|Alpha—which includes a wide range of types of data for astronomical science. Free-form linguistics provide a convenient mechanism for accessing all available data; more common categories also have specific associated Wolfram Language functions.
Astronomical Computation
AstroPosition — compute and represent the positions of astronomical objects
AstroDistance — find the distance between astronomical objects
AstroAngularSeparation — find the angle between locations on the celestial sphere
SunPosition, MoonPosition — computed positions of Sun, Moon in the sky
AstroSubpoint — location on Earth having a celestial body directly above
OrbitalElements — compute properties of the orbits of planets, moons, asteroids, ...
Astronomical Events
FindAstroEvent — date and time of relevant astronomical events
"MarchEquinox" ▪ "Conjunction" ▪ "Perihelion" ▪ "Appulse" ▪ ...
AstroRiseSet — time of rise and set for any astronomical object
Sunrise, Sunset — time of sunrise, sunset for any location and date
ReferenceAltitude — option defining rise and set events, to compute twilight times
DayHemisphere ▪ NightHemisphere ▪ DayNightTerminator ▪ DaylightQ
MoonPhase — phase of the Moon, given as numbers, icons, etc.
MoonPhaseDate — date of any phase of the Moon
NewMoon, FullMoon — date of new or full moon
SolarEclipse, LunarEclipse — detailed solar and lunar eclipse information
Time in Astronomy
SiderealTime — time measured by Earth's rotation with respect to the fixed stars
SolarTime — time measured by Earth's rotation with respect to the Sun
TimeSystemConvert — use different times systems: "UT1", "TT", "TAI", …
TimeZoneConvert, LocalTime — use different time zones
JulianDate, FromJulianDate — continuous count of days
LunationNumber, FromLunationNumber — continuous count of new moons
FindSolarEclipse — find solar eclipses covering a given location
Astronomical Visualization
AstroGraphics — build maps of the sky, as observed from a given location at a given time
AstroStyling — specify how to style the elements of a map of the sky
AstroBackground ▪ AstroCenter ▪ AstroGridLines ▪ AstroGridLinesStyle ▪ AstroProjection ▪ AstroRange ▪ AstroRangePadding ▪ AstroReferenceFrame ▪ AstroZoomLevel
Solar System Objects
Planet — solar system planets with static and dynamic properties
PlanetaryMoon — natural satellites in the solar system
SolarSystemFeature — craters and other features on solid solar system bodies
MinorPlanet — minor planets in the solar system, including dwarf planets
Comet — modern and historical observed comets with orbital parameters
MeteorShower — annual meteor showers visible from Earth
Stars, Galaxies, etc.
Star — stars in standard catalogs
Constellation — standard constellations as defined by various cultures
Exoplanet — confirmed planets beyond the solar system
StarCluster Nebula Pulsar Supernova AstronomicalRadioSource
Galaxy — galaxies and galaxy groups from standard catalogs
BlackHole — supermassive and stellar mass black holes
Spacecraft & Observatories
Satellite — artificial satellites in Earth orbit, including real-time computed positions
GeoVisibleRegion — region of Earth visible from a point in space
DeepSpaceProbe — planetary and deep space probes
MannedSpaceMission — all manned space missions to date
Rocket — launch vehicles and other rockets
AstronomicalObservatory — major astronomical observatories worldwide
Handling Entities
(
) — request data using free-form linguistics
EntityValue — general access to values of properties for all types of entities
Entity ▪ EntityClass ▪ EntityList ▪ RandomEntity ▪ EntityFunction ▪ ...
Quantities & Units »
Quantity — symbolic representation of a quantity with units
Around — number or quantity with uncertainty
UnitConvert ▪ UnitSimplify ▪ UnitDimensions ▪ ...
Astrophysical Computations
FormulaData — wide variety of astrophysical formulas
PlanckRadiationLaw — blackbody radiation
UniverseModelData — cosmological distances, structure and evolution
SpectralLineData — spectral lines of elements
Simulations
NBodySimulation — simulate idealized n-body systems