Metadata-Version: 1.1
Name: novas
Version: 3.1
Summary: The United States Naval Observatory NOVAS astronomy library
Home-page: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/software-products/novas
Author: Brandon Rhodes
Author-email: brandon@rhodesmill.org
License: UNKNOWN
Download-URL: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/software-products/novas
Description: What is NOVAS?
        --------------
        
        NOVAS is an integrated package of functions for computing various
        commonly needed quantities in positional astronomy.  The package can
        supply, in one or two function calls, the instantaneous coordinates of
        any star or solar system body in a variety of coordinate systems.  At a
        lower level, NOVAS also provides astrometric utility transformations,
        such as those for precession_, nutation_, aberration_, parallax_, and
        gravitational `deflection of light`_.  The computations are accurate to
        **better than one milliarcsecond.** The NOVAS library is an easy-to-use
        facility that can be incorporated into data reduction programs,
        telescope control systems, and simulations.  The U.S. parts of
        *The Astronomical Almanac* are prepared using NOVAS.
        
        This package is the official Python wrapper for the NOVAS C code, and is
        released by the United States Naval Observatory on their own web site
        under the name **NOVAS_Py**.
        
        This package has been uploaded to the Python Package Index by Brandon
        Rhodes <brandon@rhodesmill.org>. Please contact him about any problems
        you encounter when trying to make it install, or ask on Stack Overflow,
        where he watches for questions that involve Python and astronomy.
        
        Installation
        ------------
        
        Like other packages listed here on the Python Package Index, this
        package can be installed with the ``pip`` command. You will need to
        install both the library itself as well as a high-accuracy ephemeris
        data set, with the DE405 ephemeris being the current default::
        
            $ pip install novas
            $ pip install novas_de405
        
        Note that the second command may take several minutes to run, depending
        on your Internet connection, because the JPL ephemeris that it has to
        download is 55 MB in size!
        
        If you are managing a Python project that has a ``setup.py`` or a
        ``requirements.txt`` file, then instead of running these ``pip``
        commands manually you can simply list ``NOVAS_Py`` alongside the other
        packages that you depend on, and let them be installed as part of your
        normal project install.
        
        Once the package is installed, you can run its tests with the new
        test-discovery feature built-in to Python 2.7. If the tests pass to
        extremely high accuracy, then the result should be::
        
            $ python -m unittest discover novas
            ........................................
            ........................................
            ...........
            ----------------------------------------
            Ran 191 tests in 0.022s
        
            OK
        
        If you are using an older version of Python, then you can run the tests
        with the ``unittest2`` compatibility package instead::
        
            $ pip install unittest2
            $ unit2 discover novas
        
        Using the library
        -----------------
        
        Successful installation will produce a ``novas`` package that contains
        several namespaces full of functions:
        
        ``novas.compat``
            Main NOVAS functions.
        
        ``novas.constants``
            Important constants.
        
        ``novas.nutation``
            Nutation models.
        
        ``novas.compat.eph_manager``
            Functions from the NOVAS ``eph_manager.c`` module.
        
        ``novas.compat.solsys``
            Functions from the NOVAS ``solsys1.c`` module.
        
        ``novas.compat.nutation``
            Functions from the NOVAS ``nutation.c`` module.
        
        You can find more information and documentation on the project's
        official home page at the Naval Observatory:
        
        http://aa.usno.navy.mil/software/novas/novas_py/novaspy_intro.php
        
        .. _precession: http://asa.usno.navy.mil/SecM/Glossary.html#precession
        .. _nutation: http://asa.usno.navy.mil/SecM/Glossary.html#nutation
        .. _aberration: http://asa.usno.navy.mil/SecM/Glossary.html#aberration
        .. _parallax: http://asa.usno.navy.mil/SecM/Glossary.html#parallax
        .. _deflection of light: http://asa.usno.navy.mil/SecM/Glossary.html#deflection-light
        .. _webpage: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?planet_eph_export
        .. _unittest2 module: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/unittest2
Platform: macosx
Platform: linux
Classifier: Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable
Classifier: Intended Audience :: Science/Research
Classifier: Natural Language :: English
Classifier: Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X
Classifier: Operating System :: POSIX :: Linux
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 2.6
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7
Classifier: Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Astronomy
