Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

Topic 1 Sun And Moon Data Program Needed
Topic 2 Perl - Gnuplot Interface

TOPIC 1 SUN AND MOON DATA PROGRAM NEEDED

A freeware sun and moon location data generation computer program is needed
for use with an earthquake related computer program. Perl would be the
preferred language.

Information regarding where such a program can be obtained would be
appreciated.

--- It is essential that the data the program produces be completely
reliable.

--- The present plan is to circulate the program for free use along with a
package of Perl programs and data files.

--- Perl could call the data generation program if it is an external .exe
program. But it would be better if the source code were written in Perl
itself.

Another researcher and I developed such a program a while ago using the
TrueBasic language. But it has never been adequately tested. For a number
of years I have been using the U.S. Navy's MICA program to generate the
necessary data. But it is too slow and could not be circulated for free
with the previously mentioned package of programs.

Data needed from the sun and moon location program:

Subsolar location - The latitude and longitude of the position on the
Earth's surface that the sun is directly above. Any information regarding
sun location that could be used in calculations to get the subsolar location
would do.

Sublunar location - The latitude and longitude of the position on the
Earth's surface that the moon is directly above. Any information regarding
moon location that could be used in calculations to get the sublunar
location would do.

Distance between the Earth and the sun - It could be the distance between
their centers or between their surfaces. The centers distance would be
preferable.

Distance between the Earth and the moon - It could be the distance between
their centers or between their surfaces. The centers distance would be
preferable.

Other types of data such as the velocity of the Earth relative to the sun
and the velocity of the moon relative to the Earth would be helpful but
not essential.


TOPIC 2 PERL - GNUPLOT INTERFACE

Perl is a programming language somewhat similar to Basic. Gnuplot is a
freeware .exe program which will draw charts using data in a file. A
certain amount of computer code can also be generated using Gnuplot's own
internal language which is also something like Basic.

It took some time to learn how to link a Perl program with Gnuplot so that
interactive charts could be generated. But it was well worth the effort!

There is an example of one of these charts on the following Web page:
http://www.freewebz.com/eq-forecasting/Data.html

The Perl program and Gnuplot are both active at the same time. Perl
generates data, dumps it into a file, and instructs Gnuplot to produce a
chart. The results are presently somewhat similar to the charts that
Microsoft Excel can generate but with a much greater interactive capability.
They can include multiple, expandable plot lines and cursor lines that can
move left and right under control of the arrow keys.

Gnuplot was apparently not designed for interactive work. A completely new
chart has to be drawn each time a change is made such as moving the cursor
line. And only about two such changes can be made per second. That update
speed is adequate for my application.

The Gnuplot program which does the chart generation work is only 11 lines of
code. The Perl data generation and control interface program is about 400
lines of code. The entire Perl program I am using is about 4000 lines of
code.

The interface part of the Perl program is not presently in a form that I
could make it easily available for other people to use. But I could
describe how it works. And experienced programmers could easily duplicate
it.

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

On Nov 8, 11:13 am, "E.D.G." wrote:
> Topic 1 Sun And Moon Data Program Needed
> Topic 2 Perl - Gnuplot Interface
>
> TOPIC 1 SUN AND MOON DATA PROGRAM NEEDED
>
> A freeware sun and moon location data generation computer program is needed
> for use with an earthquake related computer program. Perl would be the
> preferred language.

Quite a bit of stuff here, that might be able to be carved into what
you need:
http://www.freebsdsoftware.org/astro/

David A. Smith

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.lang.perl.misc.]

E.D.G. wrote:


> A freeware sun and moon location data generation computer program is needed
> for use with an earthquake related computer program. Perl would be the
> preferred language.
>
> Information regarding where such a program can be obtained would be
> appreciated.


You can accomplish your goal via a two-step process:

step 1) learn Perl
step 2) write a sun and moon location data generation Perl program


> Perl is a programming language somewhat similar to Basic.


It appears that you have not yet started on step 1...


--
Tad McClellan
email: perl -le "print scalar reverse qq/moc.noitatibaher\100cmdat/"

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

"E.D.G." wrote in
news:13j6kh9prckmn13@corp.supernews.com:

> Topic 1 Sun And Moon Data Program Needed
> Topic 2 Perl - Gnuplot Interface
>

I suggest you consult the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.

http://www.willbell.com/math/mc1.htm

Klazmon.

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

I am checking the recommendations that people have made.


"E.D.G." wrote in message
news:13j6kh9prckmn13@corp.supernews.com...
> Topic 1 Sun And Moon Data Program Needed
> Topic 2 Perl - Gnuplot Interface
>

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

Thanks. I checked the programs available at that Web site and a number of
other Web sites. And I did not see anything that would do exactly what is
needed. I am going to try some other locations.

>
> Quite a bit of stuff here, that might be able to be carved into what
> you need:
> http://www.freebsdsoftware.org/astro/
>
> David A. Smith
>

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

The data and chart generation Perl program (4000 lines of code) that I have
running works quite well. The next major step is to learn how to save the
main program as a .exe file. I have a "Par" module already merged with
Perl. But I have not had a chance to learn how to use it.

The Gif file generation module does generate nice charts. But for some
reason, some of the data displayed on the original chart are not appearing
on the Gif charts. So I have been sending the Perl screen charts to the
clipboard and pasting them to the Windows Paint program which is then used
to produce the Gif files. When time permits I plan to try to determine how
to get the Perl Gif module to copy all of the data to those files.

These are difficult programs for professional programmers to work with
because they involve so much research. Each improvement indicates what
needs to be done next. I never know beforehand exactly what the next
routine to be added is going to be. So it is almost impossible to make
plans for how to structure the main program. Things keep changing. If and
when everything gets settled the main program will probably be duplicated in
a more organized form by more highly skilled programmers. It is fortunate
that Perl is sufficiently versatile that when important changes are needed
they can be made without too much trouble.

>
> step 1) learn Perl
> step 2) write a sun and moon location data generation Perl program

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

Posted by E.D.G. November 11, 2007

None of the programs I have been able to find on the Web appear to have all
of the features that are needed here. And I am going to explore this
further in some of the astro and astrology newsgroups.

As already mentioned, another researcher and I have written a TrueBasic
program that will do what is needed. But it will have to be thoroughly
tested before it can be used to replace the U.S. Navy's MICA program that is
presently generating the needed data.

My data indicate to me (and more and more international researchers are
agreeing) that sun and moon gravity related effects are quite important to
determining the times when earthquakes occur. Ocean tide and Solid Earth
Tide effects also appear to be important. Considering how much damage
earthquakes can produce, it is amazing to me that our governments and major
research groups have not already made these types of data generation
computer programs available for researchers around the world to use.

These are personal opinions.


"E.D.G." wrote in message
news:13j6kh9prckmn13@corp.supernews.com...
> Data needed from the sun and moon location program:

>
> Subsolar location - The latitude and longitude of the position on the
> Earth's surface that the sun is directly above. Any information regarding
> sun location that could be used in calculations to get the subsolar
location
> would do.
>
> Sublunar location - The latitude and longitude of the position on the
> Earth's surface that the moon is directly above. Any information
regarding
> moon location that could be used in calculations to get the sublunar
> location would do.
>
> Distance between the Earth and the sun - It could be the distance between
> their centers or between their surfaces. The centers distance would be
> preferable.
>
> Distance between the Earth and the moon - It could be the distance between
> their centers or between their surfaces. The centers distance would be
> preferable.
>
> Other types of data such as the velocity of the Earth relative to the sun
> and the velocity of the moon relative to the Earth would be helpful but
> not essential.

Re: Sun and moon data program Nov. 8, 2007

Thanks for the recommendation.

Another researcher/computer programmer and I already have all of the needed
equations. And we have a program running with the TrueBasic language which
does what is needed. I was checking to see if there might be any new
software out there that has already been tested and proven to be totally
reliable.

>
> I suggest you consult the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
>
> http://www.willbell.com/math/mc1.htm
>
> Klazmon.