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Martian Moon calculator?

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  • 20 February 2025 at 8:25 pm #628206
    Lars Lindhard
    Participant

    I am trying to locate the Martian moons Deimos and Phobos.

    Is the a calculator somewhere, where I can find the position of the two moons relative to the planet on a given date and time?

    Lars

    20 February 2025 at 9:43 pm #628208
    Dr Richard John McKim
    Participant

    You will find that the WinJUPOS software (downloadable for free) nicely predicts their positions, with both ephemerides and graphics. You must first specify which solar system object you want, then select ephemerides. You can set any time, with subdivisions of minutes even, if you wish.

    The graphics also show the Martian albedo features quite well, though the base map is out of date.

    Good luck!

    21 February 2025 at 8:34 am #628209
    Dr Paul Leyland
    Participant

    JPL Horizons gives detailed ephemerides for essentially everything known in the Solar system. I use it for inner moons of the planets. For outer moons of JSUN and asteroids MPC is used.

    https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html

    21 February 2025 at 11:48 am #628329
    Lars Lindhard
    Participant

    Thank you.

    That was just what I needed.

    Lars

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