HorizonsClass

class astroquery.jplhorizons.HorizonsClass(id=None, location=None, epochs=None, id_type='smallbody')[source]

Bases: astroquery.query.BaseQuery

Instantiate JPL query.

Parameters:

id : str, required

Name, number, or designation of the object to be queried

location : str, optional

Observer’s location for ephemerides queries or center body name for orbital element or vector queries. Uses the same codes as JPL Horizons. If no location is provided, Earth’s center is used for ephemerides queries and the Sun’s center for elements and vectors queries.

epochs : scalar, list-like, or dictionary, optional

Either a list of epochs in JD or MJD format or a dictionary defining a range of times and dates; the range dictionary has to be of the form {'start':’YYYY-MM-DD [HH:MM:SS]’, 'stop':’YYYY-MM-DD [HH:MM:SS]’, 'step':’n[y|d|m|s]’}. If no epochs are provided, the current time is used.

id_type : str, optional

Identifier type, options: 'smallbody', 'majorbody' (planets but also anything that is not a small body), 'designation', 'name', 'asteroid_name', 'comet_name', 'id' (Horizons id number), or 'smallbody' (find the closest match under any id_type), default: 'smallbody'

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> eros = Horizons(id='433', location='568',
...              epochs={'start':'2017-01-01',
...                      'stop':'2017-02-01',
...                      'step':'1d'})
>>> print(eros) 
JPLHorizons instance "433"; location=568, epochs={'start': '2017-01-01', 'step': '1d', 'stop': '2017-02-01'}, id_type=smallbody

Attributes Summary

TIMEOUT

Methods Summary

elements(*args, **kwargs) Queries the service and returns a table object.
elements_async([get_query_payload, …]) Query JPL Horizons for osculating orbital elements.
ephemerides(*args, **kwargs) Queries the service and returns a table object.
ephemerides_async([airmass_lessthan, …]) Query JPL Horizons for ephemerides.
vectors(*args, **kwargs) Queries the service and returns a table object.
vectors_async([get_query_payload, …]) Query JPL Horizons for state vectors.

Attributes Documentation

TIMEOUT = 30

Methods Documentation

elements(*args, **kwargs)

Queries the service and returns a table object.

Query JPL Horizons for osculating orbital elements. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the center body relative to which the elements are provided.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation [string]
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime_str epoch Date (str, “Calendar Date (TDB)”
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “JDTDB”
e eccentricity (float, “EC”)
q periapsis distance (float, au, “QR”)
a semi-major axis (float, au, “A”)
incl inclination (float, deg, “IN”)
Omega longitude of Asc. Node (float, deg, “OM”)
w argument of the perifocus (float, deg, “W”)
Tp_jd time of periapsis (float, Julian Date, “Tp”)
n mean motion (float, deg/d, “N”)
M mean anomaly (float, deg, “MA”)
nu true anomaly (float, deg, “TA”)
period orbital period (float, (Earth) d, “PR”)
Q apoapsis distance (float, au, “AD”)
Parameters:

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response: boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

table : A Table object.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='433', location='500@10',
...                epochs=2458133.33546)
>>> el = obj.elements() 
>>> print(el) 
    targetname      datetime_jd  ...       Q            P
       ---               d       ...       AU           d
------------------ ------------- ... ------------- ------------
433 Eros (1898 DQ) 2458133.33546 ... 1.78244263804 642.93873484
elements_async(get_query_payload=False, closest_apparition=False, no_fragments=False, get_raw_response=False, cache=True)[source]

Query JPL Horizons for osculating orbital elements. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the center body relative to which the elements are provided.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation [string]
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime_str epoch Date (str, “Calendar Date (TDB)”
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “JDTDB”
e eccentricity (float, “EC”)
q periapsis distance (float, au, “QR”)
a semi-major axis (float, au, “A”)
incl inclination (float, deg, “IN”)
Omega longitude of Asc. Node (float, deg, “OM”)
w argument of the perifocus (float, deg, “W”)
Tp_jd time of periapsis (float, Julian Date, “Tp”)
n mean motion (float, deg/d, “N”)
M mean anomaly (float, deg, “MA”)
nu true anomaly (float, deg, “TA”)
period orbital period (float, (Earth) d, “PR”)
Q apoapsis distance (float, au, “AD”)
Parameters:

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response: boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

response : requests.Response

The response of the HTTP request.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='433', location='500@10',
...                epochs=2458133.33546)
>>> el = obj.elements() 
>>> print(el) 
    targetname      datetime_jd  ...       Q            P
       ---               d       ...       AU           d
------------------ ------------- ... ------------- ------------
433 Eros (1898 DQ) 2458133.33546 ... 1.78244263804 642.93873484
ephemerides(*args, **kwargs)

Queries the service and returns a table object.

Query JPL Horizons for ephemerides. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the location of the observer.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation (string)
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime epoch (str, “Date__(UT)__HR:MN:SC.fff”)
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “Date_________JDUT”)
solar_presence information on Sun’s presence (str)
flags information on Moon, target status (str)
RA target RA (float, deg, “R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)”)
DEC target DEC (float, deg, “DEC_(ICRF/J2000.0)”)
RA_rate target rate RA (float, arcsec/hr, “dRA*cosD”)
DEC_rate target RA (float, arcsec/hr, “d(DEC)/dt”)
AZ Azimuth (float, deg, EoN, “Azi_(a-app)”)
EL Elevation (float, deg, “Elev_(a-app)”)
airmass target optical airmass (float, “a-mass”)
magextinct V-mag extinction (float, mag, “mag_ex”)
V V magnitude (float, mag, “APmag”)
Tmag comet Total magnitude (float, mag, “T-mag”)
Nmag comet Nucleaus magnitude (float, mag, “N-mag”)
surfbright surf brightness (float, mag/arcsec^2, “S-brt”)
illumination frac of illumination (float, percent, “Illu%”)
EclLon heliocentr ecl long (float, deg, “hEcl-Lon”)
EclLat heliocentr ecl lat (float, deg, “hEcl-Lat”)
ObsEclLon obscentr ecl long (float, deg, “ObsEcLon”)
ObsEclLat obscentr ecl lat (float, deg, “ObsEcLat”)
r heliocentric distance (float, au, “r”)
r_rate heliocentric radial rate (float, km/s, “rdot”)
delta distance from observer (float, au, “delta”)
delta_rate obs-centric rad rate (float, km/s, “deldot”)
lighttime one-way light time (float, min, “1-way_LT”)
elong solar elongation (float, deg, “S-O-T”)
elongFlag app. position relative to Sun (str, “/r”)
alpha solar phase angle (float, deg, “S-T-O”)
sunTargetPA -Sun vector PA (float, deg, EoN, “PsAng”)
velocityPA velocity vector PA (float, deg, EoN, “PsAMV”)
GlxLon galactic longitude (float, deg, “GlxLon”)
GlxLat galactic latitude (float, deg, “GlxLat”)
RA_3sigma 3sig pos unc RA (float, arcsec, “RA_3sigma”)
DEC_3sigma 3sig pos unc DEC (float, arcsec, “DEC_3sigma”)
Parameters:

airmass_lessthan : float, optional

Defines a maximum airmass for the query, default: 99

solar_elongation : tuple, optional

Permissible solar elongation range: (minimum, maximum); default: (0,180)

hour_angle : float, optional

Defines a maximum hour angle for the query, default: 0

skip_daylight : boolean, optional

Crop daylight epochs in query, default: False

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response : boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

table : A Table object.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='Ceres', location='568',
...             epochs={'start':'2010-01-01',
...                     'stop':'2010-03-01',
...                     'step':'10d'})
>>> eph = obj.ephemerides() 
>>> print(eph) 
targetname    datetime_str   datetime_jd ...   GlxLat  RA_3sigma
DEC_3sigma
   ---            ---             d      ...    deg      arcsec
arcsec
---------- ----------------- ----------- ... --------- ---------
----------
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-01 00:00   2455197.5 ... 24.120057       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-11 00:00   2455207.5 ... 20.621496       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-21 00:00   2455217.5 ... 17.229529       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-31 00:00   2455227.5 ...  13.97264       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Feb-10 00:00   2455237.5 ... 10.877201       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Feb-20 00:00   2455247.5 ...  7.976737       0.0
0.0
ephemerides_async(airmass_lessthan=99, solar_elongation=(0, 180), hour_angle=0, skip_daylight=False, closest_apparition=False, no_fragments=False, get_query_payload=False, get_raw_response=False, cache=True)[source]

Query JPL Horizons for ephemerides. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the location of the observer.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation (string)
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime epoch (str, “Date__(UT)__HR:MN:SC.fff”)
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “Date_________JDUT”)
solar_presence information on Sun’s presence (str)
flags information on Moon, target status (str)
RA target RA (float, deg, “R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)”)
DEC target DEC (float, deg, “DEC_(ICRF/J2000.0)”)
RA_rate target rate RA (float, arcsec/hr, “dRA*cosD”)
DEC_rate target RA (float, arcsec/hr, “d(DEC)/dt”)
AZ Azimuth (float, deg, EoN, “Azi_(a-app)”)
EL Elevation (float, deg, “Elev_(a-app)”)
airmass target optical airmass (float, “a-mass”)
magextinct V-mag extinction (float, mag, “mag_ex”)
V V magnitude (float, mag, “APmag”)
Tmag comet Total magnitude (float, mag, “T-mag”)
Nmag comet Nucleaus magnitude (float, mag, “N-mag”)
surfbright surf brightness (float, mag/arcsec^2, “S-brt”)
illumination frac of illumination (float, percent, “Illu%”)
EclLon heliocentr ecl long (float, deg, “hEcl-Lon”)
EclLat heliocentr ecl lat (float, deg, “hEcl-Lat”)
ObsEclLon obscentr ecl long (float, deg, “ObsEcLon”)
ObsEclLat obscentr ecl lat (float, deg, “ObsEcLat”)
r heliocentric distance (float, au, “r”)
r_rate heliocentric radial rate (float, km/s, “rdot”)
delta distance from observer (float, au, “delta”)
delta_rate obs-centric rad rate (float, km/s, “deldot”)
lighttime one-way light time (float, min, “1-way_LT”)
elong solar elongation (float, deg, “S-O-T”)
elongFlag app. position relative to Sun (str, “/r”)
alpha solar phase angle (float, deg, “S-T-O”)
sunTargetPA -Sun vector PA (float, deg, EoN, “PsAng”)
velocityPA velocity vector PA (float, deg, EoN, “PsAMV”)
GlxLon galactic longitude (float, deg, “GlxLon”)
GlxLat galactic latitude (float, deg, “GlxLat”)
RA_3sigma 3sig pos unc RA (float, arcsec, “RA_3sigma”)
DEC_3sigma 3sig pos unc DEC (float, arcsec, “DEC_3sigma”)
Parameters:

airmass_lessthan : float, optional

Defines a maximum airmass for the query, default: 99

solar_elongation : tuple, optional

Permissible solar elongation range: (minimum, maximum); default: (0,180)

hour_angle : float, optional

Defines a maximum hour angle for the query, default: 0

skip_daylight : boolean, optional

Crop daylight epochs in query, default: False

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response : boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

response : requests.Response

The response of the HTTP request.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='Ceres', location='568',
...             epochs={'start':'2010-01-01',
...                     'stop':'2010-03-01',
...                     'step':'10d'})
>>> eph = obj.ephemerides() 
>>> print(eph) 
targetname    datetime_str   datetime_jd ...   GlxLat  RA_3sigma
DEC_3sigma
   ---            ---             d      ...    deg      arcsec
arcsec
---------- ----------------- ----------- ... --------- ---------
----------
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-01 00:00   2455197.5 ... 24.120057       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-11 00:00   2455207.5 ... 20.621496       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-21 00:00   2455217.5 ... 17.229529       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Jan-31 00:00   2455227.5 ...  13.97264       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Feb-10 00:00   2455237.5 ... 10.877201       0.0
0.0
   1 Ceres 2010-Feb-20 00:00   2455247.5 ...  7.976737       0.0
0.0
vectors(*args, **kwargs)

Queries the service and returns a table object.

Query JPL Horizons for state vectors. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the center body relative to which the vectors are provided.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation [string]
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime_str epoch Date (str, “Calendar Date (TDB)”
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “JDTDB”
x x-comp of position vector (float, au, “X”)
y y-comp of position vector (float, au, “Y”)
z z-comp of position vector (float, au, “Z”)
vx x-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VX”)
vy y-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VY”)
vz z-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VZ”)
lighttime one-way lighttime (float, d, “LT”)
range range from coordinate center (float, au, “RG”)
range_rate range rate (float, au/d, “RR”)
Parameters:

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response: boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

table : A Table object.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='2012 TC4', location='257',
...             epochs={'start':'2017-10-01',
...                     'stop':'2017-10-02',
...                     'step':'10m'})
>>> vec = obj.vectors() 
>>> print(vec) 
targetname  datetime_jd  ...      range          range_rate
   ---           d       ...        AU             AU / d
---------- ------------- ... --------------- -----------------
(2012 TC4)     2458027.5 ... 0.0429332099306 -0.00408018711862
(2012 TC4) 2458027.50694 ... 0.0429048742906 -0.00408040726527
(2012 TC4) 2458027.51389 ... 0.0428765385796 -0.00408020747595
(2012 TC4) 2458027.52083 ... 0.0428482057142  -0.0040795878561
(2012 TC4) 2458027.52778 ...  0.042819878607 -0.00407854931543
(2012 TC4) 2458027.53472 ... 0.0427915601617  -0.0040770935665
       ...           ... ...             ...               ...
(2012 TC4) 2458028.45833 ... 0.0392489462501 -0.00405496595173
(2012 TC4) 2458028.46528 ...   0.03922077771 -0.00405750632914
(2012 TC4) 2458028.47222 ...  0.039192592935 -0.00405964084539
(2012 TC4) 2458028.47917 ...  0.039164394759 -0.00406136516755
(2012 TC4) 2458028.48611 ... 0.0391361860433 -0.00406267574646
(2012 TC4) 2458028.49306 ... 0.0391079696711  -0.0040635698239
(2012 TC4)     2458028.5 ... 0.0390797485422 -0.00406404543822
Length = 145 rows
vectors_async(get_query_payload=False, closest_apparition=False, no_fragments=False, get_raw_response=False, cache=True)[source]

Query JPL Horizons for state vectors. The location parameter in HorizonsClass refers in this case to the center body relative to which the vectors are provided.

The following table lists the values queried, their definitions, data types, units, and original Horizons designations (in quotation marks; where available).

Column Name Definition
targetname official number, name, designation [string]
H absolute magnitude in V band (float, mag)
G photometric slope parameter (float)
M1 comet total abs mag (float, mag, “M1”)
M2 comet nuclear abs mag (float, mag, “M2”)
k1 total mag scaling factor (float, “k1”)
k2 nuclear mag scaling factor (float, “k2”)
phasecoeff comet phase coeff (float, mag/deg, “PHCOFF”)
datetime_str epoch Date (str, “Calendar Date (TDB)”
datetime_jd epoch Julian Date (float, “JDTDB”
x x-comp of position vector (float, au, “X”)
y y-comp of position vector (float, au, “Y”)
z z-comp of position vector (float, au, “Z”)
vx x-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VX”)
vy y-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VY”)
vz z-comp of velocity vector (float, au/d, “VZ”)
lighttime one-way lighttime (float, d, “LT”)
range range from coordinate center (float, au, “RG”)
range_rate range rate (float, au/d, “RR”)
Parameters:

closest_apparition : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. This option will choose the closest apparition available in time to the selected epoch; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

no_fragments : boolean, optional

Only applies to comets. Reject all comet fragments from selection; default: False. Do not use this option for non-cometary objects.

get_query_payload : boolean, optional

When set to True the method returns the HTTP request parameters as a dict, default: False

get_raw_response: boolean, optional

Return raw data as obtained by JPL Horizons without parsing the data into a table, default: False

Returns:

response : requests.Response

The response of the HTTP request.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.jplhorizons import Horizons
>>> obj = Horizons(id='2012 TC4', location='257',
...             epochs={'start':'2017-10-01',
...                     'stop':'2017-10-02',
...                     'step':'10m'})
>>> vec = obj.vectors() 
>>> print(vec) 
targetname  datetime_jd  ...      range          range_rate
   ---           d       ...        AU             AU / d
---------- ------------- ... --------------- -----------------
(2012 TC4)     2458027.5 ... 0.0429332099306 -0.00408018711862
(2012 TC4) 2458027.50694 ... 0.0429048742906 -0.00408040726527
(2012 TC4) 2458027.51389 ... 0.0428765385796 -0.00408020747595
(2012 TC4) 2458027.52083 ... 0.0428482057142  -0.0040795878561
(2012 TC4) 2458027.52778 ...  0.042819878607 -0.00407854931543
(2012 TC4) 2458027.53472 ... 0.0427915601617  -0.0040770935665
       ...           ... ...             ...               ...
(2012 TC4) 2458028.45833 ... 0.0392489462501 -0.00405496595173
(2012 TC4) 2458028.46528 ...   0.03922077771 -0.00405750632914
(2012 TC4) 2458028.47222 ...  0.039192592935 -0.00405964084539
(2012 TC4) 2458028.47917 ...  0.039164394759 -0.00406136516755
(2012 TC4) 2458028.48611 ... 0.0391361860433 -0.00406267574646
(2012 TC4) 2458028.49306 ... 0.0391079696711  -0.0040635698239
(2012 TC4)     2458028.5 ... 0.0390797485422 -0.00406404543822
Length = 145 rows