New Feature Older ephemeris data

[RMM]

Would it be possible to get historic ephemeris going back further in SitRec? I've toyed with some apps that can go back further (like https://stellarium-web.org/) but I'm unsure how accurate they are. I'd like to use SitRec to look at star/planet positions in relation to the mystery airship reports of 1896-1918.

 

[GM4AJK]

I don't know about the Stellarium-Web version, but I do know that the Stellarium Desktop version is highly accurate when used in a historical setup. I know this as one of the lead devs (Georg Zotti) spent years making it accurate for archaeoastronomy

Notes about Historical Application

Originally, Stellarium has been developed as beautiful simulation of the sky outdoors. Efficiency was bought a bit by omitting smaller astronomical details, which meant that early versions of Stellarium are not accurate enough for being used for critical simulations in earlier times, i.e. research in historical astronomy and archaeoastronomy.


The situation is in the process of change, and some milestones can be seen:

• V0.12 finally introduced selectable DeltaT computations which compensate the deceleration of earth rotation.
• V0.13 introduced the ArchaeoLines plugin for visualisation of various important declination arcs discussed in cultural astronomy.
• V0.13.3 introduced the Scenery3D plugin for visualisation of walkable landscapes.
• V0.14 uses an advanced model for precession and nutation.
• V0.15 and later can use the NASA/JPL DE430/431 solutions with planetary positions for years -13,000 to +17,000.
• V0.16.1 allows time-triggered visibility changes in 3D sceneries.

We are pretty confident that Stellarium's accuracy is largely comparable to other good software, but have not done decisive critical testing. If you are able to help, feel invited to contact us.


Please see the Guide, Appendix F, for important notes and possible pitfalls to avoid in your historical research.