Quote:
Originally Posted by OzEclipse
Dennis
Great. You're obviously on top of it. I'm not familiar with Sky X and so my question / caution was only of a general nature.
Some of these programs don't do topocentric calcs.
For example, different programs when plotting the path of 2012 DA 14 in early 2013 which was a closer approach gave 10 degree variations in apparent position.
Cheers
Joe
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Hi Joe
These are excellent and very relevant points you raise and are real traps for the unwary with these close fly-by NEOs.
In The Sky X Pro “Object Information Report” Panel both Topocentric and J2000 values for RA and Dec are provided. You can see these in the left hand text panel of the screen capture that I posted, although it might take some digging out as it is a busy graphic!
The only times I have noted large discrepancies are when I download the orbital elements several weeks before a scheduled NEO fly-by and I then forget to update or refresh them on the day.
Thank goodness for Wi-Fi and Internet Servers making this data accessible from my back garden at all hours of the late night or early morning!
Hopefully the OP Steve (OffGrid) will find these discussions helpful and contribute to a successful observation of this close fly-by.
Cheers
Dennis