Calculate Airmass


Astronomy Module Specific

The Calculate Airmass command opens a worksheet dialog where you can calculate an airmass value. The calculation requires the 6 quantities described in the table below. They are entered into the dialog shown here. To calculate the airmass, enter the 6 quantities in the formats like those shown and click the button. For a description of input formats, see the section Data Formats, below. This same calculation is performed by the Aperture Photometry measurements.

Inputs for Airmass Calculation

Right Ascension

The right ascension coordinate in units of HMS. The seconds value can have decimal digits.

Declination

The declination coordinate in units of DMS. The seconds value can have decimal digits.

Site Longitude

The longitude of the observing site in units of DMS. The seconds value can have decimal digits.

Site Latitude

The latitude of the observing site in units of DMS. The seconds value can have decimal digits.

UT Date

The UT date of observation in units of YMD.

UT Time

The UT time of observation in units of HMS. The seconds value can have decimal digits.

Data Formats

The 6 input fields each accept multiple values in the form of (Hours, Minutes, Seconds), (Degrees, Minutes, Seconds), or (Year, Month, Day). These are also known as HMS, DMS, and YMD formats, respectively. In using these formats, Mira tolerates a variety of delimiters between the numbers in each field. All the accepted delimiters are listed in the table below. The dialog shown above simply uses spaces between the numbers (listed as (space) in the table).

Field Delimiters

HMS

(space) / : – , H h M m S s

DMS

(space) / : – , D d M m S s

YMD

(space) / : – , Y y M m D d (degree) " '

Choose a delimiter that works for you because it is easy to type or makes the entry easy to understand.

Related Topics

Diagnostic Commands, Photometry Keywords, Aperture Photometry, Photometry Keywords