Computing Eclipses, Occultations and Transits

Shared geometry and inputs

workingupdated 2026-10-18

Every event on this site is one body hiding another from a third, and every computation of one needs the same inputs. This group holds them:

  • Foundations: the fundamental plane and the Besselian elements. The same construction serves solar eclipses, transits and occultations, with a shadow cone for the Sun and a cylinder for a star.
  • Earth model and time scales: the ellipsoid, terrain, ΔT, refraction, light-time and reference frames.
  • Lunar and solar model: the JPL ephemerides, the lunar radius ratio kk, the centre of figure and libration.
  • Software and repositories: the production programs, open libraries, repositories and datasets.

The groups that follow apply these inputs to one kind of event each. Their pages link back here rather than repeating them.

In this section