Programming Assignment
					SPS 2010, Observational Astronomy
					Dr. Ringwald
					1999 September 2

					page 1 of 1


I am requiring students in this course to have portable programming
devices, such as programmable calculators or laptop computers (see the
syllabus).  Develop programs, in whatever code your machine uses, to solve
the following:


1) Convert calendar date (year, month, day) into Julian date, for any
epoch (i.e., it can handle the Gregorian and Julian calendars, and B.C.
dates, too). Make sure your program can handle fractions of a day, too.


2) Convert Julian date to calendar date, for any epoch (i.e., it can
handle the Gregorian and Julian calendars, and B.C. dates, too). Make sure
your program can handle fractions of a day, too.


3) Find the angular separation between two objects, given their
coordinates expressed in standard right ascension (h m s) and declination
(d ' ")  notation.


4) Convert equatorial coordinates (right ascension and declination) into
galactic coordinates (l, b).


5) Convert galactic coordinates (l, b) into equatorial coordiates 
(right ascension and declination).


For formulae, routines, hints and tips, and worked examples, see
Astronomical Algorithms by J. Meeus (on reserve in Evans Library, but
having your own copy would be useful) and in the Sky & Telescope article
handed out in class.


Midterm Exam 1 (due October 7 for the Thursday section and October 8 for
the Friday section) and Midterm Exam 2 (due November 4 for the Thursday
section and November 5 for the Friday section) will feature problems for
this list.  So will the Final Exam, which will be an in-class exam. One
might be able to solve these problems with a pencil and paper if one were
a mathematical prodigy---but if you're like me, it would be much easier
with a calculating device, that has been programmed over the semester.