Monday, December 09, 2013

updated X calculator

Built version 6.00a of the Lunar X calculator.


It is much more robust than the previous versions. And easier, in the end, for the end-user.
  • re-did all date/time calculations to use complete serial date/time value
  • accommodated for early morning pre-dawn sky conditions
  • added a look-up table for the Moon's elevation
  • added a look-up table for the month/event cycle
  • automated the "fudge" factor adjustment
  • added an assessment flag considering darkness at peak and Moon elevation
I need to send it off to Phil for review...

§

This means the best X for 2014 is February. And in December there's a poor-quality event.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello. Do you still have this calculator. I'm struggling to make a calendar for viewing the Lunar-X and just can't make it work. Is it available for download? do you sell it?
Thanks.
Adolfo B

bla said...

Adolfo,

I still use my Excel workbook to predict Lunar X events. I take data from the RASC Observer's Handbook and enter that into a worksheet. Often I have to make some manual adjustments. I have never released this file into the wild as it is not really bullet-proof. It has some automated but, again, it still requires a lot of manual editing to get it to work.

My file did show the recent event on September 8 though I had not expected it to be ideal. There appears to be one more this year, on November 6, and it looks like (for us in Ontario, Canada) it will be a good opportunity.

I too found the calculations challenging.

Blake