Solar System Plotter

Overview

This project provides tools to visualize the solar system in either heliocentric or geocentric views using a polar coordinate system. Users can plot celestial positions for a specific date or generate an animated GIF showing movements over time.

Features

• Heliocentric and Geocentric Views: Choose between visualizing planetary positions relative to the Sun or Earth.
• Custom Date Input: Specify the date for plotting celestial bodies.
• GIF Generation: Create animations for a specified time range and interval.
• User-Friendly Output: Plots are either displayed interactively or saved in an output directory.

Requirements

The project requires the following third-party Python packages:

• ephem
• imageio
• matplotlib

Install the dependencies using the requirements.txt file:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone git@github.com:opethef10/solar_system_plotter.git
   cd solar_system_plotter

2. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Command-Line Arguments

Argument	Description	Default
--geocentric	Plot the geocentric view (default is heliocentric).	False
--date	Date to plot (format: %Y-%m-%d).	Today's date
--gif	Create a GIF animation.	False
--duration	Total number of days to include in the animation (GIF mode).	1000
--interval	Interval in days between frames in the GIF (GIF mode).	5

Examples

1. Plot a heliocentric view for the current date:

   python __main__.py

2. Plot a geocentric view for a specific date:

   python __main__.py --geocentric --date "2024-01-01"

3. Generate a heliocentric GIF for 100 days with a 10-day interval:

   python __main__.py --gif --duration 100 --interval 10

Output

Plots and GIFs are saved in the output directory under the project folder. The filenames include the type of view (geo or solar) and the date.

Implementation Details

• Heliocentric View: Plots planets around the Sun at their ecliptic longitudes.
• Geocentric View: Plots planets around Earth using right ascension values.
• GIF Creation: Saves frames in memory and compiles them into a GIF using imageio.

Notes

• The Moon's radius is fixed at 0.5 for visualization purposes in geocentric plots.
• The script uses ephem to compute celestial positions accurately.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Screenshots