Methods

$moon = Astro::Coord::ECI::Moon->new ();

This method instantiates an object to represent the coordinates of the Moon. This is a subclass of Astro::Coord::ECI, with the id and name attributes set to 'Moon', and the diameter attribute set to 3476 km per Jean Meeus' "Astronomical Algorithms", 2nd Edition, Appendix I, page 407.

Any arguments are passed to the set() method once the object has been instantiated. Yes, you can override the "hard-wired" id and name in this way.

If $Astro::Coord::ECI::Moon::Singleton is true, you get a singleton object; that is, only one object is instantiated and subsequent calls to "new()" just return that object. If higher-accuracy subclasses are ever implemented, there will be one singleton for each class.

The singleton logic only works if Scalar::Util exports "weaken()". If it does not, the setting of $Astro::Coord::ECI::Moon::Singleton is silently ignored. The default is true if Scalar::Util can be loaded and exports "weaken()", and false otherwise.

@almanac = $moon->almanac ($station, $start, $end);

This method produces almanac data for the Moon for the given observing station, between the given start and end times. The station is assumed to be Earth-Fixed - that is, you can't do this for something in orbit.

The $station argument may be omitted if the "station" attribute has been set. That is, this method can also be called as

 @almanac = $moon->almanac( $start, $end )
    

The start time defaults to the current time setting of the $moon object, and the end time defaults to a day after the start time.

The almanac data consists of a list of list references. Each list reference points to a list containing the following elements:

 [0] => time
 [1] => event (string)
 [2] => detail (integer)
 [3] => description (string)
    

The @almanac list is returned sorted by time.

The following events, details, and descriptions are at least potentially returned:

 horizon: 0 = Moon set, 1 = Moon rise;
 transit: 1 = Moon transits meridian;
 quarter: 0 = new moon, 1 = first quarter,
          2 = full moon, 3 = last quarter.
    

@almanac = $moon->almanac_hash($station, $start, $end);

This convenience method wraps $moon->almanac(), but returns a list of hash references, sort of like Astro::Coord::ECI::TLE->pass() does. The hashes contain the following keys:

  {almanac} => {
    {event} => the event type;
    {detail} => the event detail (typically 0 or 1);
    {description} => the event description;
  }
  {body} => the original object ($moon);
  {station} => the observing station;
  {time} => the time the quarter occurred.
    

The {time}, {event}, {detail}, and {description} keys correspond to elements 0 through 3 of the list returned by almanac().

$coord2 = $coord->clone ();

If singleton objects are enabled, this override of the superclass' method simply returns the invocant. Otherwise it does a deep clone of an object, producing a different but identical object.

Prior to version 0.099_01 it always returned a clone. Yes, this is a change in long-standing functionality, but a long-standing bug is still a bug.

$elevation = $moon->correct_for_refraction( $elevation )

This override of the superclass' method simply returns the elevation passed to it. Since the Moon has no atmosphere to speak of, there should be no diffraction to speak of either.

See the Astro::Coord::ECI "azel()" and "azel_offset()" documentation for whether this class' "correct_for_refraction()" method is actually called by those methods.

($time, $quarter, $desc) = $moon->next_quarter ($want);

This method calculates the time of the next quarter-phase of the Moon after the current time setting of the $moon object. The returns are the time, which quarter-phase it is as a number from 0 (new moon) to 3 (last quarter), and a string describing the phase. If called in scalar context, you just get the time.

The optional $want argument says which phase you want.

As a side effect, the time of the $moon object ends up set to the returned time.

The method of calculation is successive approximation, and actually returns the second after the quarter.

$hash_reference = $moon->next_quarter_hash($want);

This convenience method wraps $moon->next_quarter(), but returns the data in a hash reference, sort of like Astro::Coord::ECI::TLE->pass() does. The hash contains the following keys:

  {body} => the original object ($moon);
  {almanac} => {
    {event} => 'quarter',
    {detail} => the quarter number (0 through 3);
    {description} => the quarter description;
  }
  {time} => the time the quarter occurred.
    

The {time}, {detail}, and {description} keys correspond to elements 0 through 2 of the list returned by next_quarter().

$period = $moon->period ()

This method returns the sidereal period of the Moon, per Appendix I (pg 408) of Jean Meeus' "Astronomical Algorithms," 2nd edition.

($phase, $illum) = $moon->phase ($time);

This method calculates the current phase of the moon and its illuminated fraction. If the time is omitted, the current time of the $moon object is used.

The phase is returned as a number from 0 to "2 * PI" radians, with 0 being New Moon, "PI / 2" being First Quarter, and so on. The illuminated fraction is a number from 0 (New Moon) to 1 (Full Moon).

If called in scalar context, you get the phase.

This can be called as a class method, but if you do this the time must be specified.

Jean Meeus' "Astronomical Algorithms", 2nd Edition, Chapter 49 page 349, defines the phases of the moon in terms of the difference between the geocentric longitudes of the Moon and Sun - specifically, that new, first quarter, full, and last quarter are the moments when this difference is 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees respectively.

Not quite above reproach, this module simply defines the phase of the Moon as the difference between these two quantities, even if it is not a multiple of 90 degrees. This is different than the "phase angle" of the Moon, which Meeus defines as the elongation of the Earth from the Sun, as seen from the Moon. Because we take the "phase angle" as just pi - the phase (in radians), we introduce an error of about 0.3% in the illumination calculation.

$moon->time_set ()

This method sets coordinates of the object to the coordinates of the Moon at the object's currently-set universal time. The velocity components are arbitrarily set to 0, since Meeus' algorithm does not provide this information. The 'equinox_dynamical' attribute is set to the currently-set dynamical time.

Although there's no reason this method can't be called directly, it exists to take advantage of the hook in the Astro::Coord::ECI object, to allow the position of the Moon to be computed when the object's time is set.

The computation comes from Jean Meeus' "Astronomical Algorithms", 2nd Edition, Chapter 47, pages 337ff. Meeus gives the accuracy as 10 seconds of arc in latitude, and 4 seconds of arc in longitude. He credits the algorithm to M. Chalpront-Touze and J. Chalpront, "The Lunar Ephemeris ELP 2000" from Astronomy and Astrophysics volume 124, pp 50-62 (1983), but the formulae for the mean arguments to J. Chalpront, M. Chalpront-Touze, and G. Francou, Introduction dans ELP 2000-82B de nouvelles valeurs des parametres orbitaux de la Lune et du barycentre Terre-Lune, Paris, January 1998.

Historical Calculations

See Historical Calculations in the Astro::Coord::ECI::Sun documentation for a discussion of input and output time conversion.