Comment Comment by hoten I recently[1] learned that you can telnet to a NASA machine to query various information about astronomical bodies, including man-made satellites.> telnet horizons.jpl.nasa.gov 6775The interface is pretty difficult to use, but there is a python wrapper for it. I forced myself to stumble through the telnet interface.> Voyager(no semicolon–othewise it'd look up in the small-bodies table)That tells you Voyager 1 is ID 31, and Voyager 2 is ID 32.> 31> E> <Enter> x2 (take defaults)> 2022-06-18> 2022-06-19> 1h> <Enter>> ASpits out this data:https://gist.github.com/connorjclark/de205ce62a7f1d4fda6d8fa...I'm not knowledgable enough to know how to utilize this data in an interesting way, but I assume this "Ephemeris" data can be utilized to determine where to point your telescope for any given object.[1] https://twitter.com/cjamcl/status/1536609292572184576 parent hoten 4 years ago
> telnet horizons.jpl.nasa.gov 6775
The interface is pretty difficult to use, but there is a python wrapper for it. I forced myself to stumble through the telnet interface.
> Voyager
(no semicolon–othewise it'd look up in the small-bodies table)
That tells you Voyager 1 is ID 31, and Voyager 2 is ID 32.
> 31
> E
> <Enter> x2 (take defaults)
> 2022-06-18
> 2022-06-19
> 1h
> <Enter>
> A
Spits out this data:
https://gist.github.com/connorjclark/de205ce62a7f1d4fda6d8fa...
I'm not knowledgable enough to know how to utilize this data in an interesting way, but I assume this "Ephemeris" data can be utilized to determine where to point your telescope for any given object.
[1] https://twitter.com/cjamcl/status/1536609292572184576