Astro Math

Fast astronomical calculations in Rust with Python bindings. Built for telescope control, sky surveys, and astronomical data processing.

Installation

Rust

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
astro-math = "0.2"
chrono = "0.4"

Python

pip install astro-math

Or build from source with maturin:

cd astro-math-py
maturin develop

Quick Example

use astro_math::{Location, ra_dec_to_alt_az};
use chrono::Utc;

// Parse observer location from various formats
let location = Location::parse("40.7128 N", "74.0060 W", 10.0)?;

// Convert celestial coordinates to horizon coordinates
let (alt, az) = ra_dec_to_alt_az(279.23, 38.78, Utc::now(), &location)?;
println!("Altitude: {:.2}°, Azimuth: {:.2}°", alt, az);

Examples

The examples/ directory contains working code for common tasks:

• basic_transforms.rs - Convert between coordinate systems (RA/Dec ↔ Alt/Az)
• location_parsing.rs - Parse coordinates from strings in 25+ formats
• proper_motion.rs - Apply stellar proper motion over time
• rise_set_times.rs - Calculate when objects rise and set
• moon_phases.rs - Moon position, phase, and illumination
• precession.rs - Precess coordinates between epochs
• galactic_coords.rs - Convert between equatorial and galactic coordinates
• telescope_pointing.rs - Real-time telescope coordinate conversion
• batch_processing.rs - Process large coordinate datasets efficiently

Run any example:

cargo run --example basic_transforms

Features

• Coordinate Transformations: RA/Dec ↔ Alt/Az, Galactic, Ecliptic
• Location Parsing: Handles DMS, HMS, decimal degrees, and mixed formats
• Time Systems: Proper UTC/TT conversion with leap second tables
• Stellar Motion: Proper motion, precession, nutation, aberration
• Solar System: Sun/Moon positions, phases, rise/set times
• Performance: Parallel batch processing, optimized algorithms

Validation

Tested against AstroPy to ensure accuracy:

• Coordinate transformations: Sub-arcsecond agreement
• Time calculations: Microsecond precision
• Performance benchmarks: See benchmarks/ notebooks for detailed comparisons

The Jupyter notebooks in benchmarks/ show comprehensive testing against AstroPy across thousands of test cases.

Architecture

• astro-math/ - Core Rust library
• astro-math-py/ - Python bindings via PyO3
• examples/ - Rust usage examples
• benchmarks/ - Performance analysis notebooks

Contributing

Built using the IAU SOFA algorithms and Jean Meeus formulations. See individual module documentation for implementation details and references.

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0