ephemeris

Table of the positions of celestial bodies at regular intervals, often with supplementary information. Constructed as early as the 4th century BC, ephemerides are still essential to astronomers and navigators. Modern ephemerides are calculated, with heavy computing and careful checking, after a mathematical description of a heavenly body's observed motion has been evolved. Various national ephemerides are published regularly; the U.S. ephemeris, first published in 1852, became the best and is now published jointly with the U.K. as The Astronomical Almanac.

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