A Java Program Generating Barycentric Observer Velocities from JPL Ephemerides

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Java program that calculates barycentric velocities of Earth-based observatories using JPL ephemerides, aiding astronomers in precise radial velocity measurements.

Contribution

It provides a new software tool that integrates ephemerides and Earth rotation data for accurate barycentric velocity computation.

Findings

Accurately computes barycentric velocities from JPL ephemerides.

Integrates Earth rotation corrections for improved precision.

Facilitates data reduction in astronomical radial velocity measurements.

Abstract

This works presents a program which computes velocities of an Earth-bound observatory in the reference frame of the barycenter of the solar system. It feeds from ephemerides files of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to extract the velocity of the geocenter, optionally with corrections from Earth rotation data of the International Earth Rotation Service, takes a datum (time and geodetic location) of the observer as parameters, and processes these data with the program library of the working group `Standards of Fundamental Astronomy' of the International Astronomical Union. The prospective application of the computed velocities is to subtract their projection onto a pointing direction from observed velocities in a step of data reduction of astronomic radial velocities.