A comparison of the high accuracy planetary ephemerides DE421, EPM2008, and INPOP08
Abstract
At the heart of many astronomical applications lies a planetary ephemeris. Since the 1980s the de facto world standard has been the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's DE (Development Ephemeris) series ephemerides. Recently, ephemerides from the Paris Observatory (Intégrateur Numérique Planétaire de l'Observatoire de Paris, or INPOP) and the Institute of Applied Astronomy in St. Petersburg (Ephemerides Planets-Moon, or EPM) have become available. These two ephemerides now provide accuracies similar to those from JPL. Here we compare the constants, initial conditions, and planetary positions produced by DE421, INPOP08, and EPM2008, the most recent ephemerides released for gen- eral use from these three groups. Ultimately, the true test of any ephemeris is how well its predictions compare with actual observations. Other considerations, such as availability, shall be discussed as well.
- Publication:
-
Journées Systèmes de Référence Spatio-temporels 2010
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011jsrs.conf...77H