NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Antoine Couëtte
Date: 2023 Jan 28, 12:23 -0800
For Robert and Dave, thanks for your last replies and explanations. All our results fully agree, and that's excellent.
Frank, you asked " Do you know, was this the origin of the name SOLEX? "
" Solex" was an early if not the initial author's own acronym he used to name his now celebrated "Solar Experiment" software.
This " Solex " name immediately caught my attention the first time I read it since in France " Solex " used to be a celebrated ... moped brand .
Frank, you also very rightly mention the classical "Great Circle" computation here. I have at times even used the R⇾P (Rectangular to Polar) which also works quite well for planets less than a few degrees apart. But for all configurations including bodies far from the Equator, "Great Circle" computation is to be used.
BTW, I watched Venus and Saturn on Jan 22 nd by 17:00 UT, i.e. a few hours ahead of minimum apparent distance. Nice to see them since the day before their distance was significantly greater, and their relative configuration in the sky was quite different. On the USA East Coast you were ideally located to watch it at a time very close from of minimum distance.
Antoine