refine_pass

ssapy.compute.refine_pass(orbit, observer, time, propagator=KeplerianPropagator(), horizon=np.float64(0.3490658503988659), maxSpan=86400.0)[source][source]

Refine a satellite overhead pass.

Parameters:

  • orbit (Orbit) – Orbit in question.

  • observer (EarthObserver.) – Observer for which to refine pass.

  • time (float or astropy.time.Time) – A time when satellite is visible to observer. (Found using find_passes, for instance) If float, then should correspond to GPS seconds; i.e., seconds since 1980-01-06 00:00:00 UTC

  • propagator (Propagator, optional) – The propagator instance to use.

  • horizon (float or Quantity, optional) – Minimum altitude for which to consider a satellite “visible”. If float, then should be in radians.

  • maxSpan (float or Quantity, optional) – Maximum amount of time before or after time to search for rise/set times, or time of max altitude. If float, then seconds.

Returns:

Dictionary with these keys:

  • tStart (Time): Time at which Orbit rises above horizon.

  • tEnd (Time): Time at which Orbit falls below horizon.

  • tMaxAlt (Time): Time Orbit passes through maximum altitude.

  • maxAlt (Quantity): Maximum altitude.

  • duration (Quantity): Duration of pass.

  • illumAtStart (bool): Whether satellite is illuminated at tStart.

  • illumAtEnd (bool): Whether satellite is illuminated at tEnd.

  • tTerminator (Time or None): Time satellite passes through the cylindrical terminator shadow when illumination changes during the pass.

  • sunAltStart (Quantity): Altitude of sun at tStart.

  • sunAltEnd (Quantity): Altitude of sun at tEnd.

Return type:

dict