Blog

The lunar eclipse of August 27–28, 2026 was awe inspiring for me. The moon changed colors, it jumped about the sky. the weather cooperated with a clear night sky. and I was able to conveniently view it with binoculars in my back yard. Here in Missouri it was Thursday night, while in Europe it was Friday morning.

I first wrote orbtimes almost twenty years ago. Back then there was a big need for personal information managers (PIMs). Having a calendar seemed like a useful way to organize my time, and writing my own seemed the thing to do. I had little awareness of how difficult such a task was, and how limited the prospects actually were. As I studied calendars, I got led to studying astronomy and astronomical calculations.

Back then I was a serious runner and bicyclist. And I used to browse bookstores for mathematics and physics books. That was where I found Peter Duffett-Smith’s book “Astronomy with your personal Computer”. Later I found other books on astronomical computing. This included Jean Meeus works. And a Springer hardcover book by Montenbruck and Pfleger. This book included a 3.5 inch floppy disk.

So I wrote my own calendar program drawing from the code listings in Peter’s book. I coded my program in C because that was what we used at work. And I coded on an Apple macintosh computer. Much of my program was centered on the graphical user interface and the guts of the core Macintosh code libraries. It was called QuickDraw but it should have been called SlowCoding because it seemed to take forever to get my code to work. Some of my time was spent checking and double checking the astronomical calculations. But most of my time was wasted on silly things, like worrying about the text caret in a text box. But I managed to get the majority of the calculations coded. And it ran nicely on the macintosh. I dubbed the program startime.

After about a year or so, Apple discontinued the hardware and the software. So Startime lost its home. Determined to keep my dream alive, I bought an used laptop at the McCarran airport lost and found auction. I installed linux on this laptop. I called the new program Orbtimes and focussed my energies solely on astronomical calculations. I abandoned the graphical calendar and the PIM functions.

And everytime there was a solar eclipse I got motivated to update my program, and to fix the bugs that cropped up. This eclipse was a lunar eclipse and was a new, delightful, and unexpected event.

So, I went to my free software orbtimes and went about calculating the event. I have updated it to compute moon tables.

./orbtimes -B12
location is latitude 36.000000 longitude -90.000000 daylight offset 1.000000
Sunset local day Monday 18:37.731439 October 5 2026
Sunrise local day Tuesday 6:59.224254 October 6 2026
Full Moon Table from 2026 10 (year month) for 12 months.
10: 2026 10 26 (ymd) 4: 1 (hm) -2 (local) 2461339.667689 (jd)
11: 2026 11 24 (ymd) 14:50 (hm) 8 (local) 2461369.118652 (jd)
12: 2026 12 24 (ymd) 1:29 (hm) -5 (local) 2461398.562099 (jd)
13: 2027 1 22 (ymd) 12:21 (hm) 6 (local) 2461428.014723 (jd)
14: 2027 2 20 (ymd) 23:23 (hm) 17 (local) 2461457.474498 (jd)
15: 2027 3 22 (ymd) 10:34 (hm) 4 (local) 2461486.940580 (jd)
16: 2027 4 20 (ymd) 22:14 (hm) 16 (local) 2461516.426392 (jd)
17: 2027 5 20 (ymd) 10:48 (hm) 4 (local) 2461545.950155 (jd)
18: 2027 6 19 (ymd) 0:41 (hm) -6 (local) 2461575.528574 (jd)
19: 2027 7 18 (ymd) 15:44 (hm) 9 (local) 2461605.156222 (jd)
20: 2027 8 17 (ymd) 7:31 (hm) 1 (local) 2461634.813211 (jd)
21: 2027 9 15 (ymd) 23: 6 (hm) 17 (local) 2461664.462745 (jd)
22: 2027 10 15 (ymd) 13:53 (hm) 7 (local) 2461694.078910 (jd)
New Moon Table from 2026 10 (year month) for 12 months.
10: 2026 10 10 (ymd) 16:12 (hm) 10 (local) 2461324.175131 (jd)
11: 2026 11 9 (ymd) 7:23 (hm) 1 (local) 2461353.808233 (jd)
12: 2026 12 9 (ymd) 1: 3 (hm) -5 (local) 2461383.544032 (jd)
13: 2027 1 7 (ymd) 20:26 (hm) 14 (local) 2461413.351784 (jd)
14: 2027 2 6 (ymd) 15:59 (hm) 9 (local) 2461443.166015 (jd)
15: 2027 3 8 (ymd) 9:36 (hm) 3 (local) 2461472.900531 (jd)
16: 2027 4 6 (ymd) 23:59 (hm) 17 (local) 2461502.499964 (jd)
17: 2027 5 6 (ymd) 11: 2 (hm) 5 (local) 2461531.959797 (jd)
18: 2027 6 4 (ymd) 19:42 (hm) 13 (local) 2461561.320847 (jd)
19: 2027 7 4 (ymd) 3: 1 (hm) -3 (local) 2461590.626361 (jd)
20: 2027 8 2 (ymd) 10: 8 (hm) 4 (local) 2461619.922907 (jd)
21: 2027 8 31 (ymd) 17:46 (hm) 11 (local) 2461649.240532 (jd)
22: 2027 9 30 (ymd) 2:42 (hm) -4 (local) 2461678.612634 (jd)

Solar eclipses must occur during new moons. Lunar eclipses during full moons. These calculations are my own. There is no warranty as to accuracy. If you find an error, please let me know!

add to /etc/sources.list.d/

deb [ arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nickstrauss.gpg ] http://apt.nick-strauss.com/apt/debian stable main

and place a binary public key nickstrauss.gpg in the directory /etc/apt/keyrings

from the ascii armored key nickstrauss.asc

—–BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–
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=lv0N
—–END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–

orbtimes –help
orbtimes –location –timezone –daylight
–query returns 1 if query is true, 0 otherwise
–selftest will run exhaustive test cases
–verbose will print diagnostic information

Examples:
orbtimes --location "36.048202N 114.950131W 0ft" --timezone -8.0  --daylight 1 
Called with no (or partial) arguments, and it will guess at timezone, location, and daylight savings.
orbtimes --location="48.22N 11.54E 0ft" -v
Called with --moon and/or other orbs.
orbtimes --moon --location="36.048621N 114.951226W" -v
Called with a query
orbtimes --moon --query "sunset>moonrise"
Called on a particular date and time
orbtimes -J 2457957.0 -vv
Called with two stars, solve for location with synthetic sightings
--star Vega --star Arcturus --location="36N90W"
Called with two stars, solve for location with two sightings
--star Vega --star Arcturus --sighting 58.725774 --sighting 61.740039
TBD solve for time and date with two sightings

All Options:
--location (-l) Specify location (latitude, longitude, elevation) e.g. "48.22N 11.54E 0ft"
--query (-q) Specify a query e.g. "sunrise<sunset"
--date (-D) Specify the date yyy-mm-day
--ztime (-Z) Specify the Zulu (UT) time. Use in conjunction with date. e.g. "23:6.1"
--datejd (-J) Specify the Julian day
--timezone (-t) Specify the timezone
--daylight (-d) Specify the daylight savings offset
--twilight_angle (-e) Specify a twilight angle (radians)
--solar_eclipse (-E) Run solar eclipse calculation for probability and time
--selftest (-s) Run self test mode
--verbose (-v) Print more information
--ascii_art (-A) Display option
--map (-m) Specify map (spacechart catalog)
--moon (-M) Display lunar (i.e. Moon) info
--moondays (-N) Display lunar new and full info
--mercury --venus --mars --jupiter --saturn --uranus --neptune (--orbs) Display each planets info (or all) 
--star (-9) Display star celestial (RA.DEC) and topographic (EL.AZ) info for date, time, location and epoch. 
  solve for location given two stars circle of equal position intersect.
  "An analytical solution of the Two Star Sight Problem of Celestial Navigation." Van Allen 1981.
  if no sightings, then guess elevation (EL) angles.
--sighting (-C) Set sighting elevation angle (EL) for respective star. 
--twilight (-T) Display twilight info [0..3] civil,nautical,astronomical,general

$ orbtimes –solar_eclipse
SOLAR_ECLIPSE CALCULATE -E
location is latitude 36.000000 longitude -90.000000 daylight offset 1.000000
Sunset local day Tuesday 19:50.505922 August 11 2026
Sunrise local day Wednesday 6:16.183105 August 12 2026
Check: Solar eclipse possible. MUST be at new moon 46245.468565 == 46245.234619 (12.000000 8.000000 2026.000000)
argument latitude 2.990440 event day 46245.000000 event fraction 0.234619
Check: calculating solar eclipse on date 2026 8 12 and location -90.000000 36.000000
moon_lat 0.151152
eclipse probability 1.000000 at UT time 18.017936

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Julian Day Number JD began at 12:00 PM (noon) Universal Time on January 1, 4713 BC. the variable JD is an extended precision floating point number, with the fractional part determining fractions of a day with respect to Universal Time (UT).

// Sunrise Friday   6:2.257904 July 25 2025 (local day)  Julian 2460881.959901 (hours UT=11.037632 )        
// location is latitude 36.000000 longitude -90.000000 daylight offset 1.000000       
    dj = JulianDays(25, 7, 2025);                                                                               
    jd = trueJulianDays(dj);                                                                                    
    icheck = (fabs(jd-2460881.959901)<1.0);                                                                     
                          

/* in our system we work with a modified
julianDay from 1900
*/
extended trueJulianDays(extended jd)
{
return jd + 2415020;
}

A song I heard many times. A song I sung many times. A song I play on the guitar. I believe the song references John 16:33.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

He has overcome the world, and so we can too.

My father was a scientist. I asked him, “What’s science?” He said that scientists ask questions, and make experiments to get answers. The question is called a hypothesis. Of course you don’t need to make a controlled experiment, many answers can be drawn from careful observation. This is called the scientific method.

Another method is called the Socratic method. In this, you are supposed to engage others in a dialog with questions and answers.

Both of these methods could be about uncovering truth.

Then, there is the method of blog, or diaries. One keeps a daily record, it could be weekly, or randomly of one’s Fear, feelings, fantasies, Love, observations. To what end? For what purpose?

I feel a need to search, to find answers. I feel a need to fill that hole in my life. I feel a need to communicate, to share, to love. I feel a need to be honest with myself.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”