Introduction

The text below describes how to compute the positions in the sky of the Sun, Moon and the major planets out to Neptune. The algorithm for Pluto is taken from a fourier fit to Pluto's position as computed by numerical integration at JPL. Positions of other celestial bodies as well (i.e. comets and asteroids) can also be computed, if their orbital elements are available.

These formulae may seem complicated, but I believe this is the simplest method to compute planetary positions with the fairly good accuracy of about one arc minute (=1/60 degree). Any further simplifications will yield lower accuracy, but of course that may be ok, depending on the application.