Appendix: Final Update of the IAU Division A Commission 4 Working Group on Standardizing Access to Ephemerides and File Format Specification

James L. Hilton, Charles Acton, Jean-Eudes Arlot, Steven A. Bell, Nicole Capitaine, Agnès Fienga, William M. Folkner, Mickaël Gastineau, Dmitry Pavlov, Elena V. Pitjeva, Vladimir I. Skripnichenko, Patrick Wallace

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Volume 11, Issue T29A (Transactions IAU) (2016)

DOI: 10.1017/S1743921316000600

Abstract

The IAU Commission 4 Working Group on Standardizing Access to Ephemerides recommends the use of the Spacecraft and Planet Kernel (SPK) format to provide a uniform format for the position ephemerides of planets and other natural solar system bodies, and the use of the Planetary Constants Kernel (PCK) for the orientation of these bodies. These formats are used by the SPICE system, developed by the Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The working group's final report is currently undergoing final preparations for publication. A long version of this report will be available at the IAU Commission 4: Ephemerides (or its successor) web site. This long version will contain a full description of that portion of the SPK and PCK formats required to duplicate these file types for this application.