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astropy / astropy-data

The source for the astropy data repository (although the primary server is not on github)
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some latitude/longitude hardcoded in sites.json not accurate #144

Open taichiuyama opened 8 hours ago

taichiuyama commented 8 hours ago

Description

For the coordinates of the Mauna Kea observatories, I found inconsistencies between sites.json and IRTF reports. https://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/observing/telescopeCoordinates.php At least the IRTF one is consistent with Subaru; https://subarutelescope.org/Observing/Telescope/Parameters/

Additional context

I need accurate latitude and longitude to calculate precession-corrected parameters.

hamogu commented 8 hours ago

Hi @taichiuyama thanks for checking. The data for the sites.json is contributed by users like you. It would be great if you could open a pull request to improve whatever you found. Originally, this database was meant for observation planning to get the time of sunset/sunrise etc and no great precision was needed. It's only later that people started using it outside of the original use case. So, we would very much welcome a pull request to update information as needed.

taichiuyama commented 7 hours ago

thank you @hamogu for clarifying the data format, I thought the astropy databases were accurate. will check other coordinates and open a pull request later.