2023-01-31, 04:12 PM
I tend to agree with Phil's post #2. Although I would often find +/-15 days far too narrow. I very often like to see what a plot of a future NEA pass will look like in my sky. Maybe 48 hours either side of its closest approach. Unfortunately, using osculating elements fetched from Horizons is the only way to make ST do any sort of precision plotting over a several hour period in an IA.
What Phil, I think, is suggesting is to be able to load a "batch" set of those into an editor and save for any specific rock. As quick example, look at 2023 BN6 which has a 2LD pass on Feb. 4, 8:25UT at mag 14.8. If you edit the elements for a few days as:
2459978.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-03 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.361361850160800E-01 QR= 9.176589058671051E-01 IN= 1.198273040869708E+01
OM= 1.341825605562988E+02 W = 6.782822053059083E+01 Tp= 2460039.055970014073
N = 9.002229335844819E-01 MA= 3.054861270277121E+02 TA= 2.915388320657171E+02
A = 1.062272652182088E+00 AD= 1.206886398497071E+00 PR= 3.999009429437242E+02
2459979.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-04 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.373916635955650E-01 QR= 9.166394622812821E-01 IN= 1.198356129091044E+01
OM= 1.341822639829116E+02 W = 6.804448523075352E+01 Tp= 2460039.161668986082
N = 8.997600889833137E-01 MA= 3.063188114041699E+02 TA= 2.923457652918628E+02
A = 1.062636915963579E+00 AD= 1.208634369645875E+00 PR= 4.001066555494620E+02
2459980.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-05 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.385784768618187E-01 QR= 9.153635681974311E-01 IN= 1.192101563919726E+01
OM= 1.341771407316324E+02 W = 6.842044677572754E+01 Tp= 2460039.393495740369
N = 8.997818258575129E-01 MA= 3.070087028717792E+02 TA= 2.930020633463932E+02
A = 1.062619801816348E+00 AD= 1.209876035435266E+00 PR= 4.000969897974008E+02
What you can easily discover is that the rock is brighter (mag 13.9) on Feb 3 15:24UT.
SkyTools can quickly display this info having good elements. And make nice finder charts.
What Phil, I think, is suggesting is to be able to load a "batch" set of those into an editor and save for any specific rock. As quick example, look at 2023 BN6 which has a 2LD pass on Feb. 4, 8:25UT at mag 14.8. If you edit the elements for a few days as:
2459978.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-03 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.361361850160800E-01 QR= 9.176589058671051E-01 IN= 1.198273040869708E+01
OM= 1.341825605562988E+02 W = 6.782822053059083E+01 Tp= 2460039.055970014073
N = 9.002229335844819E-01 MA= 3.054861270277121E+02 TA= 2.915388320657171E+02
A = 1.062272652182088E+00 AD= 1.206886398497071E+00 PR= 3.999009429437242E+02
2459979.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-04 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.373916635955650E-01 QR= 9.166394622812821E-01 IN= 1.198356129091044E+01
OM= 1.341822639829116E+02 W = 6.804448523075352E+01 Tp= 2460039.161668986082
N = 8.997600889833137E-01 MA= 3.063188114041699E+02 TA= 2.923457652918628E+02
A = 1.062636915963579E+00 AD= 1.208634369645875E+00 PR= 4.001066555494620E+02
2459980.500000000 = A.D. 2023-Feb-05 00:00:00.0000 TDB
EC= 1.385784768618187E-01 QR= 9.153635681974311E-01 IN= 1.192101563919726E+01
OM= 1.341771407316324E+02 W = 6.842044677572754E+01 Tp= 2460039.393495740369
N = 8.997818258575129E-01 MA= 3.070087028717792E+02 TA= 2.930020633463932E+02
A = 1.062619801816348E+00 AD= 1.209876035435266E+00 PR= 4.000969897974008E+02
What you can easily discover is that the rock is brighter (mag 13.9) on Feb 3 15:24UT.
SkyTools can quickly display this info having good elements. And make nice finder charts.