Abstract
Abstract We present a tool for the comparison and validation of the integration packages suitable for Solar System dynamics. iCompare, written in Python, compares the ephemeris prediction accuracy of a suite of commonly-used integration packages (JPL/HORIZONS, OpenOrb, OrbFit at present). It integrates a set of test particles with orbits picked to explore both usual and unusual regions in Solar System phase space and compares the computed to reference ephemerides. The results are visualized in an intuitive dashboard. This allows for the assessment of integrator suitability as a function of population, as well as monitoring their performance from version to version (a capability needed for the Rubin Observatory’s software pipeline construction efforts). We provide the code on GitHub with a readily runnable version in Binder (https://github.com/dirac-institute/iCompare).
Highlights
Accurate computation of positions and velocities of Solar System objects is a challenging problem solved by special-purpose numerical integration software packages
We present a tool for the comparison and validation of the integration packages suitable for Solar System dynamics. iCompare, written in Python, compares the ephemeris prediction accuracy of a suite of commonlyused integration packages (JPL/HORIZONS, OpenOrb, OrbFit at present)
A number of these are in use by the dynamics community: JPL/HORIZONS1, OpenOrb2 (Granvik et al 2015), and OrbFit3 to name a few
Summary
Accurate computation of positions and velocities of Solar System objects (ephemerides) is a challenging problem solved by special-purpose numerical integration software packages (integrators). JPL/HORIZONS is generally regarded as the “gold standard” for highprecision short-term computation, while others may excel for different purposes (e.g., longer-term integration). One would like a tool that can automatically compute and compare the ephemerides produced by a suite of integrators, and visually present the results. 2019) is required to accurately predict the positions of known moving objects to enable association and monitoring thereof. In this note we present iCompare, a software package for comparison and validation of Solar System integrators. Written in Python, it compares the ephemerides prediction accu-. Racies of a suite of commonly-used integrators, and displays the results in a color-coded table
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