I tried two routes, neither worked:
#1 Install using the linux_install.sh file, then run the installed version
Result: xephem: error while loading shared libraries: libXP.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Analysis: After much searching and library install attempts, this file seems long deprecated and not available for ubuntu 20.04

#2 compile from scratch using make MOTIF=../../libXm/linux86 (with the MOTFI and MOTIFL variables suitably modified in the makefile)
Result: crash because aavso.c can't find X11/extensions/Print.h The directory exists but Print.h does not because it is part of Xprint which has been deprecated since 2008 according to wikipedia.

Has anyone been able to make xephem work on ubuntu 20.04? If so how?

Yep. Have compiled and installed it on an Ubuntu 20.04 box. Cannot remember any problems, but needed to install some libs, probably the ones for Motif.

I will try again tomorrow and see, whether I can reproduce the issue you have and how to fix it...

You need libXp which is Xprint, rarely used anymore. Uh-oh, I'm not
seeing it in Debian Bullseye. I installed Xephem a year or so ago and
I don't remember that problem. Somebody left it out because they
didn't see the use of it, happens all the time. You could try to
build it from source but it's not simple. It's old, maybe 1980s. You
could ask Ubuntu to add it back, there was probably some problem
getting it to compile so they tossed it. Usually the more complaints
they get the more likely they are to invest time in it.

--
-------------
Education is contagious.

I tried two routes, neither worked:
#1 Install using the linux_install.sh file, then run the installed version
Result: xephem: error while loading shared libraries: libXP.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Analysis: After much searching and library install attempts, this file seems long deprecated and not available for ubuntu 20.04

#2 compile from scratch using make MOTIF=../../libXm/linux86 (with the MOTFI and MOTIFL variables suitably modified in the makefile)
Result: crash because aavso.c can't find X11/extensions/Print.h The directory exists but Print.h does not because it is part of Xprint which has been deprecated since 2008 according to wikipedia.

Has anyone been able to make xephem work on ubuntu 20.04? If so how?

Thanks.?

Am Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 2020, 21:59:09 CET schrieb Mathias Homann:

Am Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 2020, 17:57:49 CET schrieb Maxime GOMMEAUX:

Dear XEphem enthusiasts,

Is it possible (and hopefully, not too difficult) to install and run
XEphem
in the Windows Subsystem for Linux? Have you ever heard of someone trying
this?

should be easy enough - install openSUSE in WSL, install the XEphem RPM from
OBS, done.

oh, one thing though: you need an X server on windows and all that - I use
mobaXterm for that. works like a charm - install, open WSL session inside
mobaXterm, run X apps.

Cheers
MH


--
Mathias Homann
Senior Systems Engineer, IT Consultant. IT Trainer
Mathias.Homann@... (email / XMPP)
LinkedIn:
telegram:
keybase:
gpg key fingerprint: 8029 2240 F4DD 7776 E7D2 C042 6B8E 029E 13F2 C102

Am Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 2020, 17:57:49 CET schrieb Maxime GOMMEAUX:

Dear XEphem enthusiasts,

Is it possible (and hopefully, not too difficult) to install and run XEphem
in the Windows Subsystem for Linux? Have you ever heard of someone trying
this?

should be easy enough - install openSUSE in WSL, install the XEphem RPM from
OBS, done.



Cheers
MH

--
Mathias Homann
Senior Systems Engineer, IT Consultant. IT Trainer
Mathias.Homann@... (email / XMPP)
LinkedIn:
telegram:
keybase:
gpg key fingerprint: 8029 2240 F4DD 7776 E7D2 C042 6B8E 029E 13F2 C102

Dear XEphem enthusiasts,

Is it possible (and hopefully, not too difficult) to install and run XEphem in the Windows Subsystem for Linux? Have you ever heard of someone trying this?

Yours,
Maxime

Dear fellow Xephemonauts,

I recently tried to visualize the passage of Apollo near-Earth asteroid 2011ES4 through the solar system, but the plot shows it's position somwhere unexpected.
I double checked it on JPL Solar System Dynamics, but get a very different result.

I attached the two image files. The dates for both plots are the same: September 1st 2020, 0:00h UTC
I fetched the latest astorb.dat from the Lowell Minor Planet Services.

Has anybody an idea?

开云体育

Hey, Bernie.

I don't know anything about these USNO A2 subdirectories, but my usno folder is populated with the following files:

Gaia: ~ trane $ ls -l /usr/local/xephem/catalogs/usno
total 1298216
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 8326 May 12? 2004 readast.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff???? 12727 May 12? 2004 readme.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff???? 19366 May 12? 2004 readme.v20
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 4854 May 12? 2004 readmesa.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 1199 May 12? 2004 readmesa.v20
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff???? 11096 May 12? 2004 readpht.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff???? 29134 May 12? 2004 readpmm.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 6201 May 12? 2004 readuse.v10
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 6381 May 12? 2004 readuse.v20
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0000.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff?? 3052152 May 12? 2004 zone0000.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0075.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff?? 9083196 May 12? 2004 zone0075.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0150.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 14968068 May 12? 2004 zone0150.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0225.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 20472024 May 12? 2004 zone0225.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0300.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 25635408 May 12? 2004 zone0300.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0375.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 30337008 May 12? 2004 zone0375.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0450.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 34453488 May 12? 2004 zone0450.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0525.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 37932072 May 12? 2004 zone0525.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0600.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 40948416 May 12? 2004 zone0600.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0675.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 41942196 May 12? 2004 zone0675.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0750.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 40867848 May 12? 2004 zone0750.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0825.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 41095488 May 12? 2004 zone0825.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0900.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 40869072 May 12? 2004 zone0900.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone0975.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 40153776 May 12? 2004 zone0975.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1050.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 39405480 May 12? 2004 zone1050.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1125.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 37838388 May 12? 2004 zone1125.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1200.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 35579316 May 12? 2004 zone1200.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1275.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 32420964 May 12? 2004 zone1275.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1350.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 28552992 May 12? 2004 zone1350.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1425.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 24210864 May 12? 2004 zone1425.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1500.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 19156344 May 12? 2004 zone1500.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1575.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff? 13976316 May 12? 2004 zone1575.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1650.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff?? 8609532 May 12? 2004 zone1650.cat
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff????? 2880 May 12? 2004 zone1725.acc
-rw-r--r--? 1 trane? staff?? 2858460 May 12? 2004 zone1725.cat

It's probably worth noting that way back in ~2005-ish, I purchased the commercial release of XEphem 3.6.3, so I suspect the USNO files were populated through that vector during the install of Disk 2.

I hope that helps at least a little.

trane

Hi, I see everyone uses USNO's A2 object list but I have overlooked something.? My XEphem says "No zone files in /usr/share/xephem/catalogs/usno:? No such file or directory."

That directory is the one specified [by default installation] in the "xephem Field Stars setup" window and the "USNO A or SA catalogs" Root directory.

In the directory I have all the USNO A2 subdirectories N0000, N0730, ..., S8230.? I obtained them from ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/I/252/USNO_A2 .? Are those not the "zone files" ?

Thanks if you can toss a clue to the clueless,
Bernie

--

I've been using the solve tool to find, for example, times of quarter moon, maximum and minimum lunar declination, perigees.? I've learned by doing.? Always wonder whether there exists some kind of tutorial on this.? For one thing, Perihelion, and sometimes Perigee and Apogee, or other times, raise up an error, that the desired precision is not possible.? I usually just use trial and error, and broaden precision to, say, 20 or 30 minutes, or sometimes, for Perihelion or Aphelion, 1 to 2 hours.? I'd? love to see a good write-up on these processes.??

If I may be forgiven, perhaps this is a good time to mention some other ideas:

1. Could one define a macro to repeat the search parameters (24:00:00,? 10,000 repetitions) in one click?
2. Is a single search shortcut for times of quarter moons possible, possibly as a macro??

That's more than enough, I'm sure.?

Xephem is intuitive, in most respects.?? Little by little I am gaining in proficiency for my needs, which are modest.? Thank you very much.

Alan Davis

Hi,?
Has anyone used UCAC5 with XEphem? ?I've half hearted tried by obviously it's hard coded, just looked at the code. ?The version of XEphem I'm using will read UCAC4, unfortunately for myself UCAC4 has some problems in the southern hemisphere. The version of XEphem I'm using is 3.7.7 released August 9 2015. ?Is this the latest version? This version does read UCAC4. ?I'm looking through the code for patchlevel '3.7.5-RC9' and it's obvious that the format of the 'unf' file changed from 'unf3' to 'unf4'. ?I tried copying the 'unf5' file to 'unf4' but no luck obviously there's some versioning aspect inside the 'unf' file. ?So what to do? Has anyone solved this?
Cheers,
Mike Chapman

Dear Mathias and Serge,
You both offered to create an updated version of your favorite distributions (SuSE for Mathias and Knoppix for Serge) including XEphem as well as other astronomy software.
Have you made some progress in this prospect?
Yours,
Maxime

Other Macports users report the same bug:?
Until the port is fixed XEphem is DOA via Macports, it seems.

Uninstalling XEphem from Macports, reinstalling XQuartz, and rebuilding XEphem in Macports still failed. ?I downloaded the 3.7.7 source code, installed OpenSSL via MacPorts, applied the two patches in the User Contrib directory, and XEphem built successfully.

I'm thinking something is broken with Macports after all.

Too many typos; sorry for all that; quartz was failing..reinstalling that and the executable of XEphem fixed it all up.

Further investigations revealed that it was quartz that was "broken"; reinstalled it and did a fresh installation of the execrable of XEphem, and all is well.
Thanks to all for your help & support.