Merge pull request #68 from observerly/feature/transit/isBodyCircumpolar

feat: Added isBodyCircumpolar() to transit module in @observerly/astr…

src/transit.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,44 @@
 /*****************************************************************************************************************/
 
 // @author         Michael Roberts <[email protected]>
-// @package        @observerly/astrometry/transits
+// @package        @observerly/astrometry/transit
 // @license        Copyright © 2021-2023 observerly
 
 /*****************************************************************************************************************/
 
-export {}
+import { type EquatorialCoordinate, type GeographicCoordinate } from './common'
+
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+/**
+ *
+ * isBodyCircumpolar()
+ *
+ * An object is considered circumpolar if it is always above the observer's horizon
+ * and never sets. This is true when the object's declination is greater than 90
+ * degrees minus the observer's latitude.
+ *
+ * @param observer - The geographic coordinate of the observer.
+ * @param target - The equatorial coordinate of the observed object.
+ * @param horizon - The observer's horizon (in degrees).
+ * @returns a boolean indicating whether the target is circumpolar.
+ */
+export const isBodyCircumpolar = (
+  observer: GeographicCoordinate,
+  target: EquatorialCoordinate,
+  horizon: number = 0
+): boolean => {
+  // We only need to consider the latitude of the observer:
+  const { latitude } = observer
+
+  // We only need to consider the declination of the target object:
+  const { dec } = target
+
+  const extrema = 90 - Math.abs(latitude) - horizon
+
+  // If the object's declination is greater than 90 degrees minus the observer's latitude,
+  // then the object is circumpolar (always above the observer's horizon and never sets).
+  return latitude >= 0 ? dec > extrema : dec < extrema
+}
 
 /*****************************************************************************************************************/

tests/transit.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+// @author         Michael Roberts <[email protected]>
+// @package        @observerly/astrometry/epoch
+// @license        Copyright © 2021-2023 observerly
+
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+import { type EquatorialCoordinate, isBodyCircumpolar } from '../src'
+
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+// For testing we need to specify a date because most calculations are
+// differential w.r.t a time component. We set it to the author's birthday:
+export const datetime = new Date('2021-05-14T00:00:00.000+00:00')
+
+// For testing we will fix the latitude to be Manua Kea, Hawaii, US
+export const latitude = 19.820611
+
+// For testing we will fix the longitude to be Manua Kea, Hawaii, US:
+export const longitude = -155.468094
+
+// For testing
+const polaris: EquatorialCoordinate = { ra: 37.95456, dec: 89.264108 }
+
+// For testing
+const betelgeuse: EquatorialCoordinate = { ra: 5.919529, dec: 7.407064 }
+
+// For testings
+const sigmaOctantis: EquatorialCoordinate = { ra: 21.07875, dec: -88.9569444 }
+
+/*****************************************************************************************************************/
+
+describe('isBodyCircumpolar', () => {
+  it('should be defined', () => {
+    expect(isBodyCircumpolar).toBeDefined()
+  })
+
+  it('should return true for northerm hemisphere circumpolar objects', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        polaris,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('should return false for northerm hemisphere non-circumpolar objects', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        sigmaOctantis,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('should return true for southern hemisphere circumpolar objects', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude: -latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        sigmaOctantis,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('should return false for southern hemisphere non-circumpolar objects', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude: -latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        polaris,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('should return false for an object that does set below the horizon', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        betelgeuse,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('should return true for an object that does not set below the horizon', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBodyCircumpolar(
+        {
+          latitude: -latitude,
+          longitude
+        },
+        betelgeuse,
+        0
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+})