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  Changes for SOFA Issue: 2017-04-20

The changes fall into the following categories:

  • Implementation of the IAU 2012 definition of the astronomical unit (au). Not only has this constant been updated, but also
    • all derived quantities are evaluated via the appropriate formulas, and
    • all documentation now uses the appropriate symbols for the unit, for example, 1 au and 2.3 au/day.
  • Update to PVSTAR to make it consistent with the version of STARPV that was updated in the previous release.
  • Other minor typographical corrections to various routines.

 Changes to the SOFA FORTRAN Library

  • The IAU 2012 value of the astronomical unit (au) is now implemented in these six routines:
    • iau_APCS
    • iau_LDN
    • iau_PMPX
    • iau_PVSTAR
    • iau_STARPM
    • iau_STARPV
  • An expression (sqrt(1-x)-1), where x is usually tiny, has been replaced with (-x/(sqrt(1-x)+1) to improve numerical precision in iau_PVSTAR.
  • Check values in the validation program t_sofa_f have been updated due to the change in the astronomical unit.
  • The SOFA Astrometry Tools cookbook sofa_ast_f.pdf:
    • In the table on page 22 there is a change of +1×10-7 seconds in RA for three results when compared to using the previous value for the au. These cases are repeated on the next 2 pages.
    • The listing of the relativistic version of the routine iau_PMPX in the Appendix has been updated on page 77 with the required changes for the au.

 Changes to the SOFA ANSI C Library

  • The astronomical unit (au) has been updated in the sofam.h include file and all constants that are derived from the au have been replaced by the appropriate formulas.
  • An expression (sqrt(1-x)-1), where x is usually tiny, has been replaced with (-x/(sqrt(1-x)+1) to improve numerical precision in iauPvstar.
  • Check values in the validation program t_sofa_c have been updated due to the change in the astronomical unit.
  • The SOFA Astrometry Tools cookbook sofa_ast_c.pdf:
    • In the table on page 20 there is a change of +1×10-7 seconds in RA for three results when compared to using the previous value for the au. These cases are repeated on the next three pages.
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Last modified: 2017 April 19