NASA/JPL Horizons Batch to PHP Code Conversion Tool

NASA/JPL Horizons Batch to PHP Code Conversion Tool
A PHP Tool For Use With the NASA/JPL Horizons API

Program by Jay Tanner of Geneva, NY, USA - 2026
Double-Click Within Text Area to Select ALL Batch Text
Double-Click Within Text Area to Select ALL PHP Code
Double-Click Within Text Area to Select ALL Text
To make use of this PHP tool requires the user to have a PHP-enabled public
or private web site or home web server with an Internet connection to access
the NASA/JPL Horizons API remotely.

This program assumes that the user is at least minimally familiar with PHP
and the NASA/JPL Horizons web interface and knows how to use the interface
to generate a basic ephemeris.  All of the same Horizons rules apply here.

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EXAMPLE: Using the initial default Horizons interface app settings.

This example demonstrates how to create your own custom NASA/JPL
Horizons ephemeris functions using PHP (v8.2+). Most of the code
is generic, so it should run on most versions of PHP after v5.

It's really rather simple.

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STEP 1:

In a new browser tab:

Go to the NASA/JPL Horizons public web app at:
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html

Simply use whatever default settings are already set up there
for this example. Nothing needs to be changed.

You will see a green button at the bottom of the interface that
says [Generate Ephemeris].  Ignore that button for now.

Above that green button is a statement offering to provide a batch
file corresponding to the settings.

Simply click on 'this link' at the end of the statement and then
the requested  batch-file text will be generated below the green
button.  This is the batch text we need to begin the demo work.

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STEP 2:

Copy the entire block of the returned 'Batch Data File' text and
paste it into the light cyan input text area above. The batch text
file always begins with the header line:
!$$SOF
followed by a list of Horizons API ephemeris control parameters.

Then click the [SUBMIT] button to generate the  PHP source code
required to generate the ephemeris thereafter.

Running the generated source code should produce the same ephemeris.
The code can then be modified and adapted for custom application.

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This program  makes it easy to construct your own PHP  software to
compute customized ephemerides based on the NASA/JPL Horizons API.

You make all the settings necessary  to generate your ephemeris and
then generate the batch-file text. The batch-file text will be used
to generate independent PHP source code  to perform all of the same
operations needed to generate the ephemeris.   The code can then be
used as a template around  which to develop  a customized astronomy
program in PHP.  This tool is designed to save software development
time.

The functions generated should be ready to run in demo mode and you
can take it from there and develop a customized program around it.

======================================================================
If you want  to find the date when Voyager 1  will reach a distance of
one light day (1440 light minutes) from Earth, use the following batch
file text to generate the PHP function code for a daily ephemeris just
for that purpose.  See dates: 2026-Nov-19 / 2026-Nov-20

This ephemeris is geocentric UTC.

!$$SOF
MAKE_EPHEM='YES'
EPHEM_TYPE='OBSERVER'
CENTER='500@399'
COMMAND='-31'
OBJ_DATA='NO'
START_TIME='2026-Nov-01'
STOP_TIME='2026-Dec-01'
STEP_SIZE='1 DAY'
SUPPRESS_RANGE_RATE='YES'
CSV_FORMAT='YES'
QUANTITIES='20,21'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want  to find the date when Voyager 2  will reach a distance of
one light day (1440 light minutes) from Earth, use the following batch
file text to generate the PHP function code for a daily ephemeris just
for that purpose.  See dates: 2035-Nov-01 / 2035-Nov-02

This ephemeris is geocentric UTC.

!$$SOF
MAKE_EPHEM='YES'
EPHEM_TYPE='OBSERVER'
CENTER='500@399'
COMMAND='-32'
OBJ_DATA='NO'
START_TIME='2035-Nov-01'
STOP_TIME='2035-Dec-01'
STEP_SIZE='1 DAY'
SUPPRESS_RANGE_RATE='YES'
CSV_FORMAT='YES'
QUANTITIES='20,21'

======================================================================
CAVEAT

The executable PHP will fail if there are any erroneous batch data
entries, but this will not be detected until run-time.

======================================================================
Hint: By changing the COMMAND to another ID number, the same derived
script can be used for that object instead.

The ID# is the number of the object in the NASA/JPL Horizons database.
10  = Sun
199 = Mercury
299 = Venus
399 = Earth
301 = Moon
...
499 = Mars
...
999 = Pluto
======================================================================
Program by Jay Tanner of Geneva, NY, USA - 2026
v1.10 - Revised: 1970-January-01-Thursday at Local Time 00:00:00 (UTC)