Solpage

Solpage is a software program that computes planetary positions, angles and conjunctions for a given date or time-frame. In order to accurately compute the positions of the planets, Solpage uses the periodic terms as provided by the VSOP87 solution.

History

Software development started in February 2016. Initially only the conjunction computation engine was developed. This engine computes the exact time when two celestial bodies reach the same longitude relative to a third, centric celestial body. Throughout 2016 this engine was corrected and optimized to handle 8 decimal digits precision and to prevent "jumping over conjunctions" with the fast moving celestial bodies Mercury, Venus and the Moon.

In October 2016 the listing of positions and angles for a given time and centric view was added.

In November 2016 more features were added, the most important of which was the possibility to lookup combinations of different angles in a given time-frame.

In July and August 2017 the first Solar System Geometry Index (SSGI) algorithm was added in an attempt to increase the accuracy of earthquake forecasts. This algorithm was revised and extended several times in the following years.

In February 2020 Solpage reached version 6. Some code was optimized. Several options were added to make the program more convenient to use and to allow for more selective data to be generated.

With the release of version 7 in September 2020, Lunar sub-geometry (LSG) was added, both to the angles tab as well as to the SSGI algorithms. Some experimental options, such as wide planetary geometry (WPG) were added in subsequent minor versions during 2020 and 2021.

As of version 7.4, which was released in September 2021, some SSGI algorithms were further categorized into Mercury-specific (PGme), Venus-specific (PGve) and general planetary geometry (PG). This way, the resulting SSGI graphs make directly visible which geometry is predominant.

In September 2022 a significant relationship between Mercury and Venus was analyzed and found to potentially trigger major earthquakes that could not be explained previously, like in June 2020. This geometry, after being added to the SSGI algorithm in November 2022, was put to the test in January 2023 when Mercury and Venus reached 90° with Uranus on the 7th and 8th respectively. Major earthquakes indeed occurred on 8 and 9 January (peaking magnitude 7.6).

In December 2022, with version 7.8, lunar geometry is being depicted on the common SSGI graph in more detail whereby the traditional lunar peaks (green) are now depicted as MLG (mean lunar geometry). Up until this version the Windows and Linux ports of Solpage are identical.

With the latest revisions in the second half of 2022, which completes a development period of 9 years, we believe that most of the significant planetary and lunar geometry has been mapped.

With major version 8.0 in May 2023 a reporting system was added to the Linux version in order to speed up earthquake report generation for the website.

In August 2023 parts of the interface of the Linux version were redesigned. Most notably, the interface was enlarged and certain settings rearranged in order to improve the look and features accessibility. This long awaited interface upgrade came with major version 9.0.

Solpage v9.0 with the Colloid theme on Debian Linux 12.

Unique

While most planetary computation software is limited to heliocentric and geocentric positions, Solpage is unique in that it supports any centric view. It was one of the main reasons for starting the Solpage project.

Example

As an example we ask Solpage when Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune will make an exact conjunction between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2199. With a Jupitercentric search, the program finds one match:

2167-02-08, 22:03:59 301°21'55"

So according to Solpage the next time Uranus and Neptune are conjunct as seen from Jupiter is on 8 February 2167 at 22:03:59 UTC, when the longitude of both planets reach 301°21'55". Below is a screenshot taken from Solar System Scope depicting the planetary positions on 8 February 2167 at 22:03 with the conjunction marked by the yellow line.

A rare conjunction of Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, 8 February 2167

Speed

The computation of the above example was first done on Manjaro Linux 17.1.11 using an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 GHz processor. It took Solpage about 5 seconds to scan 200 years and display the result. The most recent test was on Debian 12 with an Intel Celeron dual core G4930 3.20 GHz processor and covered the period from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2199 (210 years). Solpage did the computation in 13 seconds and found two maches: