Celestial mechanics calculations have long been dominated by the Swiss Ephemeris, but its aging C codebase and proprietary limitations leave astronomers and developers wanting something better. Enter LibEphemeris, a ambitious project that bridges the gap between NASA’s gold-standard planetary data and modern, maintainable code that scientists can actually understand and contribute to.
Built on NASA’s JPL DE440 ephemerides - the same data powering Mars rovers and deep space missions - LibEphemeris delivers professional-grade astronomical calculations through a clean Python API that’s drop-in compatible with pyswisseph. The library leverages Skyfield’s robust framework to compute planetary positions, lunar phases, and orbital mechanics with the precision demanded by research astronomy, while maintaining the familiar interface that astrological software developers already know. The roadmap includes a performance-focused Rust rewrite using Starfield, promising both blazing speed and memory safety.
Whether you’re tracking asteroid trajectories, planning telescope observations, or building the next generation of astronomical software, LibEphemeris offers the rare combination of NASA-grade accuracy and developer-friendly design. While still in pre-alpha, this project represents a fundamental shift toward truly open astronomical computing - where the same ephemeris data guiding spacecraft to Jupiter can power your earthbound calculations with complete transparency and scientific rigor.
⭐ Stars: 3
💻 Language: Python
🔗 Repository: g-battaglia/libephemeris