astro_search_peak_magnitude: Search for peak magnitude of Venus
Description
Searches for the next date and time when Venus will appear brightest as seen
from Earth. This function currently only supports Venus.
Usage
astro_search_peak_magnitude(body, start_time)
Value
A list containing:
time
The time of peak magnitude as a POSIXct object.
mag
Visual magnitude at peak brightness (numeric).
phase_angle
Phase angle in degrees (numeric).
phase_fraction
Fraction of Venus illuminated (numeric).
helio_dist
Distance from Sun in AU (numeric).
ring_tilt
Always 0 for Venus (numeric).
Arguments
body
An integer representing the celestial body. Currently only
astro_body["VENUS"] is supported. Returns error for other bodies.
start_time
A POSIXct datetime object specifying when to begin
the search.
Details
Venus reaches peak magnitude (maximum brightness) at certain times in its orbit.
This is distinct from other brightness events: Mercury's peak magnitude occurs
at superior conjunction when it's invisible, and outer planets reach peak magnitude
at opposition.
The search may require iterating through multiple synodic periods of Venus
to find an event after the specified start time. The function will search
forward from the start time until it finds a valid peak magnitude event.
# Find when Venus will next reach peak magnitude after 2025-01-01start <- as.POSIXct("2025-01-01", tz = "UTC")
astro_search_peak_magnitude(astro_body["VENUS"], start)