Talk:JPL Small-Body Database

Merge proposal
I oppose the merge with JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System on the grounds that they are quite different things. The small-body database is for small solar system objects such as asteroids and comets. The JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System provides position information at an arbitrary, user-chosen time for solar system objects, large and small. Jc3s5h (talk) 16:16, 11 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I proposed it [the merge] because this is one of the many services offered by the database and makes little to no sense to talk of it outside of the context of the database. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 19:17, 11 February 2016 (UTC)


 * But Horizons is much more than a generic database. I am not sure if combining the two articles offers any advantage to readers. -- Kheider (talk) 19:26, 11 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't understand what "it" refers to in Headbomb's statement "this is one of the many services offered by the database". I've never used the JPL Small-Body Database, but I have used the JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System to produce position information about the Earth and Sun (neither of which is a small body). Looking at http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi it appears the small body database will provide general information, and orbital elements at the time the request is submitted, in one particular format. This information could be used to compute rough positions a little while in the past or future. Horizons, on the other hand, gives the user great flexibility to produce a table of positions at user-chosen times, and great flexibility about the format of the output. For example:


 * Jc3s5h (talk) 21:18, 11 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Closing, given that the discussion is stale with no consensus. Klbrain (talk) 16:53, 5 January 2018 (UTC)