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Given the orbital parameters of a satellite, how can I predict the ground path of its shadow? (The path from where it will appear to transit the Sun).

LostXOR
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    It's going to be a "use specialized software or programming libraries" answer, if you want values with any sort of accuracy. – notovny Jul 07 '23 at 22:15
  • That's what I'm looking for. – LostXOR Jul 07 '23 at 23:24
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    Horizons can calculate trajectories of satellites from user-supplied TLEs, see https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/manual.html#tles So if you can code, and you know a little 3D vector geometry, you could write a program for this, with Horizons doing most of the work. I haven't quite done that myself, but the Python code here: https://space.stackexchange.com/a/61065/38535 finds the ground speed of the ISS. – PM 2Ring Jul 08 '23 at 03:02
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    The equations are exactly the same as those for solar eclipses and are covered in a lot of works. All editions of the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, Chauvenet's Manual of Spherical and Practical Astronomy (vol 1), Meeus' "Transits". And many others. "Besselian Elements" would be a good search term. – Greg Miller Jul 08 '23 at 03:17
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    I'll add to my previous comment, that all you really need is the equations to compute the central line. I have most of the pieces of the puzzle implemented in javascript at https://www.celestialprogramming.com. The only piece missing would be computing the geocentric RA/Dec of the satellite (instead of the moon). – Greg Miller Jul 08 '23 at 14:25
  • I'll take a look at that, thanks! – LostXOR Jul 08 '23 at 21:08

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