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Heliocentric Aspect Ephemeris Study

A heliocentric aspect ephemeris study records positions measured from the center of the Sun, together with the angular relationships between pairs of bodies, sampled at a fixed interval across a date range. Because everything is measured in a Sun-centered frame, the angular relationships are free of the Earth's own orbital motion, which is what makes this the perspective for heliocentric research.

Bodies are chosen in two lists, Inner Bodies (the aspecting set) and Outer Bodies (the aspected set), and every valid pairing between the two lists contributes its own aspect columns to the ephemeris table.

A Heliocentric Aspect Ephemeris Study whose records read Waxing under the Earth/Jupiter Phase column.

The Two Tabs​

The settings column carries two tabs:

Create and Generate the Study​

To produce a heliocentric aspect ephemeris:

  1. Click Ephemerides → Heliocentric Aspect Ephemeris on the menu bar.
  2. Configure the Basic Ephemeris Settings (Location, Zodiac, Ref. Plane) and the Ephemeris Date Range (Start Date, Start Time, End Date, Interval, Time Unit).
  3. On the Inner & Outer Bodies tab, check the bodies in the Inner Bodies and Outer Bodies lists.
  4. On the Body & Aspect Metrics tab, check the metrics in the Body Metrics and Aspect Metrics lists.
  5. Click the Run button beneath the ephemeris table.

A Heliocentric Aspect Ephemeris Study with Venus checked in the Inner Bodies list and Saturn in the Outer Bodies list.

Step 1 is performed on the Ephemerides menu:

The Ephemerides menu with Heliocentric Aspect Ephemeris highlighted as the last of the three aspect entries.

An Interval of 1 with a Time Unit of Days gives one record per day.

caution

A location is required even though heliocentric positions do not depend on one. Cygnus calculates and displays each record's date and time in the location's time zone. See Basic Ephemeris Settings.

Bodies​

Both lists offer the same 24-body heliocentric catalog under five classification groups: Planets, Barycenters, Asteroids, Centaurs, and Uranians. Unlike the geocentric and topocentric aspect studies, the Inner and Outer sets are identical here, because the heliocentric catalog declares no Diurnal Angles for the Outer list to exclude.

The Sun and the Moon are absent, and Earth appears in their place as an orbiting body. See Bodies List.

Measurements​

Two metrics lists share the Body & Aspect Metrics tab.

The Body Metrics list adds positional columns for every selected Inner and Outer body: Longitude, Sign Position, Latitude, Distance in AU, and Speed in degrees per day. Under an Equatorial reference plane the first and third read Right Asc and Declination. On a new aspect study only Sign Position is checked.

The Aspect Metrics list adds relationship columns for every valid body pair.

Aspect metricWhat it reports
Cycle AngleThe angular distance from the outer body to the inner body in the direction of zodiacal motion, from 0 to 360 degrees.
PhaseWhere the pair sits in its cycle: New, Waxing, Full, or Waning.
SeparationThe shortest angular distance between the two bodies regardless of direction, from 0 to 180 degrees.

Phase and Separation are checked by default on a new aspect study.

note

These three metrics are the only aspect-related list in Cygnus. There is no editable list of aspect angles or aspect values anywhere in the application.

After the Records Are Generated​

The study locks when the generation completes, and the Run button becomes invisible until you unlock the study. Meanwhile you can read, arrange, search, copy, and export the results: