API Reference#

This page describes the mars_time API, where the API is grouped by functionality. Many docstrings contain practical example code.

Data types#

MarsTime is the primary data type of this package and represents a year and sol on Mars. MarsTimeDelta can be used in conjunction with MarsTime to create new instances of MarsTime. These may be useful on their own, but are probably most beneficial for attribute extraction and computation.

`MarsTime`(year, sol)	A `MarsTime` represents the year and sol on Mars.
`MarsTimeDelta`([year, sol])	A `MarsTimeDelta` represents a generic change in time on Mars.

Conversion functions#

These function help converting between MarsTime and datetime objects.

`datetime_to_marstime`(dt)	Convert a `datetime.datetime` to a `MarsTime`.
`marstime_to_datetime`(mt)	Convert a `MarsTime` to a `datetime`.
`get_current_marstime`()	Get the current time on Mars.

Orbital positions#

These function help for finding special points in an orbit

`find_aphelion`(mars_year)	Find the MarsTime of aphelion for a given Mars year.
`find_perihelion`(mars_year)	Find the time of perihelion for a given Mars year.

Constants#

These constants are related to the orbit of Mars and/or timekeeping on Mars.

True constants#

These are true constants.

`mars_year_start_days_since_j2000`	The catalog of days since J2000 denoting the start of each Mars year between year -99 and 100.
`j2000`	The datetime of J2000, which is defined as 2000-Jan-01 at noon UTC.
`seconds_per_day`	Number of seconds per day.
`seconds_per_sol`	Number of seconds per sol.
`hours_per_sol`	Number of hours per sol.

Orbital constants#

These are computed constants about the Martian orbit.

`aphelion_sol`	The average sol of aphelion between Mars years -99 and 99.
`aphelion_solar_longitude`	The average solar longitude of aphelion between Mars years -99 and 99.
`perihelion_sol`	The average sol of perihelion between Mars years -99 and 99.
`perihelion_solar_longitude`	The average solar longitude of perihelion between Mars years -99 and 99.
`northern_spring_equinox_sol`	The sol of the northern spring equinox (solar longitude = 0\(^\circ\)) between Mars year -99 and 99.
`northern_summer_solstice_sol`	The average sol of the northern summer solstice (solar longitude = 90\(^\circ\)) between Mars year -99 and 99.
`northern_autumn_equinox_sol`	The average sol of the northern autumn equinox (solar longitude = 180\(^\circ\)) between Mars year -99 and 99.
`northern_winter_solstice_sol`	The average sol of the northern winter solstice (solar longitude = 270\(^\circ\)) between Mars year -99 and 99.
`sols_per_year`	The average number of sols per Mars year between Mars years -99 and 99.

Functional constants#

These are functions that apply mathematical operations to constants to express them in a different representation.

`mars_year_starting_datetimes`()	Get the catalog of dates and times denoting the start of each Mars year between Mars years -99 and 100.
`sols_per_mars_year`()	Get the number of sols per Mars year between Mars years -99 and 99.