Geocentric speed of Mercury vs time

2.5

1.5

Astrology & Microsoft Excel

Speed of Mercury

0.5
(Degrees/Day)

0
0 50 (Video 1 – an introduction)
100 150 200 250 300

-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2
Time
(from 3/20/85 to 8/10/86)
Objectives & Preliminary Notes:
• Objective: To give the viewer the basic skills needed to use the
program swetest.exe to generate a customized ephemeris file and to
briefly introduce how that data can be imported and graphed in Excel.
• In this video we will be:
• Downloading swetest.exe and the associated ephemeris files and learning to
use swetest.exe in the Windows Command Prompt and in the web version
• Importing data into Excel and creating a graph
• This video demonstrates these tasks in Windows 10 with Google
Chrome and Microsoft Excel 2013
Disclaimer
• This is an unofficial video and I am not associated with astro.com,
Astrodienst, or The Swiss Ephemeris.
• I am not responsible for any problems or damage caused to your
computer as a result of following the processes I have outlined in this
video.
About The Swiss Ephemeris
• A highly precise ephemeris developed by Astrodienst, largely based on
NASA’s JPL ephemerides
• Intended for software developers
• Used in professional astrology programs such as Solar Fire and AstroGold
• Two licenses:
• GNU General Public License
• https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html
• Swiss Ephemeris Professional License (for paying customers)
• http://www.astro.com/swisseph/secont_e.htm
• License must be read before downloading any files
• http://www.astro.com/ftp/swisseph/ephe/LICENSE.TXT
• In this video, we will not be developing any software, but we will be using
the Swiss Ephemeris Test Program – swetest.exe – to generate data.
About the Swiss Ephemeris Test Program
(swetest.exe)
• Generates ephemeris data and much, much more
• Highly configurable with many features:
• Output format is fully customizable
• Displays positions and speed of numerous astrological bodies in various
coordinate systems in either decimal or degree formats
• Can also display a midpoint ephemeris or a differential ephemeris, which shows the
angular separation of two objects
• Options for both sidereal and tropical zodiacs
• Computes geocentric, heliocentric, and more (i.e. barycentric)
• Computes special events such as eclipses, occultations, heliacal events,
meridian transits, and the diurnal rising/setting of a planet or star (not
covered in this video)
About the Swiss Ephemeris Test Program
• The program can be used online or downloaded and used in the
Windows Command Prompt
• Downloadable version includes an interactive mode and also allows you to
save output to a text file
• Output from the online version can be copied and pasted into notepad and
saved to a text file
Downloading the program
• This video will show how to download the files starting from the main
astro.com page, or you can use either of these links:
• ftp://ftp.astro.com/pub/swisseph
• http://www.astro.com/ftp/swisseph/
• In the folder ‘programs,’ download the file swetest.exe
• Save the program to C:\sweph
• This program can work as a stand-alone program, but for increased
accuracy and date range, you must also download the ephemeris
files.
Downloading the ephemeris files
• The folder ‘ephe’ contains the ephemeris files
• The folder contains .se1 files, ranging from 13000 BC to 16800 AD and includes the
planets, the moon, Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, Juno, Chiron, and Pholus (150 files),
• For convenience, the subfolder ‘archive_zip’ contains zipped files ranging from 5401
BC to 5399 AD (18 zip files containing 54 .se1 files)
• Subfolders are available for thousands of minor asteroids, to be downloaded
individually as needed (not covered in video)
• Ephemeris files have the extension .se1
• Each file covers 600 years
• Files named ‘sepl’ are for planets
• Files named ‘semo’ are for the moon
• Files named ‘seas’ are for Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, Juno, Chiron, and Pholus
• Download (and unzip) all ephemeris files to C:\sweph\ephe
Using an FTP Client to download the files
• Using an FTP Client, such as the free program FileZilla, can make
downloading the files easier, if you want the full time range (150 files)
• https://filezilla-project.org/
• Careful when installing – it’s a bit tricky and tries to install some unnecessary programs
The Windows Command Prompt
• Some ways of opening the Command Prompt
1) Open the run dialogue box, type CMD, and press enter
• The run dialogue box can be opened by pressing the Win + R keys
2) Windows 10: Type CMD in the search box and press enter

• Adjusting the display

• Right click the title bar of the Command Prompt menu and click properties
• Under the ‘font’ tab – the font size can be increased
• Under the ‘layout’ tab – the screen size can be increased
• In windows 10, you can also use the mouse to click and drag the window corner to make it
bigger
Running swetest.exe in the Command Prompt
• Type: cd \sweph
• Goes to the directory that contains swetest.exe
• Type: swetest
• Runs the program swetest.exe
• Starts the interactive mode of the program

• Helpful commands in the Windows Command Prompt

• DIR
• Display contents of folder/directory
• DIR /P
• Pauses while listing the contents of a directory
• CD
• Used to change the directory
• CD ..
• Go to parent directory
Interactive Mode - swetest.exe
This YouTube video will show how to use the interactive mode of swetest.exe
My Plan:
enter the date (Note: format is Day, Month, Year)
advance the date +
go back in time –
stop the program .
-swetest –p7
-swetest –p7 –fTPL
-swetest –p7 –fTPZ
-press ‘enter’ repeat last entry
Viewing and Saving the Help File –
swetest.exe
• Type: swetest.txt -?
• Displays Help info
• My Plan: Demonstrate how to copy and paste with an example in the help file
• Note: PGUP Key takes you back to command line
• Type: swetest.txt -? > about.txt
• Type: about.txt
• My Plan: Explain layout of help file
Using swetest.exe commands
(The Date)
• -bDATE
• Example: -b15.5.2018
• This command allows you to enter the date immediately, instead of after
running the program
• The interactive mode will not be launched if you use this command
• Example: swetest -p7 -fTPZ -b15.5.2018
Using swetest.exe commands
(Steps and Step Size)
• -nN
• Example: -n10
• Steps: This command allows you to display data for N consecutive steps (i.e, 10 days)
• Example: swetest -p7 -fTPZ -b15.5.2018 –n10

• -sN
• Example: -s5
• Step size: Time step N days. Instead of advancing the date by 1 day, you can advance by N
days at a time. In this example –s5 advances the date by 5 days.
• Time step of Years, Months, Minutes, or Seconds (instead of days)
• Append y for years (example: –s5y for a time step of 5 years)
• Append mo for years (example: -s5mo for a time step of 5 months)
• Append m for minutes (example: -s5m for a time step of 5 minutes)
• Append s for seconds (example: -s5s for a time step of 5 seconds)
• Example: swetest -p7 -fTPZ -b15.5.2018 –n10 –s1mo
Accessing the Swiss Ephemeris Test Page
• This YouTube video will show how to access the page from the main
astro.com page
• Direct link: http://www.astro.com/swisseph/swetest.htm
• Can also google “Swiss Ephemeris Test Page”
Using the Swiss Ephemeris Test Page
• Enter the following info:
• Start Date (d.m.y) -b
• Steps –n
• Stepsize –s
• Planet selection -p
• Output format –f
• Other options
• My Plan:
• Enter previously used commands from the command prompt version of swetest.exe
• Illustrate differences in command entry in the web version
• Refresh to restore defaults
• Show output for default settings
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Calculate for specific Time)
• Entering Time:
• My Plan: Show section in help filed titled ‘input time formats’
• Entering the time can be tricky
• No option for local time zones, must be entered in UT, UTC, or Ephemeris Time
• -utHH.MMSS or -utHH:MM:SS – Universal Time
• -utcHH.MM:SS – Universal Time Coordinated
• -tHH.MMSS – Ephemeris Time
• To the viewer - try entering your own birth data and verifying the position of the Sun and
the Moon
• swetest –p01 -fTPZ –b08.04.1985 –ut09:40
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Display Houses)
• -house[long, lat, hsys]
• Example: -house-122.27,37.80,W
• About 25 different house systems (hsys) are available
• Plan: Show area of help file that contains house codes
• A – equal
• K - Koch
• O – Porphyry
• P – Placidus
• R – Regiomontanus
• W – Whole Sign
• Ex: swetest –p01 -fTPZ –b08.04.1985 –ut09:40 –house-122.27,37.80,W
• Example is for Whole Sign Houses for Oakland, CA (longitude/ latitude is 122.27° W,
37.80° N or -122.27, 37.80)
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Sidereal Zodiac)
• -sid..
• Example: -sid1
• 38 ayanamsha methods are available
• Plan: Show area of help file that contains numbers for ayanamsha method
• 0 for Fagan/Bradley, 1 for Lahiri, etc
• Ex: swetest –p01 -fTPZ –b08.04.1985 –ut09:40 –sid1
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Heliocentric System)
• -hel
• Computes heliocentric positions
• Question: If my Sun is at 18° Aries geocentrically, where is the Earth
heliocentrically?
• Ex: swetest –pC -fTPZ –b08.04.1985 –ut09:40 –hel
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Differential Ephemeris)
• -dX
• Example: -d4 (Mars)
• Print differential ephemeris between body X and each body given by –p
• Ex: swetest –p7 –d4 –fTPL –n10 –b15.5.2018
• Longitude distance between Uranus and Mars
More Commands for swetest.exe
(Midpoint Ephemeris)
• -DX
• Example: -D4 (Mars)
• Note: Capital D vs lowercase D
• Print the midpoint between body X and each body given by –p
• Ex: swetest –p7 –D4 –fTPL –n10 –b15.5.2018
• Longitude of Midpoint between Uranus (7) and Mars (4)
• Ex2: swetest –p71 –D4 –fTPL –n10 –b15.5.2018
• Longitude of the midpoint between Uranus (7) and Mars (4), and the midpoint between
Moon (1) and Mars(4)
Summary of Commands Covered
Command Description Example
-pSEQ planet sequence to be -p01 computes the Sun and Moon
computed
-fSEQ Format the output sequence -fTPZ displays the date (T) first, followed by the
planet (P), and then the longitude (Z)

-bDATE Begin date (day, month, year) -b15.5.2018 begins computing from May 15, 2018

-nN Steps: This command allows -n10 display data for 10 consecutive days
you to display data for N
consecutive steps
-sN Step size: Time step N days. –s5 advances the date by 5 days.

-utHH:MM:SS Start time in Universal Time –ut09:40 Sets time to 09:40 UT

-house[long, lat, hsys] Display houses –house-122.27,37.80,W Displays whole sign houses
for Oakland, CA
Summary of Commands Covered 2
Command Description Example
-sid.. Use sidereal zodiac for a given -sid1 Uses the sidereal zodiac for the Lahiri
ayanamsha ayanamsha

-hel Computes heliocentric -hel Computes heliocentric positions

positions

-dX Differential ephemeris –p7 –d4 –fTPL Computes longitude distance

between body X and each between Uranus (7) and Mars (4)
body given by –p
-DX Midpoint ephemeris between –p7 –D4 –fTPL Computes longitude of Midpoint
body X and each body given by between Uranus (7) and Mars (4)
–p
> filename.txt Save output to a text file of a > mydata.txt Saves output to a file named
specified name mydata.txt

Now let’s create some data to graph in Excel!

First: swetest -b25.5.2018 -n366 -s1 -p1 -dA -fJTPl -hor > LilithMoonDiff.txt
Second: swetest -b25.5.2018 -n366 -s1 -p1A -fJTPls -hor > LilithMoonSpeed.txt
First: swetest -b20.3.1985 -n255 -s2 -p02 -fJTPlbdss -hor > MercGeo.txt
Second: swetest -b20.3.1985 -n255 -s2 -p02 -fJTPlbdss -hor -hel > MercHelio.txt
Thank you for watching!
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