The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office

The Astronomical Almanac & The Astronomical Almanac Online

This publication contains a wide variety of both technical and general astronomical information. The book is a worldwide resource for fundamental astronomical data and the flagship publication of the Nautical Almanac Office at the US Naval Observatory and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office at the UKHO including contributions from astronomical experts worldwide. It contains positions of the Sun, Moon and planets to milli-arcsecond precision, positions of minor planets and planetary satellites for each year together with data relating to Earth orientation, time-scales and coordinate systems. Phenomena including eclipses of the Sun and Moon, sunrise/set, moonrise/set and twilight times are provided as well as fundamental astronomical reference data for stars and stellar systems, observatories and related astronomical constants and techniques.

The Astronomical Almanac Online is a companion publication with mostly different material to the book that is more suitable for the web.

A joint publication with the United States Naval Observatory.

Purchase:

To buy HMNAO Astronomical Publications including The Astronomical Almanac please select from the links below:

UKHO Distributors:   Thomas Gunn Online Shop.

You can also order your copy from Admiralty Paper Distributors.

Other Outlets:   TBA

Status:

• The 2013 edition is currently available:

UKHO General Publication number: GP 100-13
Published in the US: 2012 March 19
13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41284
Pages: 612
Retail price: £49.20


• The 2014 edition will soon be available:

UKHO General Publication number: GP 100-14
Published in the US: 2013 March 19
13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41420
Pages: 612
Retail price: £ TBA

The Nautical Almanac

Nautical Publication Number: NP 314

This is the essential yearly reference work for celestial navigation at sea using a marine sextant. It is carried on every ship of the Royal Navy and on many sea-going vessels around the world. It is also at the core of celestial navigation training courses worldwide.

The Nautical Almanac contains tabulations of the Sun, Moon navigational planets and stars for use in the determination of position at sea from sextant observations. In addition, it gives times of sunrise, sunset, twilights, moonrise and moonset, phases of the Moon and eclipses of the Sun and Moon for use in the planning of observations. All the necessary interpolation and altitude correction tables are provided as well as pole star tables and diagrams and notes for the identification of stars and planets. Information on standard times for most countries around the world is provided. A concise set sight reduction tables and sight reduction form are also included.

A joint publication with the United States Naval Observatory.

Purchase:

You can purchase your copy from Admiralty Paper Distributors.

Status:

• The 2013 edition is available from UKHO distributors.

UKHO Nautical Publication number: NP 314-13
Published in the UK: 2012 March 29
13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41291
Pages: 364
Retail price: £39.20

• The 2014 edition will soon be available: UKHO distributors.

UKHO Nautical Publication number: NP 314-14
Published in the UK: 2013 March
13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41437
Pages: 364
Retail price: £ TBA

The Star Almanac for Land Surveyors

Nautical Publication Number: NP 321

This almanac contains positions of the Sun, Polaris and selected bright stars in a form which is convenient for land surveyors who use astronomical observations to determine their geographical position or direction to true north. This edition includes a CD-RoM which contains the almanac in pdf format and the coefficients representing the positions of the Sun and stars in ASCII files.

ASCII data files are available on the CD-RoM which contain coefficients for calculating the Greenwich hour angle and declination of all the stars published in The Star Almanac, accurate to about 1 arcsecond. The polynomial coefficients for calculating R (GHA Aries − UT), declination, E and semi-diameter of the Sun published on page 75 of the Almanac are also included.

Starting with the 2011 edition, this publication is now printed on A5 paper.

Purchase:

To buy HMNAO Astronomical Publications including The Star Almanac for Land Surveyors please select from the links below:

UKHO Distributors:   Thomas Gunn Online Shop.

You can also order your copy from Admiralty Paper Distributors.

Other Outlets:   TBA

Status:

• The 2013 edition is currently available:

  UKHO Nautical Publication number: NP 321-13
  Published in the UK: 2012 May 24th
  13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41383
  Pages: 80
  Retail price: £18.25

The UK Air Almanac

Air Publication Number: AP 1602

This publication, produced to the requirements of the Royal Air Force, presents in tabular and graphical form astronomical data required for the planning of activities, in particular aircraft movements, where the amount of daylight, the duration of twilight, and the position and phase of the Moon are important. It replaces The Air Almanac which last appeared in 1997. This annual volume contains data for the times of rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, as well as the twilight times for latitudes between North 72° and South 60°. Graphical methods for determining this information at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet and at high latitudes are also provided, as are standard times for many places around the world.

Status:

• The 2013 edition is available as a free download.

Published in the UK: 12/10/2012
Size (in bytes): 3957079
Pages: 85

Astronomical Phenomena

This annual publication provides a summary of selected astronomical events. It is published several years in advance and contains much of Section A of the corresponding Astronomical Almanac. This publication includes the phases of the Moon, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, principal occultations, planetary phenomena, elongations and magnitudes of the planets, times of sunrise/set and moonrise/set. Also tabulated are the equation of time, the declination of the Sun and the Greenwich hour angles of the pole stars Polaris and σ Octantis.

A joint publication with the United States Naval Observatory.

Purchase:

To buy HMNAO Astronomical Publications including Astronomical Phenomena please select from the links below:

UKHO Distributors:   Thomas Gunn Online Shop.

You can also order your copy from Admiralty Paper Distributors.

Other Outlets:   TBA

Status:

• The 2013 edition is available:

UKHO General Publication number: GP 200-13
Published in the US: 2010 November 22
13 character ISBN: 978-0-16-0866197
Pages: 85
Retail price: £11.30

• The 2014 edition is available:

UKHO General Publication number: GP 200-14
Published in the US: 2011 December 29
13 character ISBN: 978-0-16-0895586
Pages: 79
Retail price: £11.30

• The 2015 edition will soon be available:

  UKHO General Publication number: GP 200-15
  Published in the US: 2012 December 27th
  13 character ISBN: 978-0-16-0914065
  Pages: 79
  Retail price: £ TBA

NavPac & Compact Data:

Digital Publication Number: DP 330

The purpose of this publication is to provide navigators and astronomers with simple and efficient methods for calculating the positions of the Sun, Moon, navigational planets and stars over several years to a consistent precision with the aid of a pocket calculator, personal computer or laptop.

The software package NavPac runs on an IBM PC or compatible, and enables navigators to compute their position at sea. Its manual is included on the CD-RoM which also includes part of the Royal Navy's Admiralty Manual of Navigation (Volume 2). The package contains features additional to the book, e.g. calculating great circle and rhumb line tracks. There are also functions for calculating rise and set times of celestial objects and determining the altitude and azimuths of navigational objects.

NavPac is used world-wide by the Royal Navy, other navies and by navigators who require an independent means of navigation. NavPac has also been accepted by the UK Government as a permitted system for naval certificates of competency under STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping). The tables and coefficients and the algorithm for determining position at sea from observations made with a marine sextant have been used by navigators since 1981.

Additional astronomical data files are stored on the CD-RoM, which can be read into any personal computer. Astronomers, navigators, surveyors and general users will find these data files ideal for making astronomical calculations where positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and bright stars are required.

Purchase:

You can purchase your copy from Admiralty Paper Distributors.

Status:

• The 2011-2015 edition is available from UKHO distributors.

UKHO Digital Publication number: DP 330
Published in the UK: 2010 January 31st
13 character ISBN: 978-0-7077-41048
Pages: 96
Retail price: £72.00

Planetary and Lunar Coordinates

The latest edition of a continuing series covers the period 2001 to 2020. This book provides low to medium-precision positions of the Sun, Moon and planets for the purpose of planning observations. It also includes information on the elongation and magnitudes of the planets, eclipses, moon phases and a wide variety of astronomical phenomena. The eclipse section has been enhanced to present the data for both solar and lunar eclipses in graphical form.

There are two versions of this publication. The UK version, available from The Stationery Office, includes a CD-RoM which contains a substantial fraction of the tabular data in the form of pdf files. The US version, available from Willmann-Bell, has all the tabular data printed in the book. Both versions contain a CD-ROM containing the planetary and lunar coordinates in computer readable ASCII files.

Status:

• The 2001-2020 UK edition is available from The Stationery Office.

Published in the UK: August 2000
10 character ISBN: 0-11-887312-1
13 character ISBN: 978-0-11887-3123
Pages: 160
Retail price: £22.59

• The 2001-2020 US edition is available from Willmann Bell.

Published in the US: 2001
10 character ISBN: 0-943396-68-9
Pages: 494
Retail price: $29.95

Errata:

• Page A1, 7th line:
  for 25 hours read 24 hours.
• Page 101, SPECIAL PHENOMENA, the date of the 2012 transit of Venus:
  for June 6/7 read June 5/6.