Introduction

FLUXES calculates accurate topocentric positions of the planets and also integrated flux densities of five of them at a number of wavelengths for the JCMT telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. These provide calibration information at the effective frequencies and beam-sizes employed by the UKT14 and SCUBA receivers on this telescope.

The filter centre and widths are shown for each wavelength used. The filter frequencies are the effective frequencies for 1mm of water vapour.

The calculated planet positions should normally be accurate to better than 1 arcsecond. The value for the Moon is less accurate than this, and for critical applications requiring sub arc-second accuracy you should use a different method.

The version distributed by Starlink has been modified to employ the highly accurate JPL ephemeris (see SUN/87 for details) in all planetary position calculations. It also adopts the Starlink parameter interface and a more robust file reading system.

A script, FLUXNOW, runs the program for the current time and date. This gives you current planetary positions and flux levels for all the planets.