SPICE¶

Methods for automatically downloading SPICE kernels for various objects. This is essentially a library of SPICE kernels that are available online, so users don’t have go go hunting for them. If you know a kernel is out of date, and HelioPy should be using a newer kernel please let us know at https://github.com/heliopython/heliopy/issues.

Generic kernels¶

These are general purpose kernels, used for most caclulations. They are all automatically loaded if you are using the heliopy.spice module.

Generic kernels¶
Name	Identifier	Kernel URL(s)
Leap Second Kernel	lsk	[1]
Planet trajectories	planet_trajectories	[1]
Planet orientations	planet_orientations	[1]
Heliospheric frames	helio_frames	[1]

Actual trajectories¶

These kernels store the actual trajectory of a body.

Reconstructed kernels¶
Name	Identifier	Kernel URL(s)
Cassini	cassini	[1] [2]
Helios 1	helios1	[1] [2]
Helios 2	helios2	[1]
Juno	juno	[1]
Parker Solar Probe	psp	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
SOHO	soho	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
STEREO-A	stereo_a	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
STEREO-B	stereo_b	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Ulysses	ulysses	[1] [2]

Predicted trajectories¶

These kernels store the predicted trajectory of a body.

Warning

No guarentee is given as to the reliability of these kernels. Newer predicted trajectories may be available, or newer reconstructued (ie. actual) trajectory files may also be available.

Use at your own risk!

Predicted kernels¶
Name	Identifier	Kernel URL(s)
Bepi-Columbo	bepi_pred	[1]
Juno Predicted	juno_pred	[1]
Parker Solar Probe	psp_pred	[1]
Solar Orbiter	solo	[1]
STEREO-A	stereo_a_pred	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
STEREO-B	stereo_b_pred	[1] [2]

heliopy.data.spice.get_kernel(name)¶

Get the local location of a kernel.

If a kernel isn’t available locally, it is downloaded.

Parameters: name (str) – Kernel name. See Generic kernels and Reconstructed kernels for lists of available names. The name should be a string from the “Identifier” column of one of the tables.
Returns: List of loaded kernels.
Return type: list of Kernel