What is an orbit unit>

[4l1fe]

Hey!

The orbit values i get with kerykeion is certainty valid, but at the school i'm stdying at, their default values of one are significantly differs from what i get compunting synastry aspects(transit planets to natal planets).

I assume the float value represents degrees—so for example, a value like 1.5235256 would mean 1 degree and a bit over 30 minutes. Is my interpretation of the float number for orb values correct?

[g-battaglia]

Hey!
yes, that float value is in decimal degrees. So when you see something like 1.5235256, it’s actually a bit more than 31 minutes. Here’s why:

Angles can be expressed in two ways:
• Sexagesimal: degrees, minutes, seconds (e.g., 1° 31’ 24”)
• Decimal: everything as a decimal of degrees (e.g., 1.5235°)

Kerykeion uses decimal degrees. So if you take the .5235 part and multiply it by 60, you get the minutes:
0.5235 * 60 = 31.41'
That .41 is again a fraction of a minute, which you can multiply by 60 to get seconds:
0.41 * 60 = 24.6"

So 1.5235° = 1° 31’ 24.6”

[4l1fe]

Quite clear explanation, thank you.

What do you think about adding the explanation to a docstring or wherever, or declaring two dynamic object properties like the raw code:

class AspectModel:
    orbit: float = 0.0  # for bacward compatibility

    @property
    def orbit_degree_dec(self):
        return self.orbit
    
    @property
    def orbit_degree_sexadec(self) -> tuple[int, int, int]: 
        _minutes, degree = math.modf(self.orbit)
        minutes = _minutes * 60
        seconds = math.modf(minutes)[0] * 60
        return (degree, minutes, seconds)

I think, adding to a docstring would be enough to let people know what is an actual unit of the object attribute aspect_model.orbit and how to convert it to the other unit, make it just explicit...

I have some free time and would be glad to make a contribution if we agree 🙂 after some code research to maintain objects interfaces

[g-battaglia]

Thanks! In Kerykeion, all data structures use decimal degrees by design, so I’d prefer to keep orbit as-is for consistency.

There’s already a function to convert decimals to sexagesimal strings, and I’ll improve the docstring to make that clear. Really appreciate your willingness to help—feel free to suggest any doc tweaks you spot!