The Astronomical Almanac To Be Revised



Users worldwide rely on The Astronomical Almanac as a key source of essential,
fundamental astronomical data.  This annual volume is a joint publication of the
Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S.  Naval Observatory and H.M.
Nautical Almanac Office of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.  Both offices are
now conducting a thorough review of the content and format of the publication,
with the goal of making it more relevant to modern users.  Some of the proposed
changes include:
   - adoption of the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS);
   - introduction of a more modern ephemeris of the solar system to replace
     DE200/LE200;
   - provision of a companion CD-ROM to the printed book;
   - removal of outdated sub-sections.

The entire contents of the book are being reviewed item by item.  Some tabular
data may be removed entirely.  Other data may be moved to the CD-ROM, or may be
replaced or complemented by software which can calculate, then display or print
those data.  The changes are expected to be introduced into the edition for
2002.

In order to assess the needs of the users of The Astronomical Almanac, a survey
is being conducted by the two offices.  The survey is available on the World
Wide Web at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/nao/survey.html.  Unless the users of The
Astronomical Almanac make their needs known in detail, decisions on the changes
will be entirely at the discretion of the production staff.  Therefore, all
users are strongly encouraged to take the time necessary to complete the survey.
The survey will close on 1 August 1998.  Early responses will be more effective
in influencing the planning.

If a user has no access to the World Wide Web, an abbreviated paper version of
the survey may be obtained by writing to the

U.S.  Naval Observatory,
Astronomical Applications Department,
3450 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC, 20392-5420.