spice-conjunction-finder

Multi-spacecraft / body conjunction finder

A guided version of the SPEDAS conjunction crib: locate the times in a window when two objects (two spacecraft, or a spacecraft and a planet) are within some separation. The value is the scan-and-refine procedure with kernel handling — no single tool finds conjunctions; this composes the geometry tools with a small local separation calculation and judgment between steps.

When to use

• "When were PSP and Solar Orbiter closest in ?"
• "Find conjunctions between and under million km."
• "Is spacecraft X near planet Y during this interval?"

Tool chain (all already exist)

spedas_overview() → manage_data_cache(source_type="spice", action="status") (availability) → get_ephemeris(target=..., time=..., time_end=..., output_file=...) for both objects → local separation CSV (coarse, then refined) → optional render_tplot (requires spedas-agent-kit[analysis]), wrapped in create_spedas_analysis_bundle.

compute_distance(...) is useful as a quick sanity check for aggregate min/max/mean separation over a sampled interval, but it currently does not return the timestamp of the minimum or a sampled series. Do not use it as the source of candidate-minimum times.

Procedure

1. Bundle. create_spedas_analysis_bundle(study_name, output_dir, science_goal, start, stop).

2. Confirm the SPICE surface and target names. Start with spedas_overview() and manage_data_cache(source_type="spice", action="status") to confirm the current unified geometry/data surface. The older separate mission/frame listing tools are not part of the current advertised surface. Use supported target/frame names accepted by get_ephemeris/compute_distance (unsupported bodies return a structured unsupported_spice_target error with alternatives; unsupported frames return a structured frame error). Pick one observer and frame for both trajectories, normally observer="SUN" and frame="ECLIPJ2000" unless the science case requires otherwise.