SolarConflux

Overview

The tool supports mission analysis and research workflows by screening large time ranges and multiple assets to find moments where spacecraft configurations match science-driven constraints.

Problem

Multi-spacecraft studies require identifying when distributed assets are in favorable relative geometries. Manual screening does not scale with the number of missions, targets, and configuration modes.

Approach

• Retrieve ephemerides for a list of spacecraft and planets over a defined time range and time step.
• Transform trajectories to a heliocentric reference frame for consistent geometry evaluation.
• Evaluate alignment criteria per selected geometry mode and return matching time windows.
• Export results and visualize trajectories and detected configurations.

Deliverables

• Reusable Python module for trajectory retrieval and geometry screening
• Configurable inputs for targets, time ranges, angles, and solar wind speed
• Export to .csv and polar trajectory visualizations for quick interpretation

Installation & usage

Install directly from GitHub:

pip install git+https://github.com/EmmaVellard/SolarConflux.git

Launch interactively:

from solarconflux import SolarConflux
SolarConflux()

Example workflow (trajectory retrieval → alignment detection → export + plot):

from solarconflux import get_trajectories, matching_dates, save_match, save_plot

body_list = ['BepiColombo', 'Solar Orbiter', 'PSP', 'Stereo-A', 'Earth', 'Mars', 'Jupiter']
start_time = '2020-09-01 09:00'
end_time   = '2020-12-31 23:00'
step = '60m'

trajectories = get_trajectories(body_list, start_time, end_time, step)

geometry_choices = ['cone', 'opposition', 'quadrature', 'arbitrary', 'parker', 'coneparker']
match = matching_dates(geometry_choices, body_list, trajectories,
arbitrary_angle=30, u_sw=400e3)

save_match(match)
save_plot(match, trajectories)

Outputs

• CSV export listing detected alignment times and involved bodies
• Polar plots showing trajectories and configurations (cone and Parker spiral examples)

Technical implementation

Links