🚀 go-pugleaf

>I recently went through the excercize of translating some of 
>Peter Duffet_Smith's book "Astronomy on your Calculator" (not sure
>of the exact title) for a shareware program I'm writing.  However I'm
>not happy with the results I get (occassionaly see errors as large
>as a degree in declination and at least several minutes RA...).  
>Are the algorithms in the Meeus book a bit better? 

In Meeus' new book the planetary approximations are accurate to a
few arc seconds over a span of some centuries.  The Moon's position
is given to somewhat less accuracy.  I can post a comparison with
the JPL ephemerides if you are interested.  You have to go through
some rather fussy corrections just to make use of positions that
are so accurate!

The best ephemerides for amateur interest might be the ones from
which Meeus derived his tables.  The French VSOP planetary theory
is approximated to better accuracy (excepting the Earth) in
_Planetary Programs and Tables from -4000 to +2800_ by P. Bretagnon
and J.-L. Simon, Willman-Bell Inc 1986.  The lunar theory is
by Michelle Chapront-Touze and Jean Chapront; their book is
_Lunar Tables and Programs from 4000 B.C. to A.D. 8000, Willmann-Bell Inc
1991.  I can also provide comparisons of these with the numerically
integrated positions; but the answer is these two are by far the
best easily-available works.  Both come with floppy discs if you
ask for them when you order the books.  The publisher's phone
number in Richmond, Virginia is 804-320-7016.