AST_ANGLE

Calculate the angle subtended by two points at a third point

Description:

This routine finds the angle at point B between the line joining points A and B, and the line joining points C and B. These lines will in fact be geodesic curves appropriate to the Frame in use. For instance, in SkyFrame, they will be great circles.

Invocation

RESULT = AST_ANGLE( THIS, A, B, C, STATUS )

Arguments

THIS = INTEGER (Given)
Pointer to the Frame.
A( ) = DOUBLE PRECISION (Given)
An array with one element for each Frame axis (Naxes attribute) containing the coordinates of the first point.
B( ) = DOUBLE PRECISION (Given)
An array with one element for each Frame axis (Naxes attribute) containing the coordinates of the second point.
C( ) = DOUBLE PRECISION (Given)
An array with one element for each Frame axis (Naxes attribute) containing the coordinates of the third point.
STATUS = INTEGER (Given and Returned)
The global status.

Returned Value

AST_ANGLE = DOUBLE PRECISION
The angle in radians, from the line AB to the line CB. If the Frame is 2-dimensional, it will be in the range $pm pi$, and positive rotation is in the same sense as rotation from the positive direction of axis 2 to the positive direction of axis 1. If the Frame has more than 2 axes, a positive value will always be returned in the range zero to $pi$.

Notes: