[Tex/LaTex] Drawing of Sun–Earth–Moon system

Question

Is there a package (or packages) for drawing the Sun–Earth–Moon system with either PSTricks, TikZ, or some other vector graphics language to illustrate Lunar and Solar eclipses, the phases of the Moon, and the seasons on the Earth?

I know of pst-solarsystem but it is not what I'm looking for; here, it is 'only' possible to draw the planets moving in circular orbits around the Sun.

Answer 1

A couple of months ago, I produced a beamer/tikz animation (available on texample.net) of the Earth's orbit around the Sun to illustrate the counterintuitive fact that Earth is farther from the Sun in Summer than it is in Winter. I used that example to demonstrate the power of inducing (and then resolving) cognitive dissonance in the classroom.

I've modified it to also show the Moon following an elliptical orbit around the Earth. (Of course, the Moon's orbit around the Earth is really only approximately elliptical, and does not lie in the Ecliptic Plane.) You can change the positions visited by the Earth and the Moon along their respective orbits (simply change how \Earthangle and \Moonangle are defined in the body of the \foreach, and/or modify the value of \N).

\documentclass{beamer}

\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{tikz}

\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}[fragile]
\frametitle{}
\begin{center}
    \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=2.5]
        \def\rS{0.3}                                % Sun radius

        \def\rE{0.1}                                % Earth radius
                                                    % Major radius of Earth's elliptical orbit = 1
        \def\eE{0.25}                               % Excentricity of Earth's elliptical orbit       
        \pgfmathsetmacro\bE{sqrt(1-\eE*\eE)}        % Minor radius of Earth's elliptical orbit    

        \pgfmathsetmacro\rM{.7*\rE}                 % Moon radius
        \pgfmathsetmacro\aM{2.5*\rE}                % Major radius of the Moon's elliptical orbit
        \def\eM{0.4}                                % Excentricity of Earth's elliptical orbit
        \pgfmathsetmacro\bM{\aM*sqrt(1-\eM*\eM)}    % Minor radius of the Moon's elliptical orbit 
        \def\offsetM{30}                            % angle offset between the major axes of Earth's and the Moon's orbits


        % This function computes the direction in which light hits the Earth.
        \pgfmathdeclarefunction{f}{1}{%
            \pgfmathparse{
                ((-\eE+cos(#1))<0) * ( 180 + atan( \bE*sin(#1)/(-\eE+cos(#1)) ) ) 
                +
                ((-\eE+cos(#1))>=0) * ( atan( \bE*sin(#1)/(-\eE+cos(#1)) ) ) 
            }
        }

        % This function computes the distance between Earth and the Sun,
        % which is used to calculate the varying radiation intensity on Earth.
        \pgfmathdeclarefunction{d}{1}{%
            \pgfmathparse{ sqrt((-\eE+cos(#1))*(-\eE+cos(#1))+\bE*sin(#1)*\bE*sin(#1)) }
        }

        % Draw the elliptical path of the Earth.
        \draw[thin,color=gray] (0,0) ellipse (1 and \bE);

        % Draw the Sun at the right-hand-side focus
        \shade[
            top color=yellow!70,
            bottom color=red!70,
            shading angle={45},
            ] ({sqrt(1-\bE*\bE)},0) circle (\rS);
         %\draw ({sqrt(1-\b*\b)},-\rS) node[below] {Sun};

        % Produces a series of frames showing one revolution
        % (the total number of frames is controlled by macro \N)
        \pgfmathtruncatemacro{\N}{12}
        \foreach \k in {0,1,...,\N}{
            \pgfmathsetmacro{\Earthangle}{360*\k/\N}
            \pgfmathsetmacro{\Moonangle}{3*360*\k/\N} % <--- change the multiplying factor to suit your needs
            % Draw the Earth at \Earthangle
            \pgfmathsetmacro{\radiation}{100*(1-\eE)/(d(\Earthangle)*d(\Earthangle))}
            \colorlet{Earthlight}{yellow!\radiation!blue}
            \pgfmathparse{int(\k+1)}
            \onslide<\pgfmathresult>{
                \shade[
                    top color=Earthlight,
                    bottom color=blue,
                    shading angle={90+f(\Earthangle)},
                    ] ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)}) circle (\rE);
                 %\draw ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)-\rE}) node[below] {Earth};  

                 % Draw the Moon's (circular) orbit and the Moon at \Moonangle
                 \draw[thin,color=gray,rotate around={{\offsetM}:({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)})}]
                    ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)}) ellipse ({\aM} and {\bM});
                 \shade[
                    top color=black!70,
                    bottom color=black!30,
                    shading angle={45},
                    ]   ({cos(\Earthangle)+\aM*cos(\Moonangle)*cos(\offsetM)-\bM*sin(\Moonangle)*sin(\offsetM)},%
                         {\bE*sin(\Earthangle)+\aM*cos(\Moonangle)*sin(\offsetM)+\bM*sin(\Moonangle)*cos(\offsetM)}) circle (\rM);   
            }
        }
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{center}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

---

Here is non-animated version in the article class.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{kantlipsum}

\begin{document}
\section{Eclipses}
\kant[1]
\begin{figure}
\centering
    \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=2.5]
        \def\rS{0.3}                                % Sun radius

        \def\Earthangle{30}                         % angle wrt to horizontal        
        \def\rE{0.1}                                % Earth radius
                                                    % Major radius of Earth's elliptical orbit = 1
        \def\eE{0.25}                               % Excentricity of Earth's elliptical orbit       
        \pgfmathsetmacro\bE{sqrt(1-\eE*\eE)}        % Minor radius of Earth's elliptical orbit

        \def\Moonangle{-45}                         % angle wrt to horizontal           
        \pgfmathsetmacro\rM{.7*\rE}                 % Moon radius
        \pgfmathsetmacro\aM{2.5*\rE}                % Major radius of the Moon's elliptical orbit
        \def\eM{0.4}                                % Excentricity of Earth's elliptical orbit
        \pgfmathsetmacro\bM{\aM*sqrt(1-\eM*\eM)}    % Minor radius of the Moon's elliptical orbit 
        \def\offsetM{30}                            % angle offset between the major axes of Earth's and the Moon's orbits



        % This function computes the direction in which light hits the Earth.
        \pgfmathdeclarefunction{f}{1}{%
            \pgfmathparse{
                ((-\eE+cos(#1))<0) * ( 180 + atan( \bE*sin(#1)/(-\eE+cos(#1)) ) ) 
                +
                ((-\eE+cos(#1))>=0) * ( atan( \bE*sin(#1)/(-\eE+cos(#1)) ) ) 
            }
        }

        % This function computes the distance between Earth and the Sun,
        % which is used to calculate the varying radiation intensity on Earth.
        \pgfmathdeclarefunction{d}{1}{%
            \pgfmathparse{ sqrt((-\eE+cos(#1))*(-\eE+cos(#1))+\bE*sin(#1)*\bE*sin(#1)) }
        }

        % Draw the elliptical path of the Earth.
        \draw[thin,color=gray] (0,0) ellipse (1 and \bE);

        % Draw the Sun at the right-hand-side focus
        \shade[
            top color=yellow!70,
            bottom color=red!70,
            shading angle={45},
            ] ({sqrt(1-\bE*\bE)},0) circle (\rS);
         %\draw ({sqrt(1-\b*\b)},-\rS) node[below] {Sun};


        % Draw the Earth at \Earthangle
        \pgfmathsetmacro{\radiation}{100*(1-\eE)/(d(\Earthangle)*d(\Earthangle))}
        \colorlet{Earthlight}{yellow!\radiation!blue}
        \shade[%
            top color=Earthlight,%
            bottom color=blue,%
            shading angle={90+f(\Earthangle)},%
        ] ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)}) circle (\rE);
        %\draw ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)-\rE}) node[below] {Earth};  

        % Draw the Moon's (circular) orbit and the Moon at \Moonangle
        \draw[thin,color=gray,rotate around={{\offsetM}:({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)})}]
            ({cos(\Earthangle)},{\bE*sin(\Earthangle)}) ellipse ({\aM} and {\bM});
        \shade[
            top color=black!70,
            bottom color=black!30,
            shading angle={45},
        ]   ({cos(\Earthangle)+\aM*cos(\Moonangle)*cos(\offsetM)-\bM*sin(\Moonangle)*sin(\offsetM)},%
            {\bE*sin(\Earthangle)+\aM*cos(\Moonangle)*sin(\offsetM)+\bM*sin(\Moonangle)*cos(\offsetM)}) circle (\rM);   
    \end{tikzpicture}
    \caption{Sun, Earth and Moon}
\end{figure}
\end{document}