Problem reading observations

Find_Orb was unable to find valid observations in your input file.

If you gave an object name (instead of supplying astrometric data), you should check to see that the name was specified correctly. Be aware that MPC (and therefore this software) doesn't have astrometric data for comets before about 1870, and sometimes has other lapses. If you think the object really ought to have worked, please let me know at the address given below, specifying the name that failed.

If you provided observations, you may want to check the documentation of the MPC astrometry format. The format is a little complicated, mostly because all data must be forced into 80 columns so that it can fit on a punched card. Make sure that all columns are properly aligned (emphasized because that seems to be the most common problem people encounter.)

If you're only going to use the observations in Find_Orb, you may find some of the Find_Orb extensions to the astrometric format to be useful. In particular, this can help if your times are in hour/minute/second form and you don't want to convert to decimal days, or if your positions aren't in base-60 (Babylonian/sexagesimal) form.

If you can't figure out what's going on, you should contact me at p‮ôç.ötulpťcéjôřp@otúl‬m, removing diacritical marks. Please send the observations in question so I can make a diagnosis.