Astronomical Computation Engineer

About Turing:

Based in San Francisco, California, Turing is the world’s leading research accelerator for frontier AI labs and a trusted partner for global enterprises deploying advanced AI systems.

Turing supports customers in two ways: first, by accelerating frontier research with high-quality data, advanced training pipelines, plus top AI researchers who specialize in coding, reasoning, STEM, multilinguality, multimodality, and agents; and second, by applying that expertise to help enterprises transform AI from proof of concept into proprietary intelligence with systems that perform reliably, deliver measurable impact, and drive lasting results on the P&L

About the role

You are an engineer or computer scientist who has taken a deep interest in Vedic Astrology and can bridge the gap between traditional Jyotish calculations and modern computational astronomy. Your primary role is to programmatically verify planetary position calculations using Python astronomical libraries, validate Ayanamsa transformations, and create code-based verification scripts that serve as ground-truth generators for the evaluation dataset. You are equally comfortable debugging a Swiss Ephemeris call as you are discussing Nirayana vs Sayana coordinate systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Write Python verification scripts using pyswisseph (Swiss Ephemeris Python bindings) and/or Skyfield to independently compute and verify: Planetary longitudes (geocentric, apparent) for any given date/time/location, Nirayana longitude conversion by applying specified Ayanamsa (Lahiri, Krishnamurti, Raman, etc.), Ascendant (Lagna) degree computation for given birth data, House cusp calculations (Equal, Placidus, Koch, or Whole Sign systems), Nakshatra and Pada determination from computed longitude, Sunrise/Sunset times for given coordinates and dates
• Build automated test harnesses that validate batches of Kundali computation problems against ephemeris-derived ground truth
• Create 10-15 code-verified evaluation problems per month where the ground truth is algorithmically generated and independently verified
• Document discrepancies between different ephemeris sources and Ayanamsa systems, with quantified error margins
• Develop utility scripts for Panchang element computation: Tithi from Sun-Moon elongation, Nakshatra from Moon longitude, Yoga from Sun+Moon longitude, Karana from Tithi subdivision
• Create a verification pipeline that can be used by non-coding team members to spot-check their manually created problems
• Collaborate with classical scholars (Roles A-D) to translate traditional calculation methods into code and identify edge cases

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics, Astronomy, or Mathematics
• Minimum 3 years of professional Python development experience
• Demonstrated proficiency with at least one of the following astronomical computation libraries: pyswisseph (Python extension to the Swiss Ephemeris — github.com/astrorigin/pyswisseph): Provides high-precision planetary position computation, house cusp calculation, Ayanamsa application, eclipse computation, and all major coordinate transformations used in both Western and Vedic astrology. Must understand functions like swe_calc_ut(), swe_houses(), swe_set_sid_mode() for sidereal/Nirayana calculations; Skyfield (Elegant astronomy for Python — github.com/skyfielders/python-skyfield): Modern Pythonic library for high-accuracy positional astronomy using JPL ephemeris data. Must understand loading ephemeris files (de421.bsp), computing planetary positions, coordinate transforms (ecliptic, equatorial), and time scale handling (UT1, TDB, TT)
• Understanding of the conceptual difference between Sayana (tropical) and Nirayana (sidereal) coordinate systems and how Ayanamsa bridges them
• Familiarity with astronomical time systems (UT, UTC, IST, Julian Date) and coordinate systems (ecliptic longitude/latitude, right ascension/declination)
• Basic understanding of Vedic Astrology concepts: Rashi, Nakshatra, Lagna, Bhava, Graha — enough to understand what the calculations mean in Jyotish context
• Strong documentation skills — ability to write clear, reproducible code with comments explaining both the astronomical and astrological significance of each computation step

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• Active contributions to open-source Jyotish or astronomy projects
• Experience with Jyotish software development (web apps, mobile apps, or desktop tools for horoscope generation)
• Knowledge of DE430/DE431 JPL ephemeris files and their precision characteristics
• Understanding of Surya Siddhanta algorithms and how they compare to modern ephemeris
• Published work or blog posts on computational astrology
• Familiarity with Lahiri vs Krishnamurti vs Raman Ayanamsa values and their year-by-year differences
• Experience with geodetic calculations (latitude/longitude to local sidereal time conversion)

Tools & Technologies

• Python 3.8+ with NumPy, pandas, datetime/pytz
• pyswisseph (pip install pyswisseph) — Swiss Ephemeris bindings for planetary computation
• Skyfield (pip install skyfield) — JPL-ephemeris-based positional astronomy
• astropy (for coordinate transforms and time handling, if familiar)
• Jupyter Notebook for interactive verification and documentation
• Git / GitHub for version control of verification scripts
• Jyotish software (Jagannatha Hora, etc.) for cross-validation