Converts a dictionary of variable star data to a `Body` instance.

    Requires `PyEphem <http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/>`_ to be installed.

def dict_to_body(star_dict):
    """
    Converts a dictionary of variable star data to a `Body` instance.

    Requires `PyEphem <http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/>`_ to be installed.
    """
    if ephem is None:  # pragma: no cover
        raise NotImplementedError("Please install PyEphem in order to use dict_to_body.")
    body = ephem.FixedBody()
    body.name = star_dict['name']
    body._ra = ephem.hours(str(star_dict['ra']))
    body._dec = ephem.degrees(str(star_dict['dec']))
    body._epoch = ephem.J2000
    return body