Cartesian to geodetic coordinates conversion on a triaxial ellipsoid

A new method of transforming Cartesian to geodetic (or planetographic) coordinates on a triaxial ellipsoid is presented. The method is based on simple reasoning coming from essentials of vector calculus. The reasoning results in solving a nonlinear system of equations for coordinates of the point being the projection of a point located outside or inside a triaxial ellipsoid along the normal to the ellipsoid. The presented method has been compared to a vector method of Feltens (J Geod 83:129-137, 2009) who claims that no other methods are available in the literature. Generally, our method turns out to be more accurate, faster and applicable to celestial bodies characterized by different geometric parameters. The presented method also fits to the classical problem of converting Cartesian to geodetic coordinates on the ellipsoid of revolution.