def add_body(ax, rad=2.0, rotate=0.0, add_night=True, **extra_kwargs):
    """
    Creates a circle of radius kwarg rad (default 2.0 RE) at the center of 
    axis ax.  Then, a planet of radius 1.0 RE is added to the center to 
    represent the Earth.  Extra kwargs are passed to the patch generators.

    Three patches are created by this function: the inner boundary (a light
    grey Circle patch), the planet (a white Circle patch) and the night side
    of the planet (a black wedge.)  All three are returned to the caller.

    The kwarge "rotate", which defaults to 0.0, can be set to any angle
    (in degrees) to rotate the location of local noon/midnight on the 
    planet patches.  The default is local noon points towards +X.  A
    rotate value of 90 will cause local noon to point towards +Y.

    Example

    >>>ax=pylab.subplot(111)
    >>>inner, planet, night = rampy.add_body(ax)

    If you are using a polar axis, try using add_body_polar.
    """
    from matplotlib.patches import Circle, Wedge
    inner = Circle((0, 0), rad, fc='lightgrey', ec='k', zorder=1000, **
        extra_kwargs)
    planet = Circle((0, 0), 1.0, fc='w', zorder=1001, **extra_kwargs)
    night = Wedge((0, 0), 1.0, 90 + rotate, -90 + rotate, fc='k', zorder=
        1002, **extra_kwargs)
    ax.add_artist(inner)
    ax.add_artist(planet)
    if add_night:
        ax.add_artist(night)
    return inner, planet, night
