Data Sources & Credits

Queried via the Horizons API (https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api) to compute accurate sky positions for planets, comets, and asteroids at the observer's location and time. Also used for comet position ingestion in the local database.

Provides aggregate statistics on the known small-body population via the SBDB query API.

Accessed via the NeoWs feed endpoint (api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed). Requires a NASA API key configured in site settings.

Queries the /moon/phases endpoint for phase date tables used in the space calendar display.

Dial moon images from the NASA SVS are fetched based on current lunar age and phase.

Images are fetched from umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/ and displayed on the Weather and Toolbox dashboard solar monitor panels.

Near-real-time coronagraph imagery sourced from soho.nascom.nasa.gov.

Queried via images-api.nasa.gov/search to find mission imagery by keyword. No API key required.

The full catalog CSV is imported into a local PostgreSQL database during setup and served via the internal API for the Deep Sky browser and target planning tools. Approximately 14,000+ NGC/IC objects.

Catalog file (catalog.dat.gz) fetched from the CDS archive and parsed into the local catalog schema.

Data is ingested from the LL2 v2.3.0 REST API (ll.thespacedevs.com/2.3.0) into local PostgreSQL tables including events.launches (7,500+ records back to 1957), spacedevs.astronauts, spacedevs.programs, and supporting reference tables. Rate limit: 15 requests/hour on the free tier, respected by a live throttle-check guard on every request.

Data is ingested nightly into sat.satcat, sat.gp (TLEs), sat.cdm, and sat.reentry_watch tables via the Space-Track REST API. Account registration and agreement to Space-Track terms is required. No credentials are exposed.

The CelesTrak SATCAT (celestrak.org/pub/satcat.csv) is ingested separately from Space-Track GP data, providing complementary fields and boxscore breakdowns by country and object type.

The /v1/satellites/25544 endpoint is queried in real time to display current ISS ground track and altitude.

Frequency data is sourced from the palewire/amateur-satellite-database GitHub repository (amsat-all-frequencies.json), which aggregates published AMSAT frequency data. Ingested into the ham.frequencies table.

Metadata sourced from the palewire/amateur-satellite-database repository (satnogs.json). Ingested into the ham.satnogs table and joined with ham.frequencies via NORAD ID.

Multiple SWPC JSON endpoints are queried: rtsw_mag_1m.json (real-time solar wind), planetary_k_index_1m.json (Kp), goes integral proton flux, solar_regions.json, and products/alerts.json. Data is used on the Space Weather panel.

Queried via api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast with variables tuned for astronomical observing quality. Data is ingested and cached locally in PostgreSQL via the clearsky ingest job.

The ECMWF model endpoint (api.open-meteo.com/v1/ecmwf) provides an independent cloud cover forecast for comparison with the default GFS/ICON model in the Clear Sky Chart.

Queried via air-quality-api.open-meteo.com. PM2.5 values are translated to AQI categories and displayed as a smoke/haze row on the Clear Sky Chart.

The /forecast/{key}/{lat},{lon} endpoint returns a Dark Sky-compatible JSON response. Used as the primary current-conditions source; falls back to OpenWeatherMap when unavailable.

The /data/2.5/weather endpoint is used as a secondary current-conditions source via the OpenWeatherMap free tier.

Queried via api.weather.gov/points/{lat},{lon} (grid lookup) and /alerts/active?point={lat},{lon}. No API key required. All NWS data is U.S. government public domain.

The SPC Day 1/Day 2 outlook GeoJSON layers (spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/dayXotlk_*.lyr.geojson) are fetched and rendered as colored risk overlays on the weather map.

The /search and /reverse endpoints convert place names to coordinates and vice-versa. Usage follows Nominatim's usage policy — requests are throttled and a descriptive user-agent is set.

A single HTTPS request returns the IANA timezone string for any lat/lon pair. Used client-side when the user sets or changes their observing location.

Raster tiles derived from the Falchi et al. 2016 dataset show artificial sky brightness relative to the natural background. Tiles are served via djlorenz.github.io.

The tile URL pattern djlorenz.github.io/astronomy/lp2022/... is used by the Leaflet map layer for the light pollution overlay.

Loaded from unpkg CDN ([email protected]). Used for the light pollution overlay map and the weather radar/outlook map.

Loaded from unpkg CDN ([email protected]). Used on pages requiring WebGL map rendering such as satellite ground tracks and orbital interference maps.

The CartoDB dark_all tile layer is used as the default dark basemap, appropriate for light pollution overlays.

Served via the ArcGIS REST MapServer endpoint. Used as the satellite imagery basemap option in the light pollution map.

Standard tile.openstreetmap.org tiles are used as the "Street" basemap option. Map data is available under ODbL.

The RainViewer public API (api.rainviewer.com/public/weather-maps.json) returns available radar frame timestamps, which are then displayed as animated radar tiles on the Leaflet weather map.

Queried via api.airplanes.live/v2/point/{lat}/{lon}/{radius_nm}. Used as the first-priority ADS-B provider with automatic failover to secondary sources.

Queried via opendata.adsb.fi/api/v2/lat/{lat}/lon/{lon}/dist/{nm}. Used as the second-priority ADS-B source.

Queried via opendata.adsb.one/api/v2/lat/{lat}/lon/{lon}/dist/{nm}. Third-priority ADS-B source in the provider chain.

Queried via api.adsb.lol/v2/lat/{lat}/lon/{lon}/dist/{nm}. Fourth-priority ADS-B source. Also used directly on the orbital interference tool.

Loaded from jsDelivr CDN ([email protected]). No data is sent to any server — all calculations run locally in the browser from the user's coordinates and current time. Used extensively across the toolbox, clear sky chart, and target planning pages.

Loaded from Cloudflare cdnjs (satellite.js v5.0.0). Propagates TLE data to compute current satellite positions and pass predictions visible from the observer's location. No external calls made.

Loaded from Cloudflare cdnjs (three.js r128). Used to render the interactive 3D Earth globe with satellite ground tracks on the Manmade Objects and related pages.

Loaded from jsDelivr CDN ([email protected]). Used alongside Three.js to texture the WebGL globe with geographic boundaries.

Loaded from jsDelivr CDN ([email protected]). Used for bar and line charts across multiple toolbox pages.

Loaded from fonts.googleapis.com. All three typefaces are released under the Open Font License (OFL). The accessible font stack is activated in accessibility/dark-sky mode.

Hosted on a dedicated LXC container. All external data sources are ingested and cached locally, reducing live API dependencies. TimescaleDB is used for time-series observing condition history.

Runs on an internal LXC container (astro-api) on port 8000, accessible only from the WordPress server. WordPress fetches data from FastAPI rather than querying the database directly.

The Turnstile widget (challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile/v0/api.js) is loaded on the contact page only. Server-side token verification uses the /siteverify endpoint. No user tracking is performed by this site.