UpTonight calculates the best astrophotography targets for the night at a given location. The default target list for deep sky objects is a merge of Gary Imm's My Top 100 Astrophotography Targets and the top 200 from his incredible Deep Sky Compendium. In addition, UpTonight calculates the observability of the solar system bodies. Finally, it can calculate the brightest visible comets based on the Minor Planet Center database.
UpTonight calculates Deep Sky Objects, Solar System Bodies and Comets!
UpTonight generates a plot of the sky in addition to a report on today's destinations. Below is the year 2024 starting with September for Munich:
Example report for 09/07/24:
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UpTonight
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Observatory: Backyard
- Location: 11.58 deg, 48.14 deg, 519.00 m
Observation timespan: 09/07 21:33 to 09/08 04:50 in astronomical darkness
Moon illumination: 19%
Contraints: Altitude constraint minimum: 20°, maximum: 80°, Airmass constraint: 2.92, Moon separation constraint: 19°, Size constraint minimum: 3', maximum: 300'
Altitude and Azimuth calculated for 09/07 21:33
id target name hmsdms right ascension declination altitude azimuth meridian transit antimeridian transit type constellation size mag foto
--------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ --------------- ----------- -------- ------- ------------------- -------------------- ----------------- -------------- ----- ---- ----
Sh2-155 Cave Nebula (Sh2-155, size: 40', mag: 0.0) 22h57m54s +62d31m06s 344.5 62.5 58.0 43.5 09/08/2024 01:02:32 Dark Nebula Cepheus 40.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-103 Cygnus Loop (Sh2-103, size: 180', mag: 0.0) 20h51m21s +31d10m00s 312.8 31.2 66.9 129.2 09/07/2024 22:56:22 Supernova Remnant Cygnus 180.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula (Sh2-101, size: 20', mag: 0.0) 19h59m55s +35d16m36s 300.0 35.3 75.9 152.2 09/07/2024 22:04:58 Emission Nebula Cygnus 20.0 0.0 1.0
IC 63 Gamma Cassiopeia Nebula (IC 63, size: 20', mag: 0.0) 00h59m29s +60d54m42s 14.9 60.9 43.7 41.7 09/08/2024 03:04:19 Emission Nebula Cassiopeia 20.0 0.0 1.0
LBN 438 Reaching Hand Nebula (LBN 438, size: 30', mag: 0.0) 22h41m17s +37d45m36s 340.2 37.8 53.8 88.1 09/08/2024 00:46:06 Molecular Cloud Lacerta 30.0 0.0 1.0
LBN 468 Loop of Darkness (LBN 468, size: 120', mag: 0.0) 20h42m29s +67d51m00s 310.5 67.9 68.1 18.6 09/07/2024 22:46:45 Molecular Cloud Cepheus 120.0 0.0 1.0
OU 4 Squid Nebula or Flying Bat (SH2-129) (OU 4, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 21h11m47s +59d57m01s 318.0 59.9 70.9 41.8 09/07/2024 23:16:21 Emission Nebula Cepheus 60.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 7635 Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635, size: 15', mag: 0.0) 23h20m45s +61d12m42s 350.2 61.2 55.3 45.7 09/08/2024 01:25:26 Emission Nebula Cassiopeia 15.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 7380 Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380, size: 25', mag: 0.0) 22h47m21s +58d07m54s 341.8 58.1 59.3 51.9 09/08/2024 00:52:01 Emission Nebula Cepheus 25.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 7331 Deer Lick Galaxy Group (NGC 7331, size: 25', mag: 9.5) 22h37m04s +34d24m57s 339.2 34.4 52.7 93.6 09/08/2024 00:41:54 Galaxy Pegasus 25.0 9.5 1.0
NGC 6992 Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 20h56m19s +31d44m36s 314.0 31.8 66.7 126.2 09/07/2024 23:01:18 Supernova Remnant Cygnus 60.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 6979 Pickering`s Triangle (NGC 6979, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 20h50m28s +32d01m36s 312.5 32.0 67.7 128.2 09/07/2024 22:55:28 Supernova Remnant Cygnus 60.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 6960 Western Veil or Witch's Broom (NGC 6960, size: 70', mag: 0.0) 20h45m58s +30d35m42s 311.5 30.6 67.1 132.5 09/07/2024 22:50:59 Supernova Remnant Cygnus 70.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 6946 Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946, size: 11', mag: 9.0) 20h34m52s +60d09m14s 308.8 60.2 74.6 32.2 09/07/2024 22:39:26 Galaxy Cygnus 11.0 9.0 1.0
NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888, size: 20', mag: 10.0) 20h12m06s +38d21m17s 303.0 38.3 77.4 136.5 09/07/2024 22:17:06 Wolf-Rayet Nebula Cygnus 20.0 10.0 1.0
LDN 1251 Angler Fish Nebula (LDN 1251, size: 90', mag: 0.0) 22h36m03s +75d15m35s 339.0 75.2 56.7 19.6 09/08/2024 00:40:18 Dark Nebula Cepheus 90.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 6543 Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543, size: 8', mag: 11.3) 17h58m33s +66d37m59s 269.8 66.6 68.1 335.8 Planetary Nebula Draco 8.0 11.3 1.0
M 33 Triangulum Galaxy (M 33, size: 70', mag: 5.7) 01h33m51s +30d39m37s 23.5 30.7 21.5 67.3 09/08/2024 03:38:28 Galaxy Tri 70.0 5.7 1.0
M 81 Bode's Galaxy (M 81, size: 27', mag: 6.9) 09h55m33s +69d03m56s 148.9 69.1 30.3 345.5 09/08/2024 00:01:18 Galaxy Ursa Major 27.0 6.9 1.0
M 82 Cigar Galaxy (M 82, size: 10', mag: 8.4) 09h55m53s +69d40m50s 149.0 69.7 30.8 345.8 09/08/2024 00:01:40 Galaxy Ursa Major 10.0 8.4 1.0
NGC 457 ET or Owl or Dragonfly Cluster (NGC 457, size: 13', mag: 6.4) 01h19m35s +58d17m12s 19.9 58.3 40.3 43.3 09/08/2024 03:24:24 Open Cluster Cassiopeia 13.0 6.4 1.0
NGC 2146 NGC 2146 (NGC 2146, size: 6', mag: 10.6) 06h18m38s +78d21m22s 94.7 78.4 36.9 4.1 Galaxy Camelopardalis 6.0 10.6 1.0
Sh2-106 Hourglass Nebula (Sh2-106, size: 3', mag: 0.0) 20h27m27s +37d22m49s 306.8 37.4 74.8 129.1 09/07/2024 22:32:25 Emission Nebula Cygnus 3.0 0.0 1.0
NGC 7822 Ced214 (NGC 7822, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 00h03m36s +67d09m00s 0.9 67.1 51.2 35.1 09/08/2024 02:08:22 Emission Nebula Cepheus 60.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-157 Lobster Claw Nebula (Sh2-157, size: 70', mag: 0.0) 23h16m04s +60d02m06s 349.0 60.0 55.8 47.9 09/08/2024 01:20:45 Wolf-Rayet Nebula Cassiopeia 70.0 0.0 1.0
WR 134 WR 134 (WR 134, size: 25', mag: 8.1) 20h10m00s +36d11m00s 302.5 36.2 75.8 143.1 09/07/2024 22:15:01 Wolf-Rayet Nebula Cygnus 25.0 8.1 1.0
vdB 141 Ghost Nebula (vdB 141, size: 20', mag: 10.8) 21h16m27s +68d15m52s 319.0 68.2 65.8 24.0 09/07/2024 23:20:45 Reflection Nebula Cepheus 20.0 10.8 1.0
vdB 152 Wolf's Cave (vdB 152, size: 60', mag: 9.3) 22h14m02s +69d56m00s 333.5 69.9 60.6 27.3 09/08/2024 00:18:24 Reflection Nebula Cepheus 60.0 9.3 1.0
Arp 319 Stephan's Quintet (Arp 319, size: 5', mag: 13.6) 22h36m04s +33d56m00s 339.0 33.9 52.5 94.4 09/08/2024 00:40:54 Galaxy Group Pegasus 5.0 13.6 1.0
Sh2-200 HDW 2 (Sh2-200, size: 6', mag: 0.0) 03h11m01s +62d47m45s 47.8 62.8 32.0 28.9 Planetary Nebula Cassiopeia 6.0 0.0 1.0
Abell 85 CTB 1 or Garlic Nebula (Abell 85, size: 35', mag: 0.0) 23h59m54s +62d26m51s 360.0 62.4 50.9 42.6 09/08/2024 02:04:39 Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia 35.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-188 Dolphin Nebula (Sh2-188, size: 9', mag: 17.4) 01h30m33s +58d24m51s 22.6 58.4 39.1 42.2 09/08/2024 03:35:23 Planetary Nebula Cassiopeia 9.0 17.4 1.0
Sh2-174 Valentine Rose Nebula (Sh2-174, size: 10', mag: 14.7) 23h47m08s +80d49m22s 356.8 80.8 51.3 13.1 09/08/2024 01:51:46 Planetary Nebula Cepheus 10.0 14.7 1.0
Sh2-158 Northern Lagoon Nebula (Sh2-158, size: 8', mag: 0.0) 23h13m37s +61d30m00s 348.5 61.5 56.2 45.3 09/08/2024 01:18:17 Emission Nebula Cepheus 8.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-173 Phantom of the Opera Nebula (Sh2-173, size: 25', mag: 0.0) 00h21m16s +61d43m30s 5.3 61.7 48.3 42.8 09/08/2024 02:26:02 Emission Nebula Cassiopeia 25.0 0.0 1.0
Sh2-114 Flying Dragon Nebula (Sh2-114, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 21h21m12s +38d42m00s 320.2 38.7 67.6 104.1 09/07/2024 23:26:06 Emission Nebula Cygnus 60.0 0.0 0.9
NGC 1491 Fossil Footprint Nebula (NGC 1491, size: 12', mag: 0.0) 04h03m14s +51d18m57s 60.8 51.3 18.7 30.8 Emission Nebula Perseus 12.0 0.0 0.9
M 31 Andromeda Galaxy (M 31, size: 189', mag: 3.4) 00h42m44s +41d16m08s 10.7 41.3 36.2 65.7 09/08/2024 02:47:27 Galaxy Andromeda 189.0 3.4 0.9
Sh2-132 Lion Nebula (Sh2-132, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 22h19m09s +56d04m45s 334.8 56.1 63.0 56.4 09/08/2024 00:23:50 Wolf-Rayet Nebula Cepheus 60.0 0.0 0.9
Abell 426 Perseus Galaxy Cluster (Abell 426, size: 150', mag: 0.0) 03h18m36s +41d30m54s 49.7 41.5 15.2 43.2 Galaxy Cluster Perseus 150.0 0.0 0.9
M 27 Dumbbell or Apple Core Nebula (M 27, size: 6', mag: 14.1) 19h59m36s +22d43m15s 300.0 22.7 63.9 163.2 09/07/2024 22:04:47 Planetary Nebula Vulpecula 6.0 14.1 0.9
NGC 891 Outer Limits Galaxy (NGC 891, size: 14', mag: 9.9) 02h22m33s +42d20m54s 35.6 42.3 22.7 50.9 09/08/2024 04:27:13 Galaxy Andromeda 14.0 9.9 0.9
IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk (IC 1396, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 21h38m58s +57d29m21s 324.8 57.5 68.4 51.8 09/07/2024 23:43:36 Dark Nebula Cepheus 60.0 0.0 0.9
NGC 281 PacMan Nebula (NGC 281, size: 35', mag: 0.0) 00h52m54s +56d37m29s 13.2 56.6 42.7 47.5 09/08/2024 02:57:42 Emission Nebula Cassiopeia 35.0 0.0 0.9
NGC 869 Double Cluster Duo (NGC 869, size: 60', mag: 0.0) 02h19m00s +57d07m42s 34.8 57.1 33.1 39.0 09/08/2024 04:23:50 Open Cluster Perseus 60.0 0.0 0.9
LBN 105 SH2-73 (LBN 105, size: 75', mag: 0.0) 16h11m07.6s +21d52m26.4s 242.8 21.9 43.0 253.9 Molecular Cloud Hercules 75.0 0.0 0.3
IC 434 Horsehead and Flame Nebula (IC 434, size: 30', mag: 0.0) 05h41m00s -02d27m12s 85.2 -2.5 -38.8 35.2 Dark Nebula Orion 30.0 0.0 0.1
NGC 2359 Thor's Helmet or Duck Nebula (NGC 2359, size: 10', mag: 0.0) 07h18m30s -13d13m36s 109.6 -13.2 -55.0 4.0 Wolf-Rayet Nebula Canis Major 10.0 0.0 0.0Example report for the solar system bodies:
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UpTonight
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Observatory: Backyard
- Location: 11.58 deg, 48.14 deg, 519.00 m
Observation timespan: 09/07 21:33 to 09/08 04:50 in astronomical darkness
Moon illumination: 19%
Contraints: Altitude constraint minimum: 20°, maximum: 80°, Airmass constraint: 2.92, Moon separation constraint: 19°, Size constraint minimum: 3', maximum: 300'
Altitude and Azimuth calculated for 09/07 21:33
target name hmsdms right ascension declination max altitude visual magnitude azimuth max altitude time meridian transit antimeridian transit type foto
----------- -------------------------------------- --------------- ----------- ------------ ---------------- ------- ------------------- ------------------- -------------------- ------ ----
Neptune 23h56m42.08120164s -01d47m59.87121249s 359.2 -1.8 40.2 7.7 180.0 09/08/2024 02:01:25 09/08/2024 02:01:25 Planet 1.0
Saturn 23h10m44.53934092s -07d39m44.90930519s 347.8 -7.7 34.3 0.6 180.0 09/08/2024 01:15:33 09/08/2024 01:15:33 Planet 1.0
Uranus 03h38m39.35651794s +19d12m07.89874471s 54.7 19.2 59.2 5.7 155.1 09/08/2024 04:50:14 Planet 0.9
Jupiter 05h14m17.14417165s +22d18m54.46752709s 78.6 22.3 50.8 -2.3 117.9 09/08/2024 04:50:14 Planet 0.7
Mars 06h07m07.20314359s +23d27m53.92440815s 91.8 23.5 43.4 0.7 103.6 09/08/2024 04:50:14 Planet 0.6And finally for the comets:
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UpTonight
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Observatory: Backyard
- Location: 11.58 deg, 48.14 deg, 519.00 m
Observation timespan: 09/07 21:33 to 09/08 04:50 in astronomical darkness
Moon illumination: 19%
Contraints: Altitude constraint minimum: 20°, maximum: 80°, Airmass constraint: 2.92, Moon separation constraint: 19°, Size constraint minimum: 3', maximum: 300'
Altitude and Azimuth calculated for 09/07 21:33
target name distance earth au distance sun au absolute magnitude visual magnitude altitude azimuth rise time set time
----------------- ----------------- --------------- ------------------ ---------------- -------- ------- ------------------- -------------------
3D-A/Biela 0.843 1.524 11.00 10.80 7.86 50.6 2024-09-07 18:20:43 2024-09-08 12:16:48
18D/Perrine-Mrkos 1.357 1.597 9.00 11.34 -31.4 34.9 2024-09-07 23:11:54 2024-09-08 11:57:59Logically, the calculation is done as follows:
- Specify your scope location based on it's Earth location, time zone, and optional environmental parameters of temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure. The environmental parameters are required for the refraction calculation.
- Calculate the nearest astronomical sunset and sunrise for the location. If you are at a latitude where the sun may not go below -18°, UpTonight will try to use nautical and possibly civil darkness.
- Horizon:
- If defined calculate your horizon.
- Deep Sky Objects:
- Calculate observable objects within your altitude and air mass constraints.
- Filter the remaining objects to fit within the size and fraction of time observability limits.
- Solar System:
- Calculate the Sun, Moon, and planets (bodies) if observable.
- Compute the maximum altitude for the bodies.
- Comets:
- Compute comet positions and distances.
- Compute the visual magnitudes and coordinates.
- Filter for brightest and observable comets.
- Create plot and reports.
The plot contains all objects within the given constraints during your possible observation period. The distance between the points represents 15 minutes of time.
You can change the constraints by configuring them in the config.yaml (the constraints are ignored for solar system bodies):
- Maximum Airmass (default 2): Airmass is a measure of the amount of air along the line of sight when observing a star or other celestial source from below Earth's atmosphere. There are many different ways to calculate this, in the current implementation the airmass is approximated by the secant of the zenith angle (max airmass set to 2 means 60° below the zenith, 2 = 1/cos(60))
- Minimum and maximum altitude.
- Size constraints in arc minutes.
- Minimum fraction of time observable for the object. The default value of 0.8 means that the given objects must be within your constraints for at least 80% of astronomical darkness.
- Moon separation in degrees.
The report for the objects includes the following information:
- Your configured observatory location
- The observation period for this night of astronomical darkness
- The percentage of moon illumination
- The constraints defined for the calculation
- The objects table:
- Target name
- Location in hms dms
- Right ascension and declination in degree
- Altitude and azimuth at oberservation start time in degree
- The date and time of an eventual meridian or antimeridian transit
- Object type
- Constellation
- Object size in arc minutes
- Visual magnitude of the object when available
- Fraction of time observable
Available Target Lists for Deep Sky Objects
| List | Description | Objects |
|---|---|---|
| GaryImm (default) | A merge of Gary Imm's My Top 100 Astrophotography Targets and the top 200 taken from his Deep Sky Compendium. | 208 |
| Messier | All 110 official Messier objects. | 110 |
| Herschel400 | The Herschel 400 - 400 of the best objects from the NGC list as selected by the Astronomical League. | 400 |
| OpenIC | The Index Catalogue (IC) based on OpenNGC | 5589 |
| OpenNGC | The New General Catalogue (NGC) based on OpenNGC | 8373 |
| LDN | Lynds Catalog of Dark Nebulae based on NASA | 1802 |
The bodies are defined within uptonight/const.py. The constraints set for deep sky objects are not applied to the bodies.
# Solar System
BODIES = [
("Sun", "sun", "gold", 250),
("Moon", "moon", "lightgrey", 150),
("Mercury", "mercury", "pink", 20),
("Venus", "venus", "rosybrown", 30),
("Mars", "mars", "red", 30),
("Jupiter", "jupiter", "chocolate", 50),
("Saturn", "saturn", "khaki", 45),
("Uranus", "uranus", "lightsteelblue", 20),
("Neptune", "neptune", "royalblue", 15),
]Report contents for the bodies:
- The bodies table:
- Target name
- Location in hms dms
- Right ascension and declination in degree
- Altitude (max) and azimuth at maximum altitude time in degree
- Visual magnitude
- The date and time of an eventual meridian or antimeridian transit
- Object type
- Fraction of time observable
The visual magnitude limit is defined in uptonight/const.py. The constraints set for deep sky objects are not applied to the bodies. Civil sunset and sunrise are used as the possible observation period.
# Default magnitude limit (comets)
DEFAULT_MAGNITUDE_LIMIT = 12Report contents for the comets:
- The comets table:
- Target name
- Distance to the Earth in AU
- Distance to the Sun in AU
- Absolute and visual magnitute
- Altitude and azimuth at observation start time
- Rise and set time
Used Target List for Comets
| List | Description | Objects |
|---|---|---|
| CometsEls | The up to date comet database maintained by the Minor Planet Center. | 1168 (as of 09/18/24) |
If you enable the UpTonight feature alttime in your config file an altitude vs time diagram is created for each observable deep sky object, body, and comet. This is only supported if not running in live mode.
There are two ways to run UpTonight. As a regular Python script or as a container.
Configuration is done via a yaml-based configuration file and/or environment variables.
Note: An environment variable overrides the config file setting.
Note: All settings are optional. If not set, defaults will be used. The only mandatory settings are the longitude and latitude of your location. Set them either via environment variables or in the config file.
Examples of minimal configuration:
export LONGITUDE="11d34m51.50s"
export LATITUDE="48d08m10.77s"or in config.yaml
location:
longitude: 11d34m51.50s
latitude: 48d08m10.77sEnvironment variables
| Variable | Unit | Description | Example | Optional | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LONGITUDE | dms | Longitude in degrees minutes seconds | 11d34m51.50s | ||
| LATITUDE | dms | Latitude in degrees minutes seconds | 48d08m10.77s | ||
| ELEVATION | m | Height above sea level in meters | 519 | ||
| TIMEZONE | tz | TZ timezone | Europe/Berlin | ||
| PRESSURE | bar | The ambient pressure | 1.022 | yes | 0 |
| RELATIVE_HUMIDITY | percentage | The ambient relative humidity | 0.8 | yes | 0 |
| TEMPERATURE | degrees centigrade | The ambient temperature | 12 | yes | 0 |
| OBSERVATION_DATE | %m/$d/%y | Day of observation | 10/01/23 | yes | Current day |
| TARGET_LIST | string | Any of the provided target lists (GaryImm, Hershel400, Messier) | targets/Messier | yes | targets/GaryImm |
| TYPE_FILTER | string | Filter on an object type | Nebula | yes | "" |
| OUTPUT_DIR | string | Output directory for reports and the plot | "/tmp" | yes | "." |
| LIVE_MODE | bool | Run in live mode, generate plot every five minutes. Bash doesn't support boolean variables, but the code checks for the word 'true'. |
true | yes | false |
UpTonight supports a live mode as well. Contrary to the normal mode where the calculations are done and the output is generated for the upcoming night you'll get a live plot. To enable this mode set LIVE_MODE=true. In this mode, UpTonight will create a file called uptonight-liveplot.png every five minutes but no txt, or json-reports.
You can create a bucket list of objects which will allways show (if visible) ignoring the constraints. Similar is the done list, but in the opposite way. These targets are ignored.
Config file config.yaml
All keys besides location.longitude and location.latitude are optional.
Optionally, you can plot a custom horizon for your location (white dotted line). For this, define the altitude / azimuth pairs as shown in the config example below.
Example:
# observation_date: 03/28/24
target_list: targets/GaryImm
type_filter: # e.g. Galaxy, Nebula
output_dir: out
live_mode: false
location:
longitude: 11d34m51.50s
latitude: 48d08m10.77s
elevation: 519
timezone: Europe/Berlin
environment:
pressure: 1.022
temperature: 18
relative_humidity: 0.7
constraints:
altitude_constraint_min: 30 # In deg above horizon
altitude_constraint_max: 80 # In deg above horizon
airmass_constraint: 2 # 30° to 90°, 2 = 1/cos(60)
size_constraint_min: 10 # In arc minutes
size_constraint_max: 300 # In arc minutes
moon_separation_min: 45 # In degrees
# If set to true, moon_separation_min is derived from the moon illumination
# percentage and overwrites moon_separation_min. 1% corresponds 1°.
moon_separation_use_illumination: true
# Object needs to be within the constraints for at least 50% of darkness.
fraction_of_time_observable_threshold: 0.75
# Maximum number of targets to calculate.
max_number_within_threshold: 60
# true : Meaning that azimuth is shown increasing counter-clockwise (ccw), or
# with north at top, east at left, etc.
# false: Show azimuth increasing clockwise (cw).
north_to_east_ccw: false
# Personal bucket list to always include.
# Constraints are ignored for these targets.
bucket_list:
- IC 434
- NGC 2359
# Personal done list to always ignore.
done_list:
- IC 1795
# Horizon
# Minimum altitudes from north (0), east (90), south (180), west (270), to north (360)
horizon:
# Step size in degrees
step_size: 5
# Anchor points of the horizon
# Should start with an azimuth of 0 and end with 360 degrees
anchor_points:
- alt: 20
az: 0
- alt: 20
az: 52
- alt: 30
az: 60
- alt: 49
az: 90
- alt: 52
az: 135
- alt: 21
az: 150
- alt: 16
az: 176
- alt: 14
az: 222
- alt: 34
az: 241
- alt: 20
az: 267
- alt: 28
az: 330
- alt: 31
az: 343
- alt: 20
az: 360
# Enable or disable component calculation
features:
horizon: true
objects: true
bodies: true
comets: true
alttime: trueYou can enable or disable the following UpTonights features:
horizon: Plot the horizon baesd onhorizon.anchor_points.objects: Calculate and plot deep sky objects based on the chosen target list.bodies: Calculate and plot solar sysstem bodies.comets: Calculate and plot comets.alttime: Calculate and plot altitude vs time diagrams for observable deep sky objects.
To calculate the best targets for your location set the following environment variables:
# Here center of Munich
export LONGITUDE=11d34m51.50s
export LATITUDE=48d08m10.77s
export ELEVATION=519
export TIMEZONE=Europe/BerlinTo run UpTonight simply do the following:
# just once
pip install -r requirements.txt
# run
python3 main.pyThe plot and the report will be located in the out-diretory.
Note: You must use UTF-8 mode with Python on Windows! Enable it by setting the environment variable
PYTHONUTF8=1before running UpTonight.
You can also run uptonight as a container. To build the image, run
docker build -t uptonight .To run it
# Without refraction calculations
docker run --rm \
-e LONGITUDE=11d34m51.50s \
-e LATITUDE=48d08m10.77s \
-e ELEVATION=519 \
-e TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin \
-v ./out:/app/out \
uptonightThe plot and the report will be located in the ./out-diretory.
Note: Running UpTonight as a container is my preferred way of using it.
Alternative example for docker-compose, here writing to the www-directory of Home Assistant and using my published image on Docker Hub:
services:
uptonight:
image: mawinkler/uptonight:latest
container_name: uptonight
environment:
- LONGITUDE=11d34m51.50s
- LATITUDE=48d08m10.77s
- ELEVATION=519
- TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
- PRESSURE=1.022
- TEMPERATURE=18
- RELATIVE_HUMIDITY=0.7
# - TYPE_FILTER=Nebula
volumes:
- /home/smarthome/homeassistant/www:/app/outAlternative using the config.yaml:
services:
uptonight:
image: mawinkler/uptonight:latest
container_name: uptonight
volumes:
- /home/smarthome/uptonight/config.yaml:/app/config.yaml
- /home/smarthome/homeassistant/www:/app/outSimultaneously create live plots using the same config file:
...
uptonightlive:
image: mawinkler/uptonight:latest
container_name: uptonightlive
environment:
- LIVE_MODE=true
volumes:
- /home/smarthome/uptonight/config.yaml:/app/config.yaml
- /home/smarthome/homeassistant/www:/app/out
restart: alwaysIf you want to add your own objects to the calculation, just add them to the config.yaml. Example:
custom_targets:
- name: NGC 4395
description: NGC 4395
type: Galaxy
constellation: Canes Venatici
size: 13
ra: 12 25 48
dec: +33 32 48
mag: 10.0
- name: NGC 3227
description: Galaxy duo NGC 3226
type: Galaxy
constellation: Leo
size: 4
ra: 10 23 30
dec: +19 51 54
mag: 10.4