Complete Feature Reference
MyAstroBoard combines an autonomous sky-planning engine, personal observation tools, weather intelligence, and space-tracking data into one self-hosted application.
Your personal sky scheduler, powered by Astropy and Astroplan.
SkyTonight runs automatically at 1 hour after astronomical dawn and 1 hour before astronomical dusk, every day. No manual trigger needed. A smart clock fallback every 6 hours ensures reliability even with untrusted system clocks.
Targets sourced from OpenNGC, OpenIC (via PyOngc), Messier, Caldwell, comets from Minor Planet Center (JPL fallback), and all solar-system bodies via Skyfield de421.bsp ephemeris.
Each target is ranked with a dimensionless quality score: Visibility (40%), Sky quality (25%), Object brightness (25%), Viewing comfort (10%). Bonuses for planetary opposition (+0.20) and Messier objects (+0.05).
Polar azimuth/altitude projection with full target trajectory arcs for the night. Click any target to inspect its details. Color-coded by object type (DSO, planet, comet).
Per-target interactive charts powered by Chart.js. See exact observability windows, astronomical night bands, and your personal altitude/airmass constraints at a glance.
Define your limits: minimum/maximum altitude, airmass threshold, object angular size, moon separation angle, and observability fraction. SkyTonight filters and ranks accordingly.
Fresh comet orbital data fetched from MPC. Comets are processed through the same AstroScore pipeline, giving you apples-to-apples comparison with DSOs.
All planets, the Moon, and other solar-system bodies computed with Skyfield high-precision ephemeris. Visibility windows, elongation, and opposition status all included.
Formatted nightly reports per target with key observational data. Export or browse in the dedicated Reports sub-tab for session preparation.
From target selection to session export - plan your entire night in the app.
Build a personal observation timeline from SkyTonight results. Add targets, set order, check FOV compatibility, and review altitude windows for your entire session before heading outside.
Export your Plan My Night timeline to CSV for spreadsheet use or PDF for field print. Take your plan to the eyepiece without screen dependency.
Your private astrophotography catalog. Track which objects you have imaged, attach your own photos, add session notes, and cross-reference with SkyTonight results for progress tracking.
Create and manage telescope, camera, and mount profiles. The field-of-view calculator uses your gear specs to highlight which SkyTonight targets best match your imaging setup.
Multi-day moon phase planner showing new moon windows, best astrophotography periods (dark window), and optimal dates for scheduling deep-sky sessions weeks ahead.
Upload your local horizon profile to filter SkyTonight targets against obstructions from mountains, trees, or buildings. Only viable targets are presented.
Astronomy-specific weather analysis and sky condition monitoring.
Open-Meteo powered weather forecast with astrophotography-specific overlays: cloud cover, transparency, wind speed and direction, humidity, and dew risk alerts for your exact GPS coordinates.
Atmospheric seeing predictions showing expected stellar resolution and turbulence levels throughout the night. Plan your most demanding high-resolution sessions on the best nights.
Current moon phase, illumination percentage, rise/set times, and precise dark-window calculation (astronomical twilight to moonrise) so you know exactly how much dark time you have.
Civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight times for your location. Accurate sunrise/sunset and golden-hour data for solar imaging and outdoor planning.
Next upcoming solar and lunar eclipses with interactive altitude-vs-time charts for your specific location. Visual tour of eclipse phases and contact times.
Geomagnetic activity forecast and aurora visibility predictions for mid-to-high latitudes. Best viewing windows highlighted relative to your local night.
Everything happening in space - from your backyard.
Real-time International Space Station ground track. Know exactly where the ISS is at any moment and when it will pass over your location.
Upcoming ISS visible passes for your configured location. Exact pass times, maximum elevation angles, approach/departure directions, and visibility duration.
Upcoming and past rocket launches with countdown timers, mission details, and video stream links. Powered by Launch Library 2 API.
Current ISS crew and all humans currently in orbit. Mission name, launch date, time in space, and crew roles - updated automatically.
Upcoming spacewalks (EVA), dockings, undockings, and other spaceflight milestones from aggregated event feeds.
Upcoming planetary events including oppositions, conjunctions, elongations, and other significant sky events for the coming weeks.
Enterprise-grade capabilities in a self-hosted, single-container package.
Single Docker Compose command deployment. Pre-built images on Docker Hub. Development, debug, and production compose files included. Persistent data via volume mount.
Admin, user, and read-only roles. Flask session-based auth with bcrypt-hashed passwords. Each user keeps independent preferences including language, theme, and startup tab.
Full UI in English and French with community translation support. Browser language auto-detection. New languages can be added via a single JSON translation file.
Complete documented REST API for all features. Authentication-protected endpoints. Ideal for scripting, home automation integration, or custom dashboards.
Progressive Web App with service worker and manifest. Install on desktop or mobile for a native-like experience. Offline fallback page included.
Light, dark, auto (system preference), and a dedicated red night-vision mode. Per-user density settings (comfortable / compact). Start tab configurable per user.
Built-in metrics dashboard showing cache job status, last execution times, TTLs, scheduler state, and application health - all in the admin panel.
No Docker socket access required. Input validation on all API routes. Role-based access control. Secure session cookies. Regular GitHub Actions security scanning.
All Features, Zero Cost
MyAstroBoard is free and open source under AGPL-3.0. Every feature listed here is available in the standard Docker image with no premium tier or paywall.
