[extropy-chat] The Night Sky Live

[Amara Graps]

This is very cool, and could be useful too...  Amara

The Night Sky Live
http://nightskylive.net/


Beginners
http://nightskylive.net/NightSkyLive_for_beginners.html

(from the FAQ)

Q: What is CONCAM/Night Sky Live?

A: A CONCAM is a CONtinuous CAMera that is placed somewhere in the
world with a fisheye lenses to watch the entire sky every night.
Each camera takes a 180-second exposure every 4 minutes, then relays
the data back to nightskylive.net. Collectively, these physical
CONCAM devices are part of the Night Sky Live project that also
includes people, data, web pages, etc. The Night Sky Live project
aims to make these images and data available to those who are
interested.

Scientists
http://nightskylive.net/NightSkyLive_for_scientists.html

Types of Data Collected

WOLF was developed specifically for the Night Sky Live by Lior
Shamir, to analyze CONCAM images and output several useful sets of
data, which are detailed below.


• FITS
The raw exposures from the CCDs inside the CONCAMs are saved as the
scientific image format, FITS. Unlike normal graphics formats, a
FITS file stores each pixel as a count, from 0 to 65536 (2^16). This
count reflects the number of hits on each individual pixel of the
CCD itself. Thus, photometry calculations can be made either by
using a FITS-compatible viewer (such as fv (link)) or by using WOLF.
• Background
WOLF can generate an image of the background of the sky with stars
removed. This is very useful for the observatories that have a
CONCAM as it gives them a good idea of how much light pollution is
in the sky around them. Example.
• Opacity Maps
WOLF is able to automatically detect the opacity of the sky, which
gives us a very good idea of the atmospheric conditions above the
CONCAM, which may not be readily apparent to the naked eye.
• Photometry
The photometry data collected by WOLF is listed in tables on HTML
files. There are two sorts of photometry files: one for each
individual image, and a second set for each individual star over the
course of a night (although only the brightest stars are currently
automatically collected). 
• Annotated Images
WOLF generates JPEG files automatically labeled with star names,
constellation names, planets, and it can even detect transients. In
addition, any object can be manually added to the catalog, such as
comets or galaxies, for quick identification. Any object added to
the catalog will also have photometry data taken for it. Unannotated
images are also available.