Asteroidpy 1.3.2

A tool for asteroid observation scheduling and analysis

AsteroidPy

AsteroidPy is a command-line tool for astronomers to schedule and manage asteroid observations. It integrates with the Minor Planet Center and other astronomical data sources to provide ephemerides, NEO confirmation candidates, weather forecasts, and observing aids—all from an interactive terminal UI built with Textual.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Configuration
• FAQ
• Data Sources
• For Contributors
  • Project architecture
  • How to add a translation
  • Continuous integration (Jenkins)
  • Release process
• Release History
• License

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Features

Feature	Description
Weather forecast	Astronomical weather (cloud cover, seeing, transparency) up to 72 hours via 7Timer
Observation scheduling	Plan sessions with target lists and visibility windows
NEOcp candidates	List and filter Near-Earth Object candidates from the MPC Confirmation Page
Object ephemeris	Retrieve detailed ephemeris data for any minor body
Twilight & Sun/Moon	Civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight; rise/set times
Virtual horizon	Simulate horizon obstructions for visibility calculations

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Requirements

• Python 3.9 or later
• pip (or another Python package manager)

AsteroidPy runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

On Windows, use Windows Terminal (recommended) or another modern terminal for the Textual UI. The first pip install may take several minutes because scientific dependencies (astropy, lxml, and related packages) download platform-specific wheels. Python 3.10–3.12 from python.org is the most reliable choice on Windows.

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Installation

From PyPI

With Python 3.9+ and a virtual environment activated (recommended):

pip install asteroidpy

See the package on PyPI.

On Windows, after installation the asteroidpy command is available in your virtual environment's Scripts folder (for example .venv\Scripts\asteroidpy.exe).

From source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ziriuz84/asteroidpy.git
   cd asteroidpy
   

2. (Recommended) Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate   # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
   

3. Install in editable mode:

   pip install -e .
   

   Or in normal mode:

   pip install .
   

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Quick Start

Run the application:

asteroidpy

On first launch, AsteroidPy creates a config file with default settings. Use the Configuration menu to set:

• Observatory: coordinates, altitude, MPC code
• Virtual horizon: minimum altitude per cardinal direction
• General: interface language

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Configuration

Configuration is stored in a single INI file named .asteroidpy, in the application config directory returned by platformdirs (for example ~/.config/asteroidpy/ on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/asteroidpy/ on macOS, and %LOCALAPPDATA%\asteroidpy\ on Windows). Legacy installs may still have a copy at ~/.asteroidpy, which is migrated automatically on first run.

Use the in-app Configuration → General menu to change:

Option	Description
Observatory	Latitude, longitude, altitude, MPC observatory code
Virtual horizon	Minimum altitude (in degrees) per cardinal direction for visibility
Language	Interface language (English, Italiano, Deutsch, Français, Español, Português)

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FAQ

Where do I find my MPC observatory code?
The Minor Planet Center publishes the list of observatory codes. If your site is not listed, use XXX or another temporary code until you register it with the MPC.

Why do ephemerides differ from Stellarium or other tools?
Small differences can arise from different orbital elements, epoch dates, or time handling. AsteroidPy uses MPC data directly; ensure your observatory coordinates and time (UTC vs local) match across tools.

The application fails to start or shows errors.
Check that all dependencies are installed (pip install asteroidpy from PyPI, or pip install . from a source checkout), that the config directory is writable (see Configuration for the platform-specific path), and that you have internet access (required for weather and ephemeris queries). If the config file is corrupted, remove .asteroidpy from that config directory and let the app recreate it on next run.

Which languages are supported?
English (default), Italiano, Deutsch, Français, Español, Português. Change the language in Configuration → General → Language. PyPI wheels ship with compiled .mo catalogs for all supported languages. When working from a source checkout, only locales with compiled .mo files are listed as selectable; if a folder under asteroidpy/locales/ has only a base.po, the UI may show a notice when opening the language screen—compile with msgfmt so the locale appears as a proper option.

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Data Sources

AsteroidPy relies on:

• 7Timer — meteorological forecasts (cloud cover, seeing, transparency)
• Minor Planet Center (MPC) — ephemerides and NEO Confirmation Page data

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For Contributors

Thank you for considering contributing to AsteroidPy. Please read the Code of Conduct before participating.

Types of contributions we welcome

• Code: bug fixes, new features, refactoring
• QA: bug reports with repro steps and environment details
• Documentation: improvements to this README, docstrings, or Sphinx docs
• Community: presenting the project, organizing local meetups

Development setup

1. Clone the repository and install in editable mode (see Installation).

2. Install development dependencies (optional, for tests and linting):

   pip install -e ".[dev]"
   

   Or install tools individually: pytest, ruff, mypy, black, isort.

3. Run the test suite:

   pytest -q
   

   Run a single test:

   pytest tests/test_scheduling.py::test_name -q
   

4. Lint and type-check:

   ruff check .
   mypy .
   

5. Build the package:

   python -m build
   

   Before building a release wheel, compile locale catalogs if you changed .po files:

   msgfmt -o asteroidpy/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/base.mo asteroidpy/locales/en/LC_MESSAGES/base.po
   # repeat for other locales, or use ./release.sh which compiles them automatically
   

Continuous integration (Jenkins)

CI runs on Jenkins via Jenkinsfile (triggered on every push to GitHub). The pipeline:

Stage	When	What it does
Setup	always	venv, pip install -e ".[dev]", installs gettext/msgfmt when missing
Lint	always (including releases)	ruff, mypy, isort, black --check
Test	always	pytest with coverage (coverage.xml archived)
Build	always	compiles .mo catalogs, then python -m build
Validate / install smoke test	always	twine check, install wheel, verify locale catalogs and asteroidpy entry point
Publish to PyPI	release tags only (vX.Y.Z)	uploads to PyPI when the tag matches asteroidpy/version.py

Successful builds archive dist/* (and coverage.xml) as Jenkins artifacts. GitHub Actions workflows are not used; Jenkins is the single CI/CD path for builds and PyPI publishing.

Code style

• Imports: standard library → third-party → local; explicit imports only
• Formatting: Black for style; isort for import order
• Types: type hints on public APIs; snake_case for functions/variables; CamelCase for classes
• Errors: avoid bare except; raise or propagate clear exceptions; validate inputs early
• Tests: small, isolated tests; prefer parameterized tests where sensible

Getting involved

• Browse open issues and comment or pick one to work on
• Open issues for bugs or feature ideas—the more detail, the better
• Pull requests are welcome; please ensure tests pass and style is consistent

Project architecture

asteroidpy/
├── __init__.py       # Entry point; loads config, launches interface
├── interface/        # Textual TUI, gettext setup (legacy menu helpers retained)
├── scheduling.py     # Ephemerides, weather, NEOcp, twilight
├── configuration.py  # Observatory config, horizon, language
└── locales/          # gettext translations (en, it, de, fr, es, pt), shipped in PyPI wheels

• interface — Main entry for the interactive UI (Textual screens). Loads config, sets up gettext, and delegates to scheduling for ephemeris/weather/NEOcp and to configuration for settings.
• scheduling — Astronomy logic: MPC queries, 7Timer weather, twilight, Sun/Moon ephemeris. Uses configuration.load_config() to read observatory data.
• configuration — Persists and loads settings via platformdirs; handles observatory coordinates, virtual horizon, and language. Used by both interface and scheduling.

How to add a translation

AsteroidPy uses GNU gettext with a single catalog base. Translations live under asteroidpy/locales/<lang>/LC_MESSAGES/.

1. Create a new locale directory:

   mkdir -p asteroidpy/locales/nl/LC_MESSAGES
   

2. Copy and adapt an existing .po file, or create one from the template:

   cp asteroidpy/locales/it/LC_MESSAGES/base.po asteroidpy/locales/nl/LC_MESSAGES/base.po
   

   Edit asteroidpy/locales/nl/LC_MESSAGES/base.po, set Language: nl, and translate all msgstr entries.

3. Compile the .po file into a .mo file (required for the language to appear in the menu when running from source):

   msgfmt -o asteroidpy/locales/nl/LC_MESSAGES/base.mo asteroidpy/locales/nl/LC_MESSAGES/base.po
   

   The msgfmt command comes with the gettext package (gettext on most Linux distros; on Windows, install via MSYS2 or Chocolatey). Until the .mo exists, text from that .po is not used by gettext; the interactive UI may notify you once per incomplete locale under General → Language.

4. The new language will appear in Configuration → General after restart.

To add or update translatable strings for all locales, update asteroidpy/locales/base.pot (e.g. with xgettext or pybabel), then merge into each .po with msgmerge, translate, and recompile with msgfmt.

Release process

Releases are automated with helper scripts and published by Jenkins when a version tag is pushed.

1. Prepare the release (bumps asteroidpy/version.py, compiles locale catalogs, prepends CHANGELOG.md, commits, tags, and pushes):

   ./release.sh --patch    # or --minor, --major, or an explicit X.Y.Z
   

   Preview without changes: ./release.sh --dry-run --patch

2. Jenkins detects the new vX.Y.Z tag, runs tests, builds the wheel/sdist, validates the package, and publishes to PyPI.

3. Create the GitHub release (release notes taken from the top CHANGELOG.md entry):

   ./ghrelease.sh
   

Manual alternative (without the scripts): update asteroidpy/version.py and CHANGELOG.md, compile .mo files under asteroidpy/locales/, commit, tag (git tag vX.Y.Z), push the branch and tag, then run ./ghrelease.sh after Jenkins finishes the PyPI upload.

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Release History

See CHANGELOG.md.

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TODO

• NEOcp alert integration
• Observation registration

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License

AsteroidPy is licensed under the GPL-3.0 license.