Stellargaze is a web app which allowed users to quickly locate areas in which naked-eye star visibility is maximized. Nearby parks are returned and given a score based on 1) moon phase, 2) humidity, 3) cloud coverage, and 4) light pollution value. Users can then review, report, and get directions to such parks. Happy stellargazing!
STELLARGAZE was made by 3 developers who met at McMaster University's Computer Science department in Hamilton, Ontario. The idea came from Evan Reaume, after realizing the current applications out there are not so user-friendly. The front and back-end was fully implemented by both Dustin Jurkaulionis and Vlad Falach over the Summer of 2019 as their first full-scale web application. It was designed by all three.
Humans have a special connection to the sky. There are roughly 5000 stars visible at night, and such stars are not so easy to spot due to light pollution and our migration into cities. This project was made to help us all make stargazing more enjoyable. To us, this means being able to see the stars as conveniently as possible. Our scoring algorithm hopes to achieve that for you, so that less time is spent planning and more time can be spent stargazing.
Details on how it works can be found at https://www.stellargaze.com/FAQ
- Push notifications so users don't have to continuously check the website - our server will run the queries for you and then notify if there are parks above a score of 75%.
- Refactoring the code to allow for better open-source collaboration.
- Android/iOS application.
- Better login/registration system with e-mail confirmation, ability to change passwords, delete account, etc.
- More accurate weather predictions using a paid weather API service.
Are you a sidewalk astronomer? Casual observer of the skies? Professional? A web developer? A human? We'd love to hear your feedback! Our algorithm is continuously being improved and we are open-source so any advice and/or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please email us at dev@stellargaze.com
- https://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/sidewalkastronomy
- Bortle information via: https://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/bortle.html
- Light pollution data via: https://ngdc.noaa.gov/eog/viirs/download_dnb_composites.html