Fink Asteroid Monitor Help
Windows viewer for ZTF and LSST alerts, with Fink Livestream, LSST Data Transfer loading, sortable tables, raw JSON columns, preview images and RA/DEC charts.
Quick start
- Install the app or unpack the portable ZIP.
- Request and register your own Fink credentials before using Kafka or Data Transfer.
- Use Load time range when you want the app to pick the best available path for recent data.
- Use Query ZTF now or Query LSST now for live streams only.
- Use Create Data Transfer and Load Data Transfer for historical LSST ranges.
Credentials and account setup
No Fink credentials are bundled with this app, the installer, or the website. Your login, group id and local credential files stay on your computer. Do not upload them, attach them to bug reports, or publish them with screenshots.
Fink requires users to request credentials before polling alerts. The official fink-client documentation says to subscribe via the Fink registration form; after Fink sends the credentials privately, register them locally with fink_client_register.
pip install fink-client --upgrade fink_client_register -h
Official references:
- Fink client registration documentation
- Fink credential request form linked from the official docs
- Fink/LSST Data Transfer documentation
Typical local fink-client storage is below your home profile, for example %USERPROFILE%\.finkclient\credentials.yml. The exact contents are private.
Tables
Columns are sortable, movable and persistent. Right-click headers for visibility and auto-fit actions. Numeric columns are right-aligned and formatted compactly.
Rows
Double-click a row for the preview image. Right-click a row to choose preview or raw JSON and to delete selected rows.
Chart
The chart shows RA from 24h to 0h and DEC from -90 to +90 degrees. Drag to pan and use the mouse wheel to zoom.
Why Data Transfer matters
The livestream is real-time Kafka: it cannot ask the past to appear again. The LSST Data Transfer service creates a dedicated ftransfer_lsst_... topic for selected historical nights. The app can create such jobs, download the parquet files and load the resulting alerts into the same result table.
Support
Contact: FinkAsteroidMonitor@jostjahn.de
Website: https://www.jostjahn.de/amrum-software/FinkAsteroidenMonitor/