Sources & Current Status

Data sources, limitations and current integration status.

Primary Workflow Sources

Original TXT files. The protected einzeln folder below the working folder is scanned on every run. These original single-day TXT rows are never modified by the pipeline and are preferred over imported Discord Text or OccultWatcher rows.

Discord HTML export and TXT attachments. The local tool scans the working folder for Discord HTML exports, extracts linked yymmdd.txt files, validates the table header and reads only rows with the expected columns: name, RA, DEC, UT-Mitte, Duration, Exposure, Gain and ROI. The date is taken from the TXT filename or from a preceding DATE yyyy-mm-dd or # yyyy-mm-dd line in selected non-yymmdd TXT files, not from the Discord message time.

Discord message time basis. Message-list rows with MPC Alt/Sun columns are checked twice: once as raw UTC and once as raw Chile local time converted through America/Santiago. The lower Alt/Sun residual score wins only when it is at least 5 degrees better; otherwise UTC is kept and the row is marked ambiguous or unverified. The Discord HTML message timestamp itself is only the posting/export time and is not used as the event time.

NINA source sequence. The selected NINA JSON is treated as read only. If it exists, each observing date is generated from a fresh copy of that source sequence. The tool also writes standalone occultation block files; if the source sequence is missing, those block files are the only NINA JSON output.

Lucky Imaging template. The Lucky Target Container is cloned from the configured reference file. The generator writes an outer Slew and Center before that container, writes Wait For Time directly before Take Video Roi Exposures, removes loop-until time conditions from the Lucky container, adds a Wait For Time at capture end after the ROI video and writes Real rounded to 0.01 s plus # from the planning table into Take Video ROI. A normal 60 s Take Exposure is placed below the Lucky container in the same outer event container.

Planning And Ephemeris Sources

MPC MPES. Minor Planet Center MPES is queried for the exact midpoint time when possible. These values are used for target altitude, azimuth, MPC RA/DEC, asteroid V magnitude, H and sky motion. The local TXT coordinates remain visible as a fallback and for comparison.

JPL SBDB. The JPL Small-Body Database is queried for asteroid diameter. If a measured diameter is not available, the tool estimates diameter from H and the configured geometric albedo.

Gaia DR3 via VizieR. The nearest catalog star around the TXT position is used for V Star. Proper motion and parallax are propagated to event time before the distance check. The hover text keeps the catalog values, Blue and Red photometry and distance information.

Sun, Moon and station geometry. Station X09 is derived from the MPC observatory parallax constants in the code. Sunrise, sunset, nautical twilight, astronomical twilight, target altitude and Moon columns are calculated locally for the exact event time.

Occultation Search Sources Considered

LIneA Occultation Prediction Database API. The helper table queries LIneA for the local X09 night with a geolocation radius, nightside filter and stellar magnitude limit. The current comparison run uses a 30 km radius and the star limit is magnitude 17. At the moment LIneA appears to return only roughly one hour of data for the queried night. The Python module lineaSSP was tested as well and currently returns the same short direct result window for the X09 location query. The reason is unclear, so this source is not pursued further for production planning right now; it is kept only as an external comparison against the generated event table.

OccultWatcher Cloud search. The public search page is useful interactively, but it renders its results in JavaScript. A static HTTP download of the page does not contain the final result table, so reliable extraction needs either browser automation that runs the page JavaScript or a direct backend endpoint if one can be identified.

Local OccultWatcher. A local OccultWatcher add-in is the more stable route when OccultWatcher is already installed and synchronized. The add-in can access the loaded event objects directly and export the fields without scraping a browser page.

Current Difficulties

  • MPC and VizieR are network services and are cached locally to avoid repeated calls and to keep already calculated planning rows stable.
  • LIneA currently appears to return only about one hour of results for the requested night. The REST API and the lineaSSP Python module show the same behavior for the direct X09 query. Until the reason is understood, LIneA is treated only as a comparison source and not as the operational source for the NINA sequence.
  • Diameters are not always measured. Estimated diameters can change the computed dt substantially.
  • The TXT RA/DEC may describe the predicted star position, while MPC RA/DEC describes the asteroid. Both are shown because the difference is operationally important.
  • The true NINA frame cadence is exposure plus storage/readout time. The generator writes that Real value into Take Video ROI exposure and writes the planning table # into the exposure count.

Current Status

The pipeline generates daily NINA JSON files, exports them to the configured Dropbox folder, produces a complete TXT table and builds an ephemeris page with MPC/TXT coordinates, Gaia star data, asteroid brightness, diameter, Sun and Moon checks. LIneA API output is available as a separate local comparison table, but it is not used as the planning authority because it currently seems to provide only about one hour of data. The OccultWatcher add-in source is included as an experimental direct-export route for locally loaded OccultWatcher events.

External reference pages: MPC MPES, JPL SBDB Lookup, LIneA API documentation, OccultWatcher Cloud search and OccultWatcher add-in documentation.