Boundless Skies Node v1 is the on-premises software layer that transforms a ZWO Seestar S50 into an autonomous science instrument. It connects to your telescope over ALPACA, watches for incoming FITS files, runs a full 8-step differential photometry pipeline, and submits calibrated variable-star measurements to AAVSO — all from a browser-based dashboard running on your local machine.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/skyrobot804/node_v1/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Introduction
Learn what Node v1 is, how it fits into the Boundless Skies network, and what it can do for your telescope.
Installation
Set up Python, install dependencies, and get Node v1 running on macOS, Linux, or Windows.
Quickstart
Start the dashboard, connect your Seestar, and trigger your first photometry run in under 15 minutes.
Configuration
Configure ALPACA discovery, devices, photometry pipeline, AAVSO credentials, and safety options.
What Node v1 Does
Node v1 runs as a local Flask server on port5173. From the web dashboard you can discover and connect ALPACA-compatible telescopes, control the mount and camera, schedule nightly observation runs against the Messier/NGC catalog, and watch photometry results arrive in real time.
When a new FITS file lands on the Seestar’s SMB share, the ImageWatcher automatically triggers the photometry pipeline: plate-solving with ASTAP (if needed), comparison-star queries from AAVSO VSP or Gaia DR3, aperture photometry, differential magnitude calculation, and a quality-gated AAVSO Extended File Format submission — all without manual intervention.
Dashboard Overview
Explore the full control panel: telescope joystick, camera controls, live log stream, and night-vision mode.
Science Pipeline
Understand the 8-step photometry pipeline from WCS plate-solve through differential magnitude.
AAVSO Submission
How observations are formatted, validated, and submitted to AAVSO WebObs with a full audit trail.
Cloud Integration
Connect your node to the Boundless Skies cloud for automated nightly plan delivery and measurement upload.
Key Capabilities
ALPACA Control
Full telescope, camera, focuser, and filter wheel control over the open ALPACA HTTP/JSON protocol.
Auto-Photometry
8-step pipeline: WCS → target location → FWHM → comp stars → aperture phot → differential mag → BJD → quality flag.
AAVSO Submission
Extended File Format with BJD timestamps, ensemble differential photometry, and per-submission audit trail.
Safety Manager
Heartbeat watchdog, automatic reconnect, horizon obstruction detection, and dawn parking.
Live Stacking
RANSAC translation-aligned live stacking with real-time PNG preview as sub-frames accumulate.
Cloud Network
Auto-registration, heartbeats, nightly plan polling, and queued measurement upload to the Boundless Skies cloud.
Module Reference
Core Modules
API reference for
photometry, aavso_submission, fits_export, image_watcher, and safety_manager.Support Modules
API reference for
cloud_communicator, LiveStacker, shared_models, and geolocation.