SkyMorph/NEAT API
Overview
This API wraps NASA's SkyMorph archive in a RESTful JSON interface. Currently, it provides observation and image data from the NEAT survey.
Sample images:
Search Queries
Query for a specific target:
http://asterank.com/api/skymorph/search?<params>
target
Target object (lookup in MPC).
Query based on orbital elements:
http://asterank.com/api/skymorph/search_orbit?<params>
epoch
Epoch ([M]JD or ISO)
ecc
eccentricity
per
Perihelion distance (AU)
per_date
Perihelion date ([M]JD or ISO)
om
Longitude of ascending node (deg)
w
Argument of perihelion (deg)
i
Inclination (deg)
H
Absolute magnitude
Query based on position and time (+/- 1 day):
http://asterank.com/api/skymorph/search_position?<params>
ra
Right ascension (HMS)
Dec
Declination (DMS)
time
Date and time (UTC)
per_date
Perihelion date ([M]JD or ISO)
om
Longitude of ascending node (deg)
w
Argument of perihelion (deg)
i
Inclination (deg)
H
Absolute magnitude
Target/orbital elements search response:
obs_id
Observation id
time
Time in UTC (ISO)
predicted_ra
Predicted object position RA (HMS)
predicted_dec
Predicted object position dec (DMS)
center_ra
Observation center RA (HMS)
center_dec
Observation center dec (DMS)
mag
Absolute magnitude
veloc_we
Velocity west-east ("/hour)
veloc_sn
Velocity south-north ("/hour)
offset
Offset (')
pos_err_major
Position error major (" or 'n.a.')
pos_err_minor
Position error minor (" or 'n.a.')
pos_err_ang
Position error angle
pixel_loc_x
Pixel X location
pixel_loc_y
Pixel Y location
key
Encoded string for requesting observation imagery
Position query search response:
obs_id
Observation id
time
Time in UTC (ISO)
ra
Right ascension (HMS)
dec
Declination (DMS)
exposure
Exposure time (min).
Image Queries
To get the image corresponding to an observation returned by a search query, use the
key parameter of the observation.
http://asterank.com/api/skymorph/image?key=<key>
Sample Usage
This request searches for observations of MPC object J99TS7A:
/api/skymorph/image?key=|001204124410 ...
Response:
Image load speed
An uncached image can take a very long time to load, on the order of 10 seconds or more. For faster load times (up to several seconds), use the /fast_image endpoint.
The catch: data used to generate the image is the same, but the sharpness/contrast post-processing is done on Asterank servers rather than the NASA/JPL implementation. In some images, it's possible to lose detail. You should try the endpoints for yourself to determine which is suitable for yoru purposes.
Planned Improvements
- Make RGB triplets available
- Better support for batch requests and long-running image retrieval jobs
