How to create an Observing Site?

In Arcsecond, we have the most complete Encyclopedia of Observing Sites, and their telescopes, beautifully available in a dedicated page (as shown below), but also through our public APIs.

When using Arcsecond, you will have to choose an Observing Site to let Arcsecond computes dates, curves, coordinates. There are two types of Observing Sites: public or private.

The creation of both type of site is similar, but simply originate from a different page. Make sure to login first (or register).

Create a public Observing Site

Say your observing site is a public one, for instance used by a university, and it is open to the public. To create a public site, simply visit the page of our Observing Sites Encyclopedia page (available from the “Resources” menu) and click “Create New…” A modal will open:

In this modal, you have multiple ways to create a site. You can:

• Use the geolocation of your browser,
• Enter manually the coordinates (in sexagesimal or decimal format). Make sure to click “Apply” to center the map.
• Or manually drag the map to the correct location. Increase the zoom level to spot the right place. Coordinates precision matters a lot for correct calculations!

Then give a name to your site. Note that you can still choose to keep your site Private by leaving the checkbox “Keep Site Private”. For a public site, uncheck it.

That’s it! It is now available for every astronomer. Once the site is created you will redirected to its details page.

Create a private Observing Site

Private sites are very useful for anyone observing in his backyard, and who doesn’t want to reveal his/her home address. Private sites are never leaking in the Enclyclopedia or any other public data. Only its creator can access and view it.

To create a private site, open your “Observing Sites & Telescopes” settings:

In the “Private Observing Sites” section, simply click “Create a Private Site…”. The same modal as above will open.

Create an Observing Site in an Observatory Portal

This is the same procedure. In the “Resources” menu of your portal, you can access your Portal Observing Sites. Here you have the choice between creating an Observing Site, or attaching an existing one to your Portal.

You don’t have opened an Observatory Portal for your Observatory/University/Club yet? Here’s how!