jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Last year I wrote a web application that uses the Google Maps API & a map of North American light pollution from the Dark Sky Association to provide a guide to potential dark observing sites in the US. I also incorporated a database where users could mark & annotate their own favorite sites:
http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/
I posted this to another forum on CN at the time, and it's been online for maybe 8-9 months now. Unfortunately, as a graduate student I just don't have the time to devote to maintaining & improving this site. There are some additional useful features that I'd like to implement, but just don't have the time for... I do think it's a potentially useful resource though, and I'd hate to see it languish.
If anyone knows of a person or organization that might be interested in taking over this application, I'd be more than happy to release what I currently have in an open-source format under a public license like the GPL.
Thanks,
Jon
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2109
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Last year I wrote a web application that uses the Google Maps API & a map of North American light pollution from the Dark Sky Association to provide a guide to potential dark observing sites in the US. I also incorporated a database where users could mark & annotate their own favorite sites:
http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/
I do think it's a potentially useful resource though, and I'd hate to see it languish.
It's an exceedingly useful resource. I have a few questions:
- Have you approached Atilla Danko, of the Clear Sky Chart? It seems right up his alley.
- Do you plan to keep the site that you currently have? It's great even without improvements.
- Do you mind if major websites (e.g. Sky & Telescope, where I work) link to it? Can you handle the increased traffic?
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 28711
Loc: montana
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Tony, great suggestion for contacting Atilla! This would be a great added feature to the CSC.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm B/TMB 3.2
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 28711
Loc: montana
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Jon, we can't thank you enough for all the work you have put into this project, I know someone will carry the "passed torch", so your work will not be in vain!
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm B/TMB 3.2
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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veebs2
sage
Reged: 03/13/07
Posts: 206
Loc: DeKalb, IL
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Jon,
I just played with your application for a few minutes. Great job! Very easy to use!
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Paul
Zhumell 10" (My Mistress - name given by my wife)
Hyperions - 5mm, 13mm and 24mm
Stratus - 8mm and 17mm
Howie Glatter 2"-1 1/4" Holograpic w/ Barlow
Lumicon OIII Filter
Telrad
DeKalb, IL
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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It's hosted professionally, so bandwidth isn't a problem, but my hosting company gives me about 2,048 GB of transfer per month. I'm not sure what kind of traffic an S&T mention would bring, but as long as it's not dramatically larger than that number, I'd welcome the attention.
The code for site itself was designed to scale well (I think I tested it into the tens or hundreds of thousands of marked observing sites), so it's unlikely your readers would overload the SQL database that runs it.
-Jon
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Quote:
[LIST]Have you approached Atilla Danko, of the Clear Sky Chart? It seems right up his alley.
I'll look into this. I tried approaching the Intl. Dark Sky Association, but that didn't seem like it was going anywhere.
Thanks for the pointer!
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AleX`G
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 05/29/06
Posts: 877
Loc: Scotland UK
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Very nice I did something like this for the UK last year but it didnt really work out very well. I had problems with overlaying the images so they would be over the correct parts of the country. I thought it may have been a projection issue as I think I was using a satelite image.
Like this
http://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/support/pr/pressreleases/070117-darkskylaunch/darksky01.jpg
Did you encounter simmilar problems with your implementation?
Alex
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Celestron/Vixen 102 f9.8
Vixen GP
Canon EF300mm f4L USM (non IS)
Canon 300D
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Never express yourself more clearly than you think. - Niels Bohr
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Quote:
Very nice I did something like this for the UK last year but it didnt really work out very well. I had problems with overlaying the images so they would be over the correct parts of the country. I thought it may have been a projection issue as I think I was using a satelite image.
Like this
http://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/support/pr/pressreleases/070117-darkskylaunch/darksky01.jpg
Did you encounter simmilar problems with your implementation?
Alex
I was extremely lucky in the sense that the map I downloaded (from an Italian research team) had the same projection as the map that Google uses. In your case (and bear in mind that I'm not a cartographer either), you could try applying a 2-D transformation matrix:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformation_matrix#Examples_in_2D_graphics
This would be easily accomplished in Matlab (expensive, but commonly found in universities). I'm not sure it would work -- I'd have to read more about the particulars of the projections in question -- but my intuition says it should.
Since the team that I downloaded my image from also has maps for Europe, Asia, S. America, etc., I would like to extend my site's functionality to those areas as well. ...but with all the projects that I have to work on as part of my degree, I don't have time to make those modifications. 
-Jon
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2109
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
[LIST]Have you approached Atilla Danko, of the Clear Sky Chart? It seems right up his alley.
I'll look into this.
Oh yes. The other obvious organization to approach is Google itself. They have no shortage of programmers!
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Quote:
Oh yes. The other obvious organization to approach is Google itself. They have no shortage of programmers!
I actually did send them a note on their "business proposal" input form. There aren't many channels that we mere peasants can use to reach a programmer on their site, but that seemed like the best choice among the few choices available.
It also seems like it would be right up their alley. Someone at Google must have an Astronomy fetish:
http://www.google.com/mars/
http://www.google.com/moon/
This would be the ideal solution since it is their code I'm using. A thorough treatment by Google would probably make it much faster & more stable -- not to mention the added exposure that the light pollution issue would receive.
It's too bad that the map layer I'm using is a one-off thing. It was obtained for a research paper (http://www.inquinamentoluminoso.it/cinzano/download/0108052.pdf) & is not being updated, but in principle these maps could be updated each year without much trouble. Perhaps if a larger site like Google got involved, that might actually happen.
-Jon
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2109
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
in principle these maps could be updated each year without much trouble
Wow, wouldn't that be cool? They're seriously out of date by now in some fast-growing regions. And I'm pretty sure there are flaws in Cinzano's model and methodology that could be fixed, too.
I've thought of taking that job on myself; all the underlying data is in the public domain. But the task is really pretty overwhelming.
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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Sirius76
member
Reged: 05/11/07
Posts: 79
Loc: Chicago, Il
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Jon,
I just have to say that you did a fantastic job! I've been looking for something just like this for quite some time.
Looking for new sites I always go back and forth between Google maps and clearskyclock lightpollution maps. This combines the both!
Again, congratulations on a job well done!
Edited by Sirius76 (05/21/08 04:14 PM)
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Quote:
I've thought of taking that job on myself; all the underlying data is in the public domain. But the task is really pretty overwhelming.
If you do, drop me a line. (So many projects, so little time...)
I was actually under the impression that obtaining the data required to generate this map required a special arrangement with the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program (DMSP). If there was a regularly-updated source of raw data, I would be willing to write some sort of import program to process it into an image or map-layer.
I have to admit that I have a form of programmer's attention deficit disorder: it's much easier for me to attack a new challenge than to maintain & improve a working program... ;-)
-Jon
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Elektronkind
member
Reged: 06/10/07
Posts: 38
Loc: Silver Spring, MD
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FWIW I run my own co-located server with unlimited transit, even IPv6 connectivity. It backs up nightly to a server on the west coat.
So, if this still needs a home, I'd happily give it a virtual host.
/dale
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Orion XT10i + Telerad
WO Megrez 90 APO
Astro-Physics Mach1GTO
WO EZTouch mount (AYO version)
TeleVue Nagler 3.5T6, 7T6, 22T4
Coronado PST (Hα)
Canon Digital Rebel XTi
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jshine
member
Reged: 07/26/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Rochester, MN, USA
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Quote:
FWIW I run my own co-located server with unlimited transit, even IPv6 connectivity. It backs up nightly to a server on the west coat.
So, if this still needs a home, I'd happily give it a virtual host.
/dale
Thanks, I appreciate the offer. I don't mind hosting it myself -- I've got server space. What I am looking for was someone who liked the idea enough to take it & run with it -- enhance the application, continue adding new featuers & updates as the Google Maps API changes, etc. ...basically, an astronomically-oriented web developer.
As far as giving it bandwidth & a "home on the web" is concerned, I don't mind doing that part. It just lives along side a some of my other pages that are of less general interest, and it generally doesn't consume much bandwidth.
-Jon
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purpleseeker
member
Reged: 03/12/07
Posts: 33
Loc: Colorado
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WOW! ! !
I'd just like to thank you for the fantastic work.
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TrippinReason
newbie
Reged: 03/11/08
Posts: 3
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This is great! Giving you some props for a job well done! Do you have a website where we can be kept up to date on other programs you're working on?
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JakeT93
member
Reged: 06/28/08
Posts: 177
Loc: Williamstown, NJ
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Great! Now I know what Bortle the Poconos are in, a very nice dark yellow, about2 2-3 scales darker then me! 
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-Jake the Snake
My equipment:
Orion DSE 10" Light Bucket!
10x50 Finder and ebay bracket
40mm GSO Plossl
32mm Celestron Plossl
2x Antares Barlow
25mm and 6.7mm Meade 3000 Plossls
Orion Explorer II 10mm and 17mm Kellners
Orion SkyGlow Ultrablock
Antares ND25
70 M's Obsreved
All Planets seen
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2109
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Great! Now I know what Bortle the Poconos are in, a very nice dark yellow, about2 2-3 scales darker then me!
Just to clarify -- there is no relationship between the Bortle scale and the colored zones in the World Atlas of Light Pollution. A crude correlation was done once by the North Virginia Astronomy Club, and by typical Web carelessness, this got picked up by two very well-known sites: Wikipedia and the Clear Sky Chart. But the correlation was never intended for this purpose, and is crude at best and (I would argue) pretty seriously wrong in a number of cases.
If you want to use the colored zones -- which I recommend -- it's best to avoid any mention of the Bortle classes.
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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