Quickstart

Quickstart#

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First run#

During the initial run, you will be prompted to configure your observatory.

1. From command line, run:#

If using uv:

uv run astra

Or, if using conda or another activated Python environment:

astra

2. Follow the terminal instructions, e.g.:#

============================================================
               Welcome to Astra Configuration
============================================================

Please provide the following information to set up your observatory.

Use default assets path (/Users/peter/Documents/Astra)? [y/n]: y

============================================================
               Gaia Database Configuration
============================================================

The Gaia-2MASS catalog enables offline plate solving and
autofocus field selection. Choose a magnitude cut based on
your needs (higher = more stars, larger file).

Use Gaia database? [y/n]: y

Options:
1. Download Gaia database now (choose magnitude cut)
2. I already have it (enter path)
3. Skip for now (can add later in config)

Select option [1/2/3]: 1

============================================================
            Select Gaia Database Magnitude Cut
============================================================


Magnitude Cut | Stars         | File Size
------------------------------------------------------------
       1      |           144 |   766.0 kB
       2      |           650 |   766.0 kB
       3      |            2K |   766.0 kB
       4      |            6K |   766.0 kB
       5      |           18K |     2.0 MB
       6      |           58K |     4.5 MB
       7      |          160K |    10.8 MB
       8      |          426K |    26.8 MB
       9      |            1M |    67.2 MB
      10      |            3M |   172.3 MB
      11      |            7M |   425.2 MB
      12      |           16M |   987.6 MB
      13      |           36M |     2.2 GB
      14      |           79M |     4.8 GB
      15      |          161M |     9.8 GB
      16      |          297M |    18.1 GB

Recommendation: Magnitude 16 for most coverage
                Magnitude 10-15 for most small-medium setups
                Magnitude 1-9 for testing

Select magnitude cut [1-16] or 'c' to cancel: 6

Download filepath [/Users/peter/gaia_tmass_6_jm_cut.db]:

Downloading magnitude 6 database (4.5 MB)...
URL: https://zenodo.org/records/18214672/files/gaia_tmass_6_jm_cut.db?download=1
Destination: /Users/peter/gaia_tmass_6_jm_cut.db

[████████████████████████████████████████] 100.0% (4.3 MB / 4.3 MB)
✓ Download complete: /Users/peter/gaia_tmass_6_jm_cut.db

Please enter the name of the observatory: ELT
✓ Configuration file created successfully.

Warning: Observatory config files have not been modified from default templates.

Please update your observatory configuration files located in:
/Users/peter/Documents/Astra/observatory_config

Unchanged files: ELT_fits_header_config.csv, ELT_config.yml

Exiting until observatory configuration is updated.

Important

Each Astra instance runs exactly one observatory at a time, determined by the observatory_name field in your base configuration file (~/.astra/astra_config.yml).

The configuration files will be created in the observatory_config directory. You must edit them with your observatory’s information before using Astra in normal operation. See: observatory configuration files.

Normal operation#

We recommend following Astra’s operation guide to familiarise yourself before first use.

Once the initial setup is complete, you can run Astra.

  1. Ensure that your ASCOM Alpaca devices or simulators are running on your network and properly configured.

  2. Run the astra command from command line again (as above):

    Warning

    After initial setup, running this command will park your telescope and close your dome if the weather conditions are unfavorable or your safety monitor indicates an unsafe status.

  3. After a few moments, open your web browser and navigate to the URL http://host:port, http://localhost:8000 by default, and you should see Astra’s web interface.

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