Field of View (FOV) Endpoints
The FOV API provides two main endpoints for checking satellite positions relative to a field of view or horizon.
Satellite passes Through FOV
- GET /satellite-passes/
Get satellites that pass through a specified field of view during a time period. The field of view is defined by a center RA and Dec and a radius, both in degrees.
Either a start time or observation mid point time can be provided, but one must be specified.
- Query Parameters:
latitude – (required) – Observer’s latitude in degrees
longitude – (required) – Observer’s longitude in degrees
elevation – (required) – Observer’s elevation in meters
site – (optional) – Site name (e.g. ‘greenwich’) - if provided, latitude, longitude, and elevation can’t be used; see astropy site names for a list of valid site names
start_time_jd – (optional) – Julian Date for start of observation window
mid_obs_time_jd – (optional) – Julian Date for middle of observation window
duration – (required) – Duration to check in seconds
ra – (required) – Right Ascension of FOV center in degrees
dec – (required) – Declination of FOV center in degrees
fov_radius – (required) – Radius of circular FOV in degrees
group_by – (optional) – How to group results (“satellite” or “time”). Default is “time” for chronological order
- Example Request
import requests import json url = 'https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellite-passes/' params = {'latitude': 33, 'longitude': -117, 'elevation': 100, 'start_time_jd': 2460623.394780, 'duration': 2, 'ra': 157.5, 'dec': 20, 'fov_radius': 3, 'group_by': 'satellite'} r = requests.get(url, params=params) print(json.dumps(r.json(), indent=4))
curl -X GET "https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellite-passes/?latitude=33&longitude=-117&elevation=100&start_time_jd=2460623.394780&duration=2&ra=157.5&dec=20&fov_radius=3&group_by=satellite" -H "accept: application/json"
curl.exe -X GET "https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellite-passes/?latitude=33&longitude=-117&elevation=100&start_time_jd=2460623.394780&duration=2&ra=157.5&dec=20&fov_radius=3&group_by=satellite" -H "accept: application/json"
Example Response
[
{
"data": {
"satellites": {
"ATLAS 2AS CENTAUR R/B (26636)": {
"name": "ATLAS 2AS CENTAUR R/B",
"norad_id": 26636,
"positions": [
{
"altitude": 3.82923609,
"angle": 2.77084316,
"azimuth": 288.11992936,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:28 UTC",
"dec": 17.38072389,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"ra": 156.5457069,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
},
{
"altitude": 3.8301086,
"angle": 2.7698136,
"azimuth": 288.11836715,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:29 UTC",
"dec": 17.37990928,
"julian_date": 2460623.39479157,
"ra": 156.55155138,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
}
]
},
"STARLINK-30904 (58364)": {
"name": "STARLINK-30904",
"norad_id": 58364,
"positions": [
{
"altitude": 8.10566642,
"angle": 2.95246402,
"azimuth": 291.92818711,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:28 UTC",
"dec": 22.88675663,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"ra": 158.16558783,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
},
{
"altitude": 8.18998929,
"angle": 2.97995215,
"azimuth": 291.87936333,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:29 UTC",
"dec": 22.89132111,
"julian_date": 2460623.39479157,
"ra": 158.27515227,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
}
]
},
"STARLINK-30925 (58406)": {
"name": "STARLINK-30925",
"norad_id": 58406,
"positions": [
{
"altitude": 3.8560731,
"angle": 2.30309691,
"azimuth": 289.0338456,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:28 UTC",
"dec": 18.15569881,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"ra": 156.04031939,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
},
{
"altitude": 3.91713221,
"angle": 2.21383004,
"azimuth": 289.12315208,
"date_time": "2024-11-08 21:28:29 UTC",
"dec": 18.26370601,
"julian_date": 2460623.39479157,
"ra": 156.04618993,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
}
]
}
"total_position_results": 6,
"total_satellites": 3
},
"source": "IAU CPS SatChecker",
"version": "1.X.x"
}
]
Satellites above the horizon
- GET /satellites-above-horizon/
Get satellites that are above the horizon at a given time. A minimum altitude can be specified to filter results.
- Query Parameters:
latitude – (required) – Observer’s latitude in degrees
longitude – (required) – Observer’s longitude in degrees
elevation – (required) – Observer’s elevation in meters
site –
(optional) – Site name (e.g. ‘greenwich’) - if provided, latitude, longitude, and elevation can’t be used; see astropy site names for a list of valid site names
julian_date – (required) – Julian Date for time to check
min_altitude – (optional) – Minimum altitude in degrees. Default is 0.
min_range – (optional) – Minimum range in kilometers. Default is 0.
max_range – (optional) – Maximum range in kilometers. Default is 1500000.
illuminated_only – (optional) – If True, only return satellites that are illuminated. Default is False.
- Example Request
import requests import json url = 'https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellites-above-horizon/' params = {'latitude': 33, 'longitude': -117, 'elevation': 100, 'julian_date': 2460623.394780, 'min_altitude': 10} r = requests.get(url, params=params) print(json.dumps(r.json(), indent=4))
curl -X GET "https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellites-above-horizon/?latitude=33&longitude=-117&elevation=100&julian_date=2460623.394780&min_altitude=10" -H "accept: application/json"
curl.exe -X GET "https://satchecker.cps.iau.org/fov/satellites-above-horizon/?latitude=33&longitude=-117&elevation=100&julian_date=2460623.394780&min_altitude=10" -H "accept: application/json"
Example Response
[
{
"count": 1937,
"data": [
{
"altitude": 51.92871704504127,
"azimuth": 330.07034475807336,
"dec": 61.393238361137435,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"name": "COSMOS 1217 DEB",
"norad_id": 27899,
"ra": 213.68861951924774,
"range": 37871.88385502476,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
},
{
"altitude": 46.76140648358198,
"azimuth": 39.30197941616954,
"dec": 57.20169110572095,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"name": "TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED",
"norad_id": 270191,
"ra": 306.93103651702273,
"range": 1868.7413807374958,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
},
{
"altitude": 43.309023015726,
"azimuth": 297.19742445889455,
"dec": 40.865606494876005,
"julian_date": 2460623.39478,
"name": "TESS",
"norad_id": 43435,
"ra": 194.72756014363964,
"range": 120182.57514042286,
"tle_epoch": "2024-11-08 14:22:35 UTC"
}
],
"source": "IAU CPS SatChecker",
"version": "1.X.x"
}
]