Reference/API

astroplan Package

astroplan is an open source (BSD licensed) observation planning package for astronomers that can help you plan for everything but the clouds.

It is an in-development Astropy affiliated package that seeks to make your life as an observational astronomer a little less infuriating.

• Code: https://github.com/astropy/astroplan
• Docs: https://astroplan.readthedocs.org/

Functions

add_site(site_name, location)	Add a site to the list of available observatories.
download_IERS_A([show_progress])	Download and cache the IERS Bulletin A table.
get_IERS_A_or_workaround()	Get the cached IERS Bulletin A table if one exists.
get_moon(time, location[, pressure])	Position of the Earth’s moon.
get_site(site_name)	Return an EarthLocation object for known observatory.
get_site_names([full_list])	Get list of names of observatories for use with get_site.
is_always_observable(constraints, observer, ...)	Are the targets always observable throughout time_range given
is_observable(constraints, observer, targets)	Are the targets observable during time_range given constraints in
observability_table(constraints, observer, ...)	Creates a table with information about observablity for all the targets over the requeisted time_range, given the constraints in constraints_list for observer.
test([package, test_path, args, plugins, ...])	Run the tests using py.test.
time_grid_from_range(time_range[, ...])	Get linearly-spaced sequence of times.

Classes

AirmassConstraint([max, min])	Constrain the airmass of a target.
AltitudeConstraint([min, max])	Constrain the altitude of the target.
AstroplanWarning	Superclass for warnings used by astroplan
AtNightConstraint([max_solar_altitude, ...])	Constrain the Sun to be below horizon.
Constraint	Abstract class for objects defining observational constraints.
FixedTarget(coord[, name])	Coordinates and metadata for an object that is “fixed” with respect to the celestial sphere.
LocalTimeConstraint([min, max])	Constrain the observable hours.
MoonIlluminationConstraint([min, max])	Constrain the fractional illumination of the Earth’s moon.
MoonSeparationConstraint([min, max])	Constrain the distance between the Earth’s moon and some targets.
NonFixedTarget([name, ra, dec, marker])	Placeholder for future function.
Observer([location, timezone, name, ...])	A container class for information about an observer’s location and environment.
OldEarthOrientationDataWarning	Using old Earth rotation data from IERS
PlotBelowHorizonWarning	Warning for when something is hidden on a plot because it’s below the horizon
PlotWarning	Warnings dealing with the plotting aspects of astroplan
SunSeparationConstraint([min, max])	Constrain the distance between the Sun and some targets.
Target([name, ra, dec, marker])	Abstract base class for target objects.
TargetAlwaysUpWarning	Target is circumpolar
TargetNeverUpWarning	Target never rises above horizon

Class Inheritance Diagram

astroplan.plots Package

astroplan.plots contains functions for making plots of commonly-used quantities in observation planning (e.g., airmass vs. time), using astroplan and Matplotlib.

Functions

plot_airmass(target, observer, time[, ax, ...])	Plots airmass as a function of time for a given target.
plot_parallactic(target, observer, time[, ...])	Plots parallactic angle as a function of time for a given target.
plot_sky(target, observer, time[, ax, ...])	Plots target positions in the sky with respect to the observer’s location.