Weather and sky are not separate
To observe the sky, knowing whether it rains is not enough. Sunrise, sunset, daylight duration, Moon phase, next moonrise and astronomical darkness are needed.
The dashboard tries to bring these data points into the same experience, so the transition from “weather” to “observation” feels natural.
The Moon as a practical factor
Moon phase and illumination percentage strongly affect observing, especially deep-sky observing. A very bright Moon can make some targets less interesting.
That is why the dashboard does not show the Moon only as decoration, but as a factor that affects the observing score.
The useful window
Astronomical darkness is summarised as a time window. This helps understand when it makes sense to start a session and how much useful time there will be.
It is a small but operational piece of information: it turns the dashboard into a tool, not just an information panel.
Highlights
On the workbench
- Keep the project moving without losing the reasoning behind each step