SkyContour

SkyContour maps the trees, rooftops and hills around your telescope and turns them into an artificial horizon your astronomy software understands. Stand where your telescope stands, hold your phone upright and turn once around. SkyContour takes the photos automatically, stitches them into a 360° panorama and finds the edge between sky and obstruction. Survey in daylight or at dusk: the app needs a bright sky to find the edge. WHAT YOU GET • N.I.N.A. custom horizon (.hrz) with an adjustable safety margin, so targets stay clear of tree tips • Stellarium landscape: a 360° photo panorama with transparent sky, or just the outline • Your site's location written into the Stellarium landscape MADE FOR THE FIELD • Guided capture: a target dot shows where to point next, and frames are taken when the phone is steady • Review the horizon as a chart and as a panorama, and paint sky or ground with your finger where branches or wires fool the detection • North offset to correct the compass • One-time camera field-of-view calibration for accurate stitching • Import an existing .hrz file • Dark interface for use next to the telescope at dusk • Works offline. Your photos and locations stay on your phone; nothing is uploaded. Share or save the files, then load the .hrz in N.I.N.A. (Options › General › Astrometry › Custom Horizon) or install the .zip in Stellarium (Sky and viewing options › Landscape).