My Night guide
My Night turns up to four targets into an ordered, adjustable capture plan based on altitude, useful time and Moon impact.
1 · How to get there
My Night is available from the top navigation and the home page. It is also the purple destination in “Prepare your session”, within the active “Discover the website” branch.
The “Advanced level” badge indicates that this is a complete tool intended for users already familiar with altitude, filters, thresholds and the Moon’s effect.
2 · Night and times
Choose the night using the ISO week and the graphical seven-day strip. Then set the selected day, start time, finish time and minimum altitude threshold; if the finish time is earlier, the session ends on the following day.
The threshold can also be changed in step 4. Both controls stay synchronised and always represent the same value.
3 · Equipment, filters and Moon
Choose one camera type. With a smart telescope or OSC camera, each target creates a colour capture; with a monochrome camera, no filters are selected initially and every target–filter combination you choose becomes a task.
Lunar sensitivity depends on the filter: B 34, L/colour 30, G 24, R 15, OIII 7, Hα 4 and SII 4. A higher value makes Moon proximity and illumination penalise the score more strongly.
4 · Choosing targets
Add up to four targets from the local list or search for one through SIMBAD. The selection and settings are retained for the browser session even if you visit another page and return to My Night.
The local list contains targets prepared for the website; SIMBAD can resolve other astronomical designations.
5 · Initial calculation and order
The first calculation distributes the available time and orders tasks according to altitude, useful time above the threshold and Moon impact, including its angular separation and filter sensitivity. The top strip shows one header per target and groups its assigned filters within it.
At each slot it compares the tasks still available. Being below the threshold receives a strong penalty: the target remains visible for comparison, but the slot is shown in translucent red as not recommended.
6 · Adjusting slots manually
Each target has a single header, and every filter row has its own − and + controls to change that filter’s duration in five-minute steps. Once you adjust a filter, its duration stays fixed.
The difference is redistributed among all other filters you have not fixed yet, regardless of their position in the plan. A control is locked only when no other free slot has enough margin to compensate for the change. “Equalise periods” removes manual adjustments and divides the schedule equally again.
7 · Pending changes and recalculation
Changing the day, threshold or duration does not recalculate the plan automatically: the purple “Recalculate plan” button blinks to show that changes are pending. Pressing it applies all changes together without changing the selected targets.
Changed durations are highlighted in yellow. While recalculation is pending, downloads remain disabled to prevent exporting an earlier version.
8 · Charts and “Why here?”
The vertical axis runs from −30° to 90°. The green curve shows target altitude, the red curve Moon altitude and the dashed line the threshold. Each vertical band uses its filter colour: L white, R and Hα red, G green, B blue, OIII cyan blue and SII violet; an invalid slot remains marked in warning red.
The header retains the slot time range. The expandable “Why in this position?” explains why the target was selected at that time and identifies the next alternative.
9 · Calculations and scoring
The “5 · Calculations” panel contains the “Target scoring” disclosure. Its explanation separates input data, calculated variables and the final formula; it also clarifies that lunar illumination is expressed as a percentage and converted to a fraction between 0 and 1 for the calculation.
Below it, cards are grouped into one column per target and, with a monochrome camera, its filters are stacked within that column. Each card shows the substituted numerical values, which are regenerated whenever the plan is recalculated.
10 · Downloads
“Download TXT” creates a text version of the current plan; “Download PDF” produces a visual report for reference or printing. Neither option changes the order.
A check mark appears temporarily after each download. The buttons are available only when the displayed plan is up to date.
11 · Model and limits
The calculation is provisional and uses a reference location in central Catalonia. It considers sky geometry, altitude, useful time, Moon angular separation, illuminated fraction and filter sensitivity.
It does not replace a weather forecast or model cloud, transparency, seeing, wind, the local horizon, terrain, obstructions, light pollution or actual equipment performance. Use it as a decision aid and always check real conditions.