Allsky360 is an allsky camera system for continuous sky observation. It uses GPU acceleration to process images in real-time, which makes it practical even on smaller embedded systems.
The system automatically captures images from your camera and processes them through a pipeline of filters and enhancements. It connects to your camera via INDIGO, which is pretty much the standard for astronomy cameras these days.
The GPU acceleration is the key feature here. On a Jetson Orin NX, for example, you can process full-resolution images in seconds instead of minutes. That makes it feasible to run continuously without bogging down the system.
Automatic capture: Once you've set it up, it just keeps taking pictures. No manual intervention needed.
HDR processing: You can capture up to 5 different exposures and merge them into a single HDR image. This is really useful when you want to see both bright stars and faint details in the same frame.
Star detection: It automatically finds stars in your images. You can use this to overlay star names, or just to see what's visible on any given night.
Image filters: There's a whole set of filters built in:
- White balance and color calibration
- Dehaze filter (helps cut through light pollution)
- Clarity and sharpening filters
- Noise reduction (ACDNR works particularly well for astro images)
- Median filtering
- Tone mapping for HDR images
Panoramas: You can stitch images into 360° panoramas if needed.
Metadata: It automatically adds astronomical data like moon phase and sun position to your images. Handy for keeping track of observing conditions.
Web API: There's a REST API so you can access images and data programmatically. I use this to build simple web dashboards.
Timelapse videos: The timelapse tool uses GPU acceleration too, so creating videos from hundreds of images doesn't take forever.
You'll need an NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support. I've been running this on a Jetson Orin NX, but any CUDA-capable GPU should work fine.
The system runs on Linux (Ubuntu or Debian). You'll also need INDIGO server running – it handles the camera communication. Most modern astronomy cameras work with INDIGO, so compatibility is usually not an issue.
The installation process is documented in INSTALL.md. The main thing is getting INDIGO set up first, then building Allsky360. It's not complicated, but there are a few steps to follow.
- INSTALL.md – Installation instructions
- HDR-FUSION.md – How the HDR processing works
- POSTPROCESSING.md – Tips for post-processing your images
- TOOLS.md – Command-line tools and utilities
- CONTRIBUTING.md – How to contribute
- CHANGELOG.md – What's changed over time
MIT License. See LICENSE.md for the details.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sven Kreiensen