AstroGadgets is a free Windows desktop program for amateur astronomers that gathers information from various astronomy websites, provides a concise display of essential information and provides pop-up, audible, email or SMS (text message) alerts for events such as International Space Station passes and Planetary KP Index levels (conditions favoring aurora).
This tool resides on your Windows desktop (sorry no Mac version) and provides quick access to the following information:
Current SOHO white light image of the sun with other bandwidths accessible via keyboard arrow keys
Sunrise/Sunset
Current lunar phase
Moonrise/Moonset
Astronomical twilight end/begin (when it is completely dark for astronomy purposes)
Current local weather conditions
Bright planet visibility
Clear Sky Chart
Clear Outside Forecast
NOAA 48 hour weather forecast
International Space Station passes
Planetary KP Index
Meteor Shower daily ZHR
You can position the program anywhere on your desktop by dragging it. To access the menus, use the right mouse button.
For product suggestions and bug reports, please email astrogadgets@allprosoftware.com
If you enjoy Astrogadgets, consider sending me a tip:
Revision History
1.0.58 (1/16/2024) Fixed moon phase for 2024 data from NASA
1.0.57 (1/31/2023) Fixed moon phase for 2023 data from NASA
1.0.56 (11/25/2022) Fixed data format change from NOAA for Planetary KP index
1.0.55 (1/12/2022) Fixed moon phase for 2022 data from NASA
1.0.54 (1/13/2021) Fixed bug for non-us customers getting errors if NOAA bar unchecked
1.0.53 (1/1/2021) Fixed moon phase for 2021 data from NASA
1.0.51 (5/3/2020) Added NOAA current weather conditions and 48 hour forecast toolbars. Added refresh and visit astrogadgets web page options in pop-up menu. Improved logging and bug fixes. Removed Iridium toolbar
1.0.49 (1/04/2020) Fixed moon phase data from NASA Moon image
1.0.48 (1/16/2019) Added new infobar for meteor showers. Improved email functionality. Other bug fixes
1.0.47 (1/4/2019) Added new function to view all soho images with arrow keys when zoomed in. Also fixed data from NASA Moon image
1.0.46 (9/24/2018) Fixed error if no iridium flares currently visible
1.0.45 (3/19/2018) Replaced lunar image with NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio version
1.0.44 (10/25/2016) Fixed lunar image for variable radius picture from Navy.mil
1.0.43 (10/18/2016) Added code to improve appearance of sun and moon images
1.0.42 (09/03/2016) One more fix for a few customers seeing duplicate info bars
1.0.41 (08/18/2016) Fix bar:0 error some customers were experiencing in last release
1.0.40 (08/12/2016) New Feature: Added Clear Outside forecast bar
1.0.39 (09/21/2015) Fix for Clear Sky Chart URL change
1.0.38 (06/19/2015) Bug fixes and hopefully last Clear Sky fix for a while
1.0.37 (06/18/2015) More Clear Sky Chart fixes
1.0.36 (05/20/2015) Added automatic retry if Clear Sky chart location function not available
1.0.35 (05/11/2015) New method of retrieving clear sky chart data to improve reliability
1.0.34 (03/23/2015) Fix issue with Iridium data due to new NOAA formatting
1.0.33 (06/19/2014) Fix issue with Planetary data due to new Heavens Above formatting
1.0.32 (10/29/2013) Fix issue with Iridium values due to new Heavens Above formatting
Added ability to correctly send messages if timezone of PC is different from timezone of site.
1.0.30 (1/06/2013) Fix issue with Lunar values due to new Heavens Above formatting
1.0.29 (12/21/2012) Fix issues with non-US versions of Windows & fixed issue with Lunar image being too dark
1.0.27 (12/10/2012) Another Heavens Above format change
1.0.26 (11/27/2012) Added location name to title of email alerts
Fix problem with pop up text on Iridium data
Add check for network connection and display old data if not available. Also re-check every minute when network is down
Prevent invalid images from appearing for sun, moon and csc
1.0.25 (10/18/2012) Fixed Iridium data issue because of Heaven's Above format change
1.0.24 (8/31/2012) Fixed problem with odd format of SOHO Sun image causing errors
1.0.23 (3/7/2012) Added additional levels of KP index to alert function. Please check your settings
after installing this version to make sure your KP is set properly
Now shuts down the program when clicking on the 'new version' link to make it easier to install future versions
1.0.22 (2/16/2012) Added redundant site to retrieve moon phase if primary is down
1.0.21 (2/15/2012) Fixed issue with Navy's Moon phase image
1.0.20 (2/13/2012) Fixed another issue with Heaven's Above
Added automatic check for new version of astrogadgets
1.0.19 (2/11/2012) Fixed error with ISS data because of new Heaven's Above format
1.0.18 (2/6/2012) Updated Planet Data to reflect new URL from Heaven's Above
1.0.17 Fix to avoid 'flashing' on some computers at startup
Added new error handling logic to allow the program to ignore and log most errors
1.0.15 added support for non-standard windows dpi sizes
1.0.14 additional error trapping during alerts if connection problems
1.0.12 trap occasional errors during alerts which prevented email from being sent
1.0.10 Added multiple locations that can be chosen by a dropdown in the location tab
1.0.10 Now automatically selecting nearest clear sky chart based on location rather than manual entry
