Where SkyMate’s astronomy data comes from
Public science data with clear licences, calculations done on your device, and live feeds that always show how fresh they are.
Catalogues
Star names and positions, deep-sky objects, constellation figures, exoplanet systems and minor-body orbits come from public datasets. Every dataset has a recorded licence and the credit it asks for; the full list is on Data & Licences. Catalogue data on this site was last regenerated on .
A dataset is only used when its licence clearly allows commercial use and redistribution. Missing licence information is treated as “not allowed”, and a release check refuses to ship anything without a cleared source.
Calculated, not looked up
Rise and set times, twilight, Moon phases, planet positions and meteor-shower dates are calculated for your place and date rather than copied from tables. That is why they work for any town, and why the same formulas give the same answer on every page.
Live data
- Satellite orbits: CelesTrak, refreshed at most every two hours, with element age checked before predicting passes.
- Space weather and aurora (app): NOAA SWPC.
- Weather (app): your local forecast. The website doesn’t show weather yet.
Live values always carry their age. Stale data is labelled; it is never shown as current.
Corrections
If something looks wrong, tell us on the contact page with the page, your place and the time. See also how visibility is calculated.