macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install astrometry-netlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 4299
Install astrometry-net with Homebrew, apt
Automatic identification of astronomical images. Version 0.97 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install astrometry.net.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install astrometry.netDebian stable package indexes · astrometry.net · source: deb.debian.org
overview
Package summary
Automatic identification of astronomical images
Project links
Commands and aliases
- an-fitstopnm
- an-pnmtofits
- astrometry-engine
- augment-xylist
- build-astrometry-index
- degtohms
- downsample-fits
- fit-wcs
- fits-column-merge
- fits-flip-endian
- fits-guess-scale
- fitsgetext
- get-healpix
- get-wcs
- hmstodeg
- hpsplit
- image2pnm
- image2xy
- imarith
- imstat
- listhead
- liststruc
- merge-columns
- modhead
- new-wcs
- pad-file
- plot-constellations
- plotann.py
- plotquad
- plotxy
- query-starkd
- removelines
history
Project history and usage
Astrometry.net is the classic open-source blind astrometric calibration system: give it an astronomical image without reliable coordinates and it solves the sky position, writes standards-compliant WCS metadata, and can annotate known objects. The Homebrew formula exposes both the famous solve-field command and a large toolbox of FITS, WCS, plotting, index-building, and catalog utilities.
Project history
The codebase dates to the Astrometry.net Team work by Michael Blanton, David W. Hogg, Dustin Lang, Keir Mierle, and Sam Roweis, with copyright notices beginning in 2006. The accompanying 2010 Astronomical Journal paper, 'Astrometry.net: Blind astrometric calibration of arbitrary astronomical images,' framed the project as a way to create correct astrometric metadata for useful astronomical images in archival disarray.
The official code README says the original code release backed up the claims in the paper for scientific repeatability, then became more robust and usable for a wider audience. That origin still shows in the package: it is not just a single solver binary, but a research-to-operations toolkit including HEALPIX support, kd-tree code, FITS utilities, index builders, and a web-service stack.
Adoption history
Astrometry.net adoption spans two modes: the hosted nova.astrometry.net web service for casual uploads and the local command-line solver for observatories, astrophotographers, pipelines, and archive processing. The README points users to the web service, the documentation, downloadable code snapshots, Docker containers, and index files.
Package-manager adoption is broad because local solving needs repeatable binaries and large offline index files. Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu package it, and the upstream README documents a Docker image invocation such as astrometrynet/solver:0.98 solve-field image.jpg for containerized use.
How it is used
The core CLI workflow is to install the code, download the index files appropriate for the field sizes being solved, optionally edit INSTALL_DIR/etc/astrometry.cfg, and run solve-field against an image, FITS file, URL, or xylist. The docs explain that the backend reads astrometry.cfg, normally /usr/local/astrometry/etc/astrometry.cfg, to find index files and control solver behavior.
solve-field is the main high-level command-line interface. It extracts sources, creates augmented xylists, calls the backend solver, and writes output files such as WCS and annotated products. Power users constrain scale, depth, radius, CPU limit, source extraction, plotting, and index selection for speed and reliability.
Why package nerds care
This is a package nerd favorite because it brings a serious scientific stack to a normal CLI install: dozens of executables, FITS table tools, plotting helpers, WCS transformers, and index builders all land on PATH. The real payload is split between packaged code and separately managed index data, so the package's usability depends on documentation, data placement, and config paths as much as on the binary itself.
It is also a canonical example of scientific reproducibility becoming operational infrastructure. The same algorithms that backed a journal paper became a web service, a Docker solver, distribution packages, and a local command-line workhorse used outside professional astronomy.
Timeline
- 2006: Copyright notices begin for the Astrometry.net Team code.
- 2010: The Astrometry.net blind astrometric calibration paper was published in The Astronomical Journal.
- 2012: The Sphinx documentation set identifies the project documentation authorship and code docs era.
- 2024: Upstream tags reached the 0.9x series, with 0.98 available in the documented Docker example.
Related projects
- nova.astrometry.net is the hosted web service using much of the same software.
- USNO-B, Tycho-2, 2MASS, and Gaia are reference catalogs used for index files.
- FITS and WCS standards are the file and metadata formats the command-line tools manipulate.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:image
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
Configuration and credential file locations
These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.
Configuration files
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
INSTALL_DIR/etc/astrometry.cfg/usr/local/astrometry/etc/astrometry.cfg
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
an-fitstopnm | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
an-pnmtofits | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
astrometry-engine | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
augment-xylist | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
build-astrometry-index | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
degtohms | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
downsample-fits | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fit-wcs | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fits-column-merge | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fits-flip-endian | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fits-guess-scale | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fitsgetext | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
get-healpix | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
get-wcs | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
hmstodeg | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
hpsplit | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
image2pnm | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
image2xy | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
imarith | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
imstat | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
listhead | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
liststruc | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
merge-columns | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
modhead | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
new-wcs | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
pad-file | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
plot-constellations | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
plotann.py | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
plotquad | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
plotxy | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
query-starkd | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
removelines | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
solve-field | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
startree | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
subtable | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
tablist | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
tabmerge | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
tabsort | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
text2fits | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
uniformize | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
votabletofits | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-grab | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-match | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-pv2sip | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-rd2xy | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-resample | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-to-tan | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcs-xy2rd | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wcsinfo | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version0.97
manager updated2026-06-25
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:astrometry-net |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.97 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/dstndstn/astrometry.net |
| Repository | https://github.com/dstndstn/astrometry.net |
| Last updated | 2026-06-25T13:37:37+02:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
astrometry.net 0.97+dfsg-2
Astrometry plate solver
sudo apt install astrometry.net- Section: science
- Architecture: amd64
- 12 dependencies
- 4 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Debian apt95%
libastrometry-dev 0.97+dfsg-2
Astrometry plate solver (development files)
sudo apt install libastrometry-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Debian apt95%
libastrometry0t64 0.97+dfsg-2
Astrometry plate solver (shared lib)
sudo apt install libastrometry0t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Debian apt95%
python3-astrometry 0.97+dfsg-2
Astrometry plate solver (Python package)
sudo apt install python3-astrometry- Section: python
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 13 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Ubuntu apt95%
astrometry.net 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1
Astrometry plate solver
sudo apt install astrometry.net- Section: universe/science
- Architecture: amd64
- 12 dependencies
- 4 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Ubuntu apt95%
libastrometry-dev 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1
Astrometry plate solver (development files)
sudo apt install libastrometry-dev- Section: universe/libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Ubuntu apt95%
libastrometry0t64 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1
Astrometry plate solver (shared lib)
sudo apt install libastrometry0t64- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
Ubuntu apt95%
python3-astrometry 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1
Astrometry plate solver (Python package)
sudo apt install python3-astrometry- Section: universe/python
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: astrometry.net
- 13 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Astrometry Net
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation