Seevar-Lite

Clean AAVSO-first reducer for SeeVar.

Scope:

• build a nightly AAVSO plan from object/weather/dark-window JSON
• ingest FITS frames
• stack by target
• require WCS proof
• perform aperture photometry from JSON catalogs
• write state/proof JSON
• stage AAVSO Extended report rows

Not in scope:

• telescope steering
• dashboard
• direct Alpaca exposure loops
• pretty-picture processing

Quick Start

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e '.[dev]'

seevar-lite-postflight \
  --frames /path/to/fits \
  --targets examples/targets.json \
  --comparisons examples/comparisons.json \
  --out runs/test

Preflight:

seevar-lite-preflight \
  --objects catalogs/campaign_targets.json \
  --site examples/site.json \
  --weather examples/weather.json \
  --out runs/preflight \
  --start-utc 2026-06-04T20:00:00Z \
  --end-utc 2026-06-05T03:00:00Z

Observing dry-run:

seevar-lite-observe-dryrun \
  --plan runs/preflight/nightly_plan.json \
  --out runs/observe-dryrun \
  --max-targets 3 \
  --frames 3

Export for seestar_alp:

seevar-lite-export-seestar-alp \
  --plan runs/preflight/nightly_plan.json \
  --out runs/seestar-alp \
  --host 192.168.178.57 \
  --device 1 \
  --max-targets 3

Outputs:

• runs/preflight/nightly_plan.json
• runs/observe-dryrun/proof.jsonl
• runs/seestar-alp/seestar_alp_schedule.json
• runs/seestar-alp/ssalp_commands.sh
• runs/test/state.json
• runs/test/proof.jsonl
• runs/test/stacks/*.fits
• runs/test/reports/aavso_extended.txt

JSON Catalogs

Targets use the existing SeeVar campaign catalog shape:

{
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "ST Boo",
      "ra": 224.44,
      "dec": 40.73,
      "recommended_cadence_days": 1,
      "duration": 600
    }
  ]
}

Comparison stars:

{
  "ST Boo": [
    {"id": "C1", "ra_deg": 224.41, "dec_deg": 40.71, "mag": 12.3},
    {"id": "C2", "ra_deg": 224.48, "dec_deg": 40.76, "mag": 12.8}
  ]
}

The first rule is simple: no WCS, no photometry, no AAVSO row.