I built DarkHours( [https://darkhours.app](https://darkhours.app)), a tool for planning astrophotography trips — specifically landscape astro. I found myself cycling  different apps every time I planned a trip to get an idea of what I was in for, and I got tired of it.

So I built an app that consolidated the usual planning data — moon phase, sunrise/sunset, weather, light pollution — and added some things I couldn't find anywhere else:



* A search for the best skies within driving distance, limited to publicly accessible locations
* A 30-day "best night" outlook
* Advanced moonlight modeling (not just up/down — actual brightness contribution)
* Nearby light dome mapping
* Astro landscape targets list instead of smaller telescope only targets
* A predicted 360° sky visualization that combines all the datapoints above.

It's a true side project,  built in Python, calling only three external APIs (two weather, one location), everything else implemented myself. It's open source ([GitHub link](https://github.com/mbeher2200/DarkHours)) and free for anyone to use. I'd love feedback or ideas.



I Built DarkHours a Landscape Astrophotography Planning Tool