The AllSky Camera Network turns one year old this month. I can't say for sure, but I booked the website and started integrating the first camera around April 1st. So I just set the date for April 1st. You need a day to celebrate, after all.
And I never would have imagined how the network has developed in this first year. It all started very tentatively. I had to try and test a lot. And how excited I was when the first external cameras joined the network! Everything was supposed to work, which of course it didn't, but everything was solvable!
Now we have over 60 cameras from more than 13 countries around the world that send new images, videos, and data to the server every day and make them available to everyone. We've also had some great highlights this year. Bright meteors, auroras visible across Germany, stunning starry skies, star trails, and keograms that revealed the clearest skies.
Even the deep frosts and hot summer days of last year presented a challenge for the cameras. But together, we overcame it all. On our Discord server, new solutions were developed, new use cases were created, and there was much discussion about sensors and camera construction. More than 120 people have gathered there to continuously observe the sky.
My school project also progressed. Six students built two complete cameras on their own. These will soon be installed on the roof and will also be used to observe the sky from the school. The network is now running very stably.
Support
At this point, I would also like to thank all my supporters. With their support, I was able to expand the server infrastructure and purchase a correspondingly large storage system.
Only with your support can we keep the network running and developing it further. So thank you! You can find all our supporters on our Donation page within the network.
Development & Future
Besides the main network page, there have been and continue to be many other ideas. New features such as meteor detection, long-term keograms, an image analyzer, and much more have been integrated into the network. We have an email system that I use to inform camera owners about new updates and to send out a newsletter.
A few weeks ago, I created a YouTube channel, which makes it possible to share exciting videos from the network with everyone. We currently have 44 subscribers, but it's growing steadily.
But that's not all. I'm currently developing a school portal from the network and its vast amount of data. School classes can access the data and use modules to explore the night and day skies, or even learn about math, computer science, and other subjects from the data. The School Portal already exists, but is currently being tested and equipped with corresponding learning units.
There will be a separate data portal for research and science to access and aggregate the data. Environmental, weather, and climate data can be accessed from the network there. The Data Portal is currently under development, and initial applications are being created there.
I'm very excited to see how the entire network and the surrounding little universe develop further and what else will emerge here.