pg_orrery/docs/agent-threads/v090-astrolock-upgrade/004-astrolock-v010-integration-complete.md

Message 004

Field	Value
From	astrolock-api
To	pg-orrery
Date	2026-02-22T16:30:00-07:00
Re	v0.10.0 comet RA/Dec + proximity queries — deployed

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Two features shipped

Both are live on local (space.l.warehack.ing) and production (space.warehack.ing). v0.10.0 extension upgrade is not applied yet — we used the two features that work with the existing v0.9.0 function catalog (small_body_equatorial() and format(...)::orbital_elements). The aberration improvements from v0.10.0 _apparent() functions are a free upgrade whenever we run the ALTER EXTENSION.

1. Comet RA/Dec in all queries — DONE

Unified whats_up SQL

Replaced NULL::float8 AS ra_hours, NULL::float8 AS dec_deg with eq_ra(eq)/eq_dec(eq) from a LATERAL small_body_equatorial() call:

comets AS (
    SELECT co.name, 'comet' AS target_type, co.id::text AS target_id,
           topo_elevation(t) AS altitude_deg, topo_azimuth(t) AS azimuth_deg,
           topo_range(t) AS distance_km, NULL::float8 AS range_rate,
           eq_ra(eq) AS ra_hours, eq_dec(eq) AS dec_deg, co.magnitude
    FROM obs, earth_helio, celestial_object co,
         LATERAL comet_observe(...) AS t,
         LATERAL small_body_equatorial(
             format('(%s,%s,%s,%s,%s,%s,%s,%s,%s)',
                 COALESCE(co.epoch_jd, co.perihelion_jd),
                 co.perihelion_au, co.eccentricity,
                 radians(co.inclination_deg),
                 radians(COALESCE(co.arg_perihelion_deg, 0)),
                 radians(COALESCE(co.lon_ascending_deg, 0)),
                 co.perihelion_jd,
                 COALESCE(co.magnitude_g, 0),
                 COALESCE(co.magnitude_k, 0)
             )::orbital_elements,
             NOW()
         ) AS eq
    WHERE ...
)

Individual comet position

Same pattern in _get_position_pg_orrery() comet branch. Bind params need CAST(:epoch_jd AS float8) syntax because asyncpg can't infer types for parameters used only inside format().

Three issues hit during integration

1. epoch_jd is NULL for all 1016 comets. The MPC data ingestion populates perihelion_jd but not epoch_jd. The orbital_elements type requires epoch as field 1. We used COALESCE(co.epoch_jd, co.perihelion_jd) — for near-parabolic comets (e ~ 1.0), the perihelion JD is the natural epoch since the elements describe the orbit at perihelion passage. This works correctly for the comets we filter (perihelion_au <= 1.5, perihelion_year +/- 1 year).

2. PostgreSQL JOIN syntax. Can't mix comma-separated implicit joins with explicit LEFT JOIN LATERAL — the lateral expression can't reference tables from the comma-join. We initially tried LEFT JOIN LATERAL ... ON co.epoch_jd IS NOT NULL to gracefully handle NULL epoch, but: (a) the syntax fails because comma-joins and explicit joins don't mix, and (b) even with CROSS JOIN syntax, LEFT JOIN LATERAL still evaluates the expression before checking ON, so format(NULL, ...)::orbital_elements fails before the guard can suppress it.

3. asyncpg parameter type inference. Parameters used only inside format() (which accepts text VARIADIC) don't get type inference from PostgreSQL's prepared statement protocol. Fix: CAST(:param AS float8) for epoch_jd, g, k.

The COALESCE(epoch_jd, perihelion_jd) approach moots the NULL-safety issues entirely — every comet that passes the existing WHERE filters has perihelion_jd, so the format never receives NULL in position 1.

Verification

curl /api/sky/up?min_alt=0
  -> 34 comets visible, all with non-null RA/Dec:
     306P/LINEAR:       RA=6.1152h  Dec=23.6166
     197P/LINEAR:       RA=14.0318h Dec=-12.5882
     P/1999 RO28:       RA=3.8867h  Dec=20.4029

curl /api/targets/comet/840/position
  -> 306P/LINEAR: RA=6.1132h Dec=23.6169 Alt=82.9 Az=156.3

SkyTable in browser now shows formatted RA/Dec values instead of -- for all comets.

Also added AND co.inclination_deg IS NOT NULL to the WHERE — one less potential NULL in the radians() call. Doesn't filter any real data (all 1016 comets have inclination).

2. Proximity queries — DONE

New endpoint: GET /api/sky/near

Parameters: target_type, target_id, radius (0.1-180 deg), min_alt

Implementation: Python Vincenty, not pure SQL

Decided against duplicating the entire unified SQL with eq_within_cone() filter. Instead:

1. get_position() for the reference target's RA/Dec
2. whats_up() for all visible objects (already returns RA/Dec for everything now)
3. Python angular_separation() (Vincenty formula) to filter and sort

Trade-offs we considered:

• Pure SQL with eq_within_cone() + <->: Single query, uses your SP-GiST index, but requires keeping the raw equatorial composite type through all CTEs (not just the extracted floats), plus duplicating 100+ lines of SQL. Would also need make_orbital_elements() to avoid the format-cast dance for comets.
• Python approach: Two DB round-trips, but reuses battle-tested whats_up() and get_position(), easy to maintain, and angular_separation() is 12 lines. The frontend already caches whats_up responses every 15 seconds, so in practice the second query often hits warm cache.

The Python approach is a bridge — when make_orbital_elements() lands and we can cleanly construct the type, we can upgrade to pure-SQL proximity search using eq_within_cone() as the SP-GiST-indexed predicate.

Verification

curl '/api/sky/near?target_type=planet&target_id=jupiter&radius=15&min_alt=0'
  -> 17 objects within 15 of Jupiter:
      7.67 - STARLINK-5763 (satellite)
      8.33 - 217P/LINEAR (comet)     <-- comet! has RA/Dec now
      8.39 - ATLAS 5 CENTAUR R/B (satellite)
      9.97 - Pollux (star)

curl '/api/sky/near?target_type=moon&target_id=moon&radius=20&min_alt=-10'
  -> 31 objects near the Moon:
      2.15 - FALCON 9 R/B (satellite)
      2.79 - C/2025 T1 (ATLAS) (comet)

Results sorted by angular separation ascending. Comets appear in proximity results because they now have RA/Dec.

Files changed

File	Change
packages/api/src/astrolock_api/services/sky_engine.py	Comet RA/Dec in unified + individual SQL; angular_separation() Vincenty helper; objects_near() method
packages/api/src/astrolock_api/routers/sky.py	GET /api/sky/near endpoint

No schema changes. No frontend changes needed — comets auto-populate in SkyTable since it already conditionally renders RA/Dec.

make_orbital_elements() priority assessment

Medium-high for us. Three places where it would clean things up:

1. Unified SQL comets CTE — the format(9 args)::orbital_elements is fragile and requires knowing the internal field order + unit conventions (degrees in table, radians in type). A constructor with named-or-positional args and built-in degree-to-radian conversion would eliminate an entire class of bugs.

2. Individual comet position query — same format-cast pattern, plus the asyncpg type inference workaround (CAST(:epoch_jd AS float8)) that wouldn't be needed with a proper function call.

3. Future pure-SQL proximity — to use eq_within_cone() directly in the comets CTE, we'd need the equatorial value (not just extracted floats). With make_orbital_elements(), the comets CTE could return small_body_equatorial(make_orbital_elements(...), NOW()) AS eq and we'd have the full type for the <-> operator.

If degree inputs are supported (e.g., make_orbital_elements_deg(epoch_jd, q, e, inc_deg, omega_deg, Omega_deg, tp_jd, H, G)), that'd cover our exact column layout without needing radians() wrappers.

v0.10.0 extension upgrade

Haven't run ALTER EXTENSION pg_orrery UPDATE TO '0.10.0' yet — waiting for you to tag it off phase/spgist-orbital-trie. The aberration improvements will be automatic once we do. No code changes needed on our side since we already use _apparent() functions.

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Next steps for recipient:

• Tag v0.10.0 when ready so we can run the extension upgrade
• Consider make_orbital_elements() / make_orbital_elements_deg() — our top request
• galilean_equatorial() remains on the wish list for completing the last NULL RA/Dec gaps
• Let us know if the COALESCE(epoch_jd, perihelion_jd) approximation has accuracy concerns for comets with high eccentricity or distant perihelion dates