COMMUNITY OBSERVATION

Capture the sky.
Keep the context.

On a phone or tablet, the Live Sky Scanner records what the camera was pointed at together with time, GPS accuracy, device orientation and the sky objects visible in the same field of view. On desktop, you can submit an original photo or video you already captured.

01Scan live on mobileCamera + orientation + GPS context
02Compare known objectsStars, planets, aircraft and satellites
03Submit for moderationNothing is published automatically
CHOOSE REPORTING METHOD
LIVE SKY SCANNERGPS ±18 M
Star · PolarisAircraft · WZZ63Satellite · STARLINK
NNEESES
Mobile browser scannerNo native app required. Open this page on your phone and start scanning.
ON DESKTOP?

Live scanning runs on your phone.

This computer can upload an original photo or video saved on disk. For a live observation, open https://uaplocations.com/report/ on a phone or tablet so the scanner can use the camera and motion sensors.

PHONE / TABLET · LIVE

Live Sky Scanner

Best choice while the sighting is happening. Capture a photo or short video together with the viewing direction and sky-reference data.

—Camera
—GPS
—Orientation
—Heading

The scanner runs entirely in the browser. Rotate the phone horizontally when prompted. Exact device GPS is kept for moderation and public location is reduced in precision.

EXISTING FILE · PHOTO / VIDEO

Upload an original photo or video

Use this if the event already happened. Choose the original camera file whenever possible. Photos keep available EXIF for moderation; larger videos are optimized in your browser before upload to reduce server load.

Photos are optimized on the server. Videos up to 95 seconds are accepted; large or non-web-ready files are compressed in the browser before submission whenever supported.

WHAT THE SCANNER ADDS

More than a photo.

A live capture can preserve the camera direction and the sky objects that were in view at that moment. This gives the moderator additional context when checking whether a light could have been a known star, planet, satellite or aircraft.

✦Sky referencesBright stars, planets and constellation geometry
◇SatellitesCurrent orbital data projected into the field of view
↗AircraftAvailable ADS-B traffic near the observation
⌖Direction & GPSOrientation and private precise capture location for moderation

Verification limits

Labels are an aid, not a final identification. Aircraft depend on available ADS-B coverage; satellites are calculated from current orbital elements; phone compass/orientation readings can contain error. A missing close match never proves that an observed object is unknown.

The server receives media only after you press Submit for review. Photos are resized/re-encoded. Existing videos are browser-optimized when needed before upload, and the server can additionally transcode compatible submissions when FFmpeg is available. Live Scanner recordings keep their existing processing path.

Aircraft: ADSB.lol · Satellite elements: CelesTrak · Solar System calculations: Astronomy Engine. Star/constellation overlay: lightweight local bright-sky catalogue.