Curious Pilot is a web application primarily designed to replicate real aircraft flights and simulate the view from the cockpit. It provides a real-time 3D visualization of satellites, celestial objects, and the earth below, as the pilot might have seen them. In addition to the Aircraft Mode, Curious Pilot also provides a Ground Mode that simulates the dynamic views of the nighttime sky from any fixed ground location.
The application integrates 9 independent data sources to accurately recreate dynamic night-sky conditions for any location, date, and time:
Satellite Orbital Parameters
CelesTrak provides current orbital parameters for approximately 12,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites. These parameters are used with the SGP4 propagation algorithm to compute each satellite's position in real time. Only LEO satellites are included because higher-altitude objects are too faint to see with the naked eye.
Satellite Brightness
The Stellarium community satellite database supplies standard visual magnitude values. Combined with solar illumination geometry and observer distance, these are used to predict how bright each satellite appears—the McCants/Stellarium magnitude model.
Flight Tracks
The OpenSky Network provides historical ADS-B flight track data. Given an aircraft’s ICAO24 hex code and a date, the app retrieves the recorded flight path including position, altitude, and heading. A free OpenSky account is required.
Earth at Night
NASA’s Black Marble imagery (VIIRS Day/Night Band) from the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) provides the nighttime ground texture showing city lights as seen from above.
Daytime Imagery
ESRI World Imagery satellite photography is used for the daytime ground plane, switching automatically based on solar illumination at the observer’s location.
Magnetic Declination
The British Geological Survey World Magnetic Model 2025 web service provides magnetic declination values, enabling display of magnetic headings alongside true headings.
Map Tiles
CartoDB and OpenTopoMap provide the map tiles used in the location picker.
Star Positions & Constellations
Star coordinates are from the Hipparcos catalog (ESA, 1997) accessed via CDS/VizieR. Constellation stick-figure topology by Dominic Ford (GPL v3).
Planetary Positions
The Astronomy Engine library computes precise positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets using VSOP87 and ELP/MPP02 analytical models.
Curious Pilot has two modes, controlled by the Observer Mode switch at the upper left: Ground Mode for observing from a fixed location, and Aircraft Mode for replaying a real flight.
Ground Mode — Enter your location (or search by name), set the date/time, and press Play. Visible satellites appear as moving dots on the sky dome.
Aircraft Mode — Enter an ICAO24 hex code, date, and time window, then click Load Flight. The app replays the flight path and shows satellites visible from the aircraft.
Note that historic flight data is obtained from OpenSky Network, which requires you to register for free for API access. The developer has no relationship with OpenSky and receives no compensation.
Controls — Drag the sky to look around. Use the heading and elevation sliders for precise aiming. The magnitude filter limits which satellites are shown.
Satellite Info — Click the “x satellites visible” count at the upper left to see a list of visible satellites with details.
Satellite Data — The Update Satellite Data button at the bottom of the controls area fetches the latest orbital parameters from CelesTrak. CelesTrak is a free, widely used public service that provides up-to-date orbital parameters for tracked objects in Earth orbit. The app tracks roughly 12,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. Only LEO satellites are included because higher-altitude satellites are too faint to see with the naked eye. Satellite data is cached locally and only re-fetched when you click the button.
Shortcut Keys
| T | True heading |
| M | Magnetic heading |
| E | Emphasized satellite display |
| R | Realistic satellite display |
| C | Toggle highlight circle |
| N | Toggle satellite names |
| L | Toggle satellite lines |
| O | Toggle constellations |
| D | Toggle dome |
| F | Toggle full screen |
Philip Giacalone is an aerospace engineer and software developer whose technical career has spanned spacecraft propulsion systems, autonomous drones, and Silicon Valley software startups.
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