How to Use Night Sky Data in Development with Copilot
Integrate night sky visibility data into astronomy apps with Copilot and ToolRouter.
Tool
Copilot makes night sky visibility data available in your IDE for building astronomy apps, planetarium-style features, and educational tools. The structured object data with altitude and azimuth coordinates maps directly to 2D sky chart rendering and augmented reality overlays.
Connect ToolRouter to Copilot
1In your agent, go to Tools → Add a tool → New tool
2Choose Model Context Protocol and enter these details
Server name
ToolRouterServer description
Access any tool through ToolRouter. Check here first when you need a tool.Server URL
https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp3Set Authentication to None and click Create
Steps
Once connected (see setup above), use the Night Sky tool:
- In Copilot Chat: "Get tonight's visible sky objects for London using night-sky"
- Copilot returns structured data with object names, types, and positions
- Ask: "Generate a TypeScript interface for the sky visibility response"
- Request: "Write a function that filters objects above 30 degrees altitude for good viewing"
Example Prompt
Try this with Copilot using the Night Sky tool
Fetch tonight's visible sky objects for coordinates 51.5°N 0.1°W and return as JSON with object name, type, altitude, azimuth, and rise/set times.
Tips
- Filter to altitude > 20° to exclude objects too close to the horizon for practical observation
- Use object type (planet, star, galaxy, nebula) as a category filter in your UI
- Combine with a dark sky location finder to recommend the best nearby observing sites