Awesome

Pluto the Astronomer

Ask your Amazon Echo about the night sky!

Locations

What you see in the sky depends on where you are.

Ask where Pluto thinks you are:

Alexa, ask Pluto for my location.

I have Austin, Texas as your current location.

Update your location:

Alexa, tell Pluto to change my location to Seattle. Alexa, tell Pluto that I'm in Seattle, Washington.

Your location has been updated to Seattle, Washington.

Be more specific:

Alexa, tell Pluto that my latitude is 43 degrees and 12 minutes.

Your latitude has been updated.

Alexa, tell Pluto that my longitude is 100 degrees and 12 minutes west.

Your longitude has been updated.

What's in the Sky?

Open the Pluto skill, or ask what's visible, to get a summary of what you can see in the sky right now:

Alexa, open Pluto.

This is Pluto the Astronomer. Currently, from Seattle, you can see the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus.

Or ask about another time:

Alexa, ask Pluto what we'll see tonight.

Tonight, you can expect to see the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus.

Where is something?

Ask Pluto where something is in the sky:

Alexa, ask Pluto where Jupiter is.

Jupiter is at an altitude of 38 degrees, with an azimuth of 222 degrees.

Wait, what?

Alexa, ask Pluto about azimuth.

The azimuth of an object is the angle between due north and its location projected down to the horizon. For objects that are due north, the azimuth is zero degrees, due east is 90 degrees, due south is 180 degrees, and due west is 270 degrees.

And altitude?

Alexa, ask Pluto about altitude.

The altitude of an object is the angle between the horizon and its height in the sky. An object that is just rising or setting has an altitude of zero degrees, and an object directly overhead has an altitude of 90 degrees.

When will something rise/set?

Alexa, ask Pluto when Jupiter will rise.

Jupiter will rise around 3:40 AM.

Alexa, ask Pluto when Jupiter will set.

Jupiter will set around 6:00 AM.

What am I looking at?

What's that bright light in the sky?

Alexa, ask Pluto what I'm seeing at 200 degrees azimuth and 35 degrees altitude.

You might be seeing Jupiter, which is at 220 degrees azimuth and 40 degrees altitude.