# Install astrometry-net with Homebrew, apt Automatic identification of astronomical images. Version 0.97 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:astrometry-net ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install astrometry-net ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install astrometry.net ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: astrometry.net from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:astrometry-net - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.97 - **Source summary:** Automatic identification of astronomical images - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** BSD-3-Clause - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T13:37:37+02:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - an-fitstopnm (cli) - an-pnmtofits (cli) - astrometry-engine (cli) - augment-xylist (cli) - build-astrometry-index (cli) - degtohms (cli) - downsample-fits (cli) - fit-wcs (cli) - fits-column-merge (cli) - fits-flip-endian (cli) - fits-guess-scale (cli) - fitsgetext (cli) - get-healpix (cli) - get-wcs (cli) - hmstodeg (cli) - hpsplit (cli) - image2pnm (cli) - image2xy (cli) - imarith (cli) - imstat (cli) - listhead (cli) - liststruc (cli) - merge-columns (cli) - modhead (cli) - new-wcs (cli) - pad-file (cli) - plot-constellations (cli) - plotann.py (cli) - plotquad (cli) - plotxy (cli) - query-starkd (cli) - removelines (cli) - solve-field (cli) - startree (cli) - subtable (cli) - tablist (cli) - tabmerge (cli) - tabsort (cli) - text2fits (cli) - uniformize (cli) - votabletofits (cli) - wcs-grab (cli) - wcs-match (cli) - wcs-pv2sip (cli) - wcs-rd2xy (cli) - wcs-resample (cli) - wcs-to-tan (cli) - wcs-xy2rd (cli) - wcsinfo (cli) - an-fitstopnm (alias) - an-pnmtofits (alias) - astrometry-engine (alias) - augment-xylist (alias) - build-astrometry-index (alias) - degtohms (alias) - downsample-fits (alias) - fit-wcs (alias) - fits-column-merge (alias) - fits-flip-endian (alias) - fits-guess-scale (alias) - fitsgetext (alias) - get-healpix (alias) - get-wcs (alias) - hmstodeg (alias) - hpsplit (alias) - image2pnm (alias) - image2xy (alias) - imarith (alias) - imstat (alias) - listhead (alias) - liststruc (alias) - merge-columns (alias) - modhead (alias) - new-wcs (alias) - pad-file (alias) - plot-constellations (alias) - plotann.py (alias) - plotquad (alias) - plotxy (alias) - query-starkd (alias) - removelines (alias) - solve-field (alias) - startree (alias) - subtable (alias) - tablist (alias) - tabmerge (alias) - tabsort (alias) - text2fits (alias) - uniformize (alias) - votabletofits (alias) - wcs-grab (alias) - wcs-match (alias) - wcs-pv2sip (alias) - wcs-rd2xy (alias) - wcs-resample (alias) - wcs-to-tan (alias) - wcs-xy2rd (alias) - wcsinfo (alias) ## Dependencies - cairo - cfitsio - gsl - jpeg-turbo - libpng - netpbm - numpy - python@3.14 - wcslib ## Build dependencies - pkgconf - python-setuptools - swig ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.97 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-25 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/dstndstn/astrometry.net - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage Astrometry.net is the classic open-source blind astrometric calibration system: give it an astronomical image without reliable coordinates and it solves the sky position, writes standards-compliant WCS metadata, and can annotate known objects. The Homebrew formula exposes both the famous solve-field command and a large toolbox of FITS, WCS, plotting, index-building, and catalog utilities. ### Project history The codebase dates to the Astrometry.net Team work by Michael Blanton, David W. Hogg, Dustin Lang, Keir Mierle, and Sam Roweis, with copyright notices beginning in 2006. The accompanying 2010 Astronomical Journal paper, 'Astrometry.net: Blind astrometric calibration of arbitrary astronomical images,' framed the project as a way to create correct astrometric metadata for useful astronomical images in archival disarray. The official code README says the original code release backed up the claims in the paper for scientific repeatability, then became more robust and usable for a wider audience. That origin still shows in the package: it is not just a single solver binary, but a research-to-operations toolkit including HEALPIX support, kd-tree code, FITS utilities, index builders, and a web-service stack. ### Adoption history Astrometry.net adoption spans two modes: the hosted nova.astrometry.net web service for casual uploads and the local command-line solver for observatories, astrophotographers, pipelines, and archive processing. The README points users to the web service, the documentation, downloadable code snapshots, Docker containers, and index files. Package-manager adoption is broad because local solving needs repeatable binaries and large offline index files. Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu package it, and the upstream README documents a Docker image invocation such as astrometrynet/solver:0.98 solve-field image.jpg for containerized use. ### How it is used The core CLI workflow is to install the code, download the index files appropriate for the field sizes being solved, optionally edit INSTALL_DIR/etc/astrometry.cfg, and run solve-field against an image, FITS file, URL, or xylist. The docs explain that the backend reads astrometry.cfg, normally /usr/local/astrometry/etc/astrometry.cfg, to find index files and control solver behavior. solve-field is the main high-level command-line interface. It extracts sources, creates augmented xylists, calls the backend solver, and writes output files such as WCS and annotated products. Power users constrain scale, depth, radius, CPU limit, source extraction, plotting, and index selection for speed and reliability. ### Why package nerds care This is a package nerd favorite because it brings a serious scientific stack to a normal CLI install: dozens of executables, FITS table tools, plotting helpers, WCS transformers, and index builders all land on PATH. The real payload is split between packaged code and separately managed index data, so the package's usability depends on documentation, data placement, and config paths as much as on the binary itself. It is also a canonical example of scientific reproducibility becoming operational infrastructure. The same algorithms that backed a journal paper became a web service, a Docker solver, distribution packages, and a local command-line workhorse used outside professional astronomy. ### Timeline - 2006: Copyright notices begin for the Astrometry.net Team code. - 2010: The Astrometry.net blind astrometric calibration paper was published in The Astronomical Journal. - 2012: The Sphinx documentation set identifies the project documentation authorship and code docs era. - 2024: Upstream tags reached the 0.9x series, with 0.98 available in the documented Docker example. ### Related projects - nova.astrometry.net is the hosted web service using much of the same software. - USNO-B, Tycho-2, 2MASS, and Gaia are reference catalogs used for index files. - FITS and WCS standards are the file and metadata formats the command-line tools manipulate. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: INSTALL_DIR/etc/astrometry.cfg, /usr/local/astrometry/etc/astrometry.cfg ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** astrometry-net - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - astrometry.net - 0.97+dfsg-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: astrometry.net from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Astrometry plate solver | http://www.astrometry.net - Debian apt - libastrometry-dev - 0.97+dfsg-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libastrometry-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Astrometry plate solver (development files) | http://www.astrometry.net - Debian apt - libastrometry0t64 - 0.97+dfsg-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libastrometry0t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Astrometry plate solver (shared lib) | http://www.astrometry.net - Debian apt - python3-astrometry - 0.97+dfsg-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-astrometry from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Astrometry plate solver (Python package) | http://www.astrometry.net - Ubuntu apt - astrometry.net - 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: astrometry.net from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Astrometry plate solver | http://www.astrometry.net - Ubuntu apt - libastrometry-dev - 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libastrometry-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Astrometry plate solver (development files) | http://www.astrometry.net - Ubuntu apt - libastrometry0t64 - 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libastrometry0t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Astrometry plate solver (shared lib) | http://www.astrometry.net - Ubuntu apt - python3-astrometry - 0.93+dfsg-1.1ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: python3-astrometry from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Astrometry plate solver (Python package) | http://www.astrometry.net ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [cairo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cairo/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cfitsio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cfitsio/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gsl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gsl/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [jpeg-turbo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jpeg-turbo/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libpng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libpng/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [netpbm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/netpbm/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [numpy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/numpy/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [swig](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/swig/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [astroterm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/astroterm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [calceph](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/calceph/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [ccfits](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ccfits/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [cdsclient](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cdsclient/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [gnuastro](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gnuastro/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [healpix](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/healpix/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [libnova](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libnova/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [dxpy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dxpy/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: build, cli, get, python, python-3-14. - [root](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/root/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: cfitsio, cli, gsl, jpeg, jpeg-turbo. - [badread](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/badread/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: cli, numpy, python, python-3-14, science. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/astrometry-net.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/astrometry-net.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph