The sky is too big for one telescope. So we built a network.
TTN turns home telescopes into one shared scientific instrument—coordinating what to watch, verifying every image, and sending useful measurements to astronomers. You provide a view of the sky. We make it count.
The sky changes. Our coverage doesn't.
Stars aren't fixed points. Some pulse, some suddenly brighten, some explode entirely. Astronomers can't predict exactly when, so to catch these moments you need telescopes pointed at the sky all night, everywhere at once.
The world's giant observatories are few, costly, and booked years ahead. So most of what happens up there is simply missed.
Meanwhile, millions of capable telescopes sit idle — in closets, on balconies, in gardens — dark on exactly the nights the sky does something remarkable. That's the gap TTN closes: your telescope's downtime is the coverage astronomy is missing.
Small telescopes. Planet-sized advantage.
One little telescope isn't much. But thousands of them, spread across the planet and running every clear night, become an instrument no single observatory can match.
That's the network. Everyone watches their own patch of sky — and together, we cover the whole thing. Those green markers are members already on watch tonight.
Connect once. Contribute nightly.
- 1Use the telescope you have, or get a small smart telescope. Seestar, Vespera, Dwarf, Unistellar, Celestron Origin, and many ALPACA/ASCOM setups can join. No telescope budget? We help members look for funding.
- 2Install the node software once. Sign in to the app, tap Connect telescope, choose your telescope, and download the star catalog for plate solving — no code to copy.
- 3Let it run. Every clear night it picks targets, photographs them, checks the measurements, and uploads the results automatically.
One network, a whole sky's worth of science.
Eruptions like SS Cygni are only the start. Each night the network picks the right target for your telescope from live research programs:
This is what continuous watch catches.
That marked star is SS Cygni — a burned-out star 370 light-years away, quietly stealing gas from a neighbor. Every few weeks it erupts, brightening many times over in just a few hours.
Astronomers want every eruption on record, but only a handful of telescopes catch each one. Tonight, yours could be one of them — recording the whole thing automatically while you sleep.
Your telescope. Your data. Real science.
Every measurement your telescope makes is checked and filed into a 100-year-old scientific database that professional astronomers — and even NASA missions — actually use. Your name is attached to each one.
This isn't a game or clicking on photos. It's real data that real research is built on. This galaxy, for instance, is a place supernovae keep appearing — exactly what a network like ours catches first.
We submit every observation to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) — the 100-year-old archive that NASA, ESA, and professional observatories depend on.
Don't just join TTN. Help define it.
We're just getting started. The people who join now are the founding network — your name goes on the founding charter, and your telescope helps shape how the whole thing works.
There are only a few of us right now. That's the point. You'd be one of the people who were there at the beginning, before anyone had heard of this.
Become a researcher.
Create a member account, get your activation code, and connect your first telescope. If you need gear or funding help, tell us — the founding network is meant to include people who were left out of astronomy before.
Node Agent downloads for macOS, Windows, and Raspberry Pi OS · link your telescope from the member app — no code to copy