Windows Desktop App

Control Your
Night Sky.

A free, unofficial desktop companion for the Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory. Live view, full mount control, YouTube & Twitch streaming, and real-time sky conditions — all from your Windows PC.

Free forever No admin rights needed Windows 10 / 11 No API keys required
12
Radio Stations
30+
DSO Targets
1080p
Stream Quality
100%
Free & Open
Capabilities

Everything Your Observatory Needs

Built on the same SmartScope WebSocket protocol as the official app — fully reverse-engineered and confirmed from live packet captures.

🔭
Live View

Real-time camera feed at full 3056×2048 resolution delivered over WebSocket at ~1 fps. Position, firmware and mount status all update live.

🎯
Full Mount Control

D-pad slew with 4 speed levels, Go-To by RA/Dec or object name, sidereal tracking, parking and a one-touch emergency stop.

📡
YouTube & Twitch Streaming

Stream live to YouTube (OAuth auto-login with QR code) or Twitch via stream key. 480p, 720p and 1080p quality presets. H.264 via FFmpeg.

🎵
Live Background Radio

12 SomaFM stations. Switch stations or adjust volume mid-stream with zero interruption — powered by an audio proxy that keeps FFmpeg running.

Tonight's Best Targets

Real-time DSO recommendations ranked by current altitude. Uses your telescope's live GPS coordinates. One click to slew directly to any target.

🌤
Viewing Conditions

Live sky score from Open-Meteo: cloud cover, dew risk, wind, visibility and precipitation — all scored 0-100 with colour-coded indicators.

Telescope Settings

Read and write live telescope configuration — camera specs, focuser auto-focus, mount config, dew heater, LED ring brightness and network settings.

📷
Snapshot & Record

Save full-resolution JPEG snapshots or record local MP4 video at any quality. Recording and streaming can run simultaneously.

Getting Started

Up and Running in Minutes

No admin rights required. The installer handles Node.js and FFmpeg automatically.

1
Download

Grab the ZIP from this page and extract it to any folder.

2
Install

Run Install.bat — it downloads Node.js and FFmpeg automatically.

3
Connect

Join your telescope's Wi-Fi and click Discover on Network.

4
Observe

Live view starts automatically. Control, stream, and explore.

About

Built by an Astronomer, for Astronomers

The Project

Celestron Origin Control started as a personal project to bring full observatory control to Windows — the official Celestron Origin app is mobile-only, leaving desktop users without a way to control the telescope from their PC or stream sessions online.

The SmartScope WebSocket protocol was fully reverse-engineered from live network packet captures using PCAPdroid, giving this app access to every command the official app uses — slewing, GoTo, tracking, focuser control, camera settings, and more.

How It Connects

  • SmartScope WebSocket — same protocol as the official Celestron app, confirmed from packet analysis
  • Live GPS location — read automatically from the Mount GetStatus broadcast every second
  • Open-Meteo — free weather API, no key needed, 1km resolution
  • SomaFM — royalty-free radio via a local audio proxy for seamless mid-stream switching
  • FFmpeg — H.264 encoding piped from WebSocket frames to RTMP
SmartScope WebSocket — Slew Command
{
  "Command": "Slew",
  "Destination": "Mount",
  "AltRate": 9,
  "AzmRate": 0,
  "Source": "OriginMobileApp",
  "Type": "Command"
}

// Mount GetStatus — live GPS in radians
  "Latitude": 0.73281,
  "Longitude": -1.24397,
  "BatteryLevel": "HIGH"
Download

Get Celestron Origin Control

Free. No account. No telemetry. Just unzip and run.

🔭
CelestronOriginControl-Installer.zip
Latest release · Windows 10/11 · ~600 KB download · ~200 MB installed
Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) Celestron Origin telescope No admin rights needed Node.js auto-installed FFmpeg auto-installed Same Wi-Fi as telescope
Extract ZIP → double-click Install.bat → done.
To uninstall: run Uninstall.bat or use Windows Apps & Features.