Authentication

The majority of the Starglass API is freely accessible to the public and does not require any form of authentication to access. However, there is a rate limit in place on the public API to prevent abuse. Additionally, download of FITS files is not avaiable in the public API due to the size of those files. If you run into issues with the rate limit or need to download FITS files, please sign up for an account.

Creating an account will automatically generate an API key that you can use to access the protected API at https://api.starglass.cfa.harvard.edu/full. The API key should be included in the headers of all requests to the protected API as the value of the “x-api-key” header. The API key is a secret and should not be shared with others. If you believe your API key has been compromised, please contact the Starglass team to have it revoked and replaced.

To Sign up for an account, visit the Starglass website and fill out the sign up form. Once you confirm your email address and log in, you will be able to access the full API. Your API key will be available on your user profile page.

Example curl command using API key

curl -H "x-api-key: [API_KEY]" -L "https://api.starglass.cfa.harvard.edu/full/..."