🌌 Celestial Time Engine — Multi-Faith Astronomical & Prayer Time Calculator

The Celestial Time Engine v2 is an all-in-one astronomical and religious time calculator built for automation on Apify. It calculates sunrise, sunset, twilight phases, prayer times, Qibla direction, moon phases, weather data, and more — for any location on Earth.

Provide place names, coordinates, or presets (e.g., 🕋 Mecca, 🇿🇦 Cape Town, 🇹🇷 Istanbul) and receive a detailed dataset of celestial and faith-based time events.

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✨ What Celestial Time Engine can do

Main features

• ☀️ Core Sun Module — sunrise, sunset, solar noon and midnight, day length.
• ✈️ Aviation Twilight — civil, nautical and astronomical dawn and dusk.
• 🕌 Islamic Prayer Times — Fajr to Isha, Asr methods, and Qibla direction.
• 📸 Photography Hours — golden and blue hour start and end times.
• 🌙 Moon Phases and Rise/Set — phase name, illumination, rise, and set.
• 🌤️ Weather Layer — live conditions and cloud cover (via OpenWeatherMap API).
• ✡️ Jewish Zmanim — Alot HaShachar and Tzeit HaKochavim.
• 🧭 Magnetic Declination — calculate magnetic north offset (geomagnetic model).
• 🕉️ Lunar Calendars — Chinese and Hindu day data (optional).

Highlights

• Process multiple locations at once (batch input).
• Smart geocoding with automatic timezone detection.
• Works for any date — past or future.
• Outputs are standard ISO timestamps, ideal for data pipelines or CSV exports.

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🌍 Why use Celestial Time Engine v2 on Apify?

Running the Engine on Apify gives you:

• Automation & Scheduling — calculate times daily or hourly.
• API Access — integrate directly with apps and dashboards.
• Proxy & Network Tools — ensure geolocation accuracy.
• Scalable Batch Processing — thousands of locations per run.
• Integrated Storage — save and export datasets in JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Unlike local apps, Apify Actors run entirely in the cloud and scale automatically.

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📥 Input options

You can see all inputs under the Input tab in Apify Console.

Field	Type	Description
locations	array	A list of places or coordinates (e.g. "Cape Town, South Africa" or { "latitude": 21.42, "longitude": 39.82 })
date	string	Date in YYYY-MM-DD format (defaults to today).
modules	array	Which modules to calculate (core, islamic, moon, weather, etc.).
config.islamic.method	string	Calculation method (ISNA, Makkah, Turkey, Dubai, etc.).
config.islamic.asr	string	Asr method (Standard or Hanafi).
weatherApiKey	string 🔒 (secret)	Your OpenWeatherMap API key (if Weather module is enabled).
flattenOutput	boolean	Flatten output for easy CSV import.

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🧭 Preset locations

Quickly select from popular places:

Preset	Example
🇸🇦 Mecca	"preset": "mecca"
🇿🇦 Cape Town	"preset": "cape_town"
🇹🇷 Istanbul	"preset": "istanbul"
🇪🇬 Cairo	"preset": "cairo"
🇦🇪 Dubai	"preset": "dubai"

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📤 Output example

Each location is saved as one item in the Actor’s default dataset.

{
  "resolved": {
    "name": "Cape Town, South Africa",
    "latitude": -33.9249,
    "longitude": 18.4241
  },
  "date": "2025-11-07",
  "timezone": "Africa/Johannesburg",
  "modules": {
    "core_sun": {
      "sunrise": "2025-11-07T05:23:41+02:00",
      "sunset": "2025-11-07T19:31:12+02:00",
      "day_length_seconds": 50951
    },
    "islamic_prayer": {
      "fajr": "2025-11-07T04:21:00+02:00",
      "dhuhr": "2025-11-07T12:08:00+02:00",
      "asr": "2025-11-07T15:24:00+02:00",
      "maghrib": "2025-11-07T19:31:00+02:00",
      "isha": "2025-11-07T20:47:00+02:00",
      "qibla_direction_degrees": 21.38
    },
    "moon": {
      "phase_name": "Waxing Crescent",
      "illumination_percent": 23.4
    },
    "weather": {
      "conditions": "clear sky",
      "temp_c": 23.8,
      "cloud_cover_percent": 0
    }
  }
}

All datasets can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, HTML, or Excel from the dataset tab.

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🧩 How to use Celestial Time Engine v2

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console.
2. Click Run → Input.
3. Enter a list of locations or choose presets.
4. (Optional) Add your OpenWeatherMap API key to enable weather data.
5. Select modules you want (e.g. core, islamic, moon).
6. Click Run and watch the dataset populate in real time.

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💰 Pricing and usage expectations

This Actor uses Apify’s pay-per-compute-unit (PPU) model. You pay only for the resources used during your run – no fixed fee.

• Typical single-location run ≈ 0.01 CU (less than $0.001).
• Multi-location batch (100 entries) ≈ 1 CU.
• Includes all calculations and geocoding.

You can start for free on Apify’s starter plan and scale as needed.

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⚙️ Advanced configuration

Module	Options
Islamic Prayer Times	Method (ISNA, Makkah, Turkey, Dubai, etc.), Asr Method (Standard/Hanafi)
Weather	Requires OpenWeatherMap API Key
Output	Toggle flattenOutput to make dataset spreadsheet-friendly
Batch Processing	Input multiple locations in one run

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💡 Tips for best results

• Keep location names precise (e.g., “Mecca, Saudi Arabia”).
• For the Weather module, use metric data (units=metric).
• Schedule daily runs to automatically generate prayer timetables.
• Combine this Actor with Apify Webhooks to send notifications at Fajr or Sunset.

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🧾 FAQ and support

Is Celestial Time Engine v2 accurate?

Yes — it uses Astral and verified astronomical equations for the sun, plus standard ISNA/Makkah angles for prayers.

Is it free to use?

You can run small batches for free under Apify’s free plan.

Can I add my own API keys or custom angles?

Yes — you can extend the JSON config object in the input schema.

Where to get help?

If you face issues or want custom features (e.g., holiday calendar integration), open an issue in Apify Console or contact support.

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🚀 Integrations and use cases

• Generate daily Islamic prayer times for apps or IoT devices.
• Automate photography schedules based on golden hour.
• Sync moon phase data to lighting systems or agriculture tools.
• Export CSV timetables for religious websites or community boards.

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Start now → Run Celestial Time Engine v2 on Apify and get precise sun, moon, and prayer data for any place on Earth ☀️🌙🕌