commit 75a8a7aa40ae3ae0fe1ccdf858f417d79305141d
from: ale <ale_bnes@tuta.com>
date: Wed Aug 19 04:06:00 2026 UTC

Fix the live plate_solve test's fixture: a single fake star can't solve

Testing the .env loader with a real ASTROMETRY_API_KEY for the first
time actually ran this test live instead of skipping it — and it failed:
astrometry.net job "failed to solve". Not a bug in plate_solve itself;
the synthetic fixture (one Gaussian source in noise) has no real star
pattern for the service's geometric matching to identify. Replaced it
with the real ZTF frame already used for this exact live validation (see
plate_solve's own docstring) — its real WCS is never read by plate_solve,
which only uploads pixels, so this is a legitimate blind-solve test.
Skips (distinctly from the missing-API-key case) if that real, gitignored
frame isn't present locally.

Verified against the live service with a real key: solves successfully,
returning a WCSTransform with plausible sky coordinates. Full suite: 158
pass, 0 broken, 0 errors — first time this project has had a fully clean
run with a real API key present.

commit - 4d124c4c4952d27cfd619beb899fee492dd5b1ac
commit + 75a8a7aa40ae3ae0fe1ccdf858f417d79305141d
blob - 363321dbd6f1e254aaa3b0b336321b55b3025150
blob + 5869706d2f1115ed1a1067179ead0a4419f277ee
--- test/runtests.jl
+++ test/runtests.jl
@@ -1007,28 +1007,24 @@ end
             () -> nothing, 0.1, 0.05, "test condition")
 
         # live end-to-end round trip against the real service — only runs
-        # if a real API key is available; validated once against a real
-        # ZTF frame (see INVESTIGATION_LOG.md), not re-run on every CI pass
+        # if a real API key is available. Needs a real star field: tried
+        # once with a single-Gaussian-source-in-noise synthetic image and
+        # the job legitimately failed to solve — astrometry.net matches
+        # geometric patterns across several stars, which one fake point
+        # source can never provide, no matter how good the key is. Uses
+        # a real downloaded ZTF frame instead (its own real WCS is simply
+        # never read by plate_solve, which only uploads pixels) — this is
+        # the same frame the docstring's one-time manual validation used.
         api_key = get(ENV, "ASTROMETRY_API_KEY", nothing)
+        real_frame = joinpath(@__DIR__, "..", "data", "real", "science",
+                               "ztf_20191023195590_000451_zr_c01_o_q1_sciimg.fits")
         if api_key === nothing
             @test_skip "ASTROMETRY_API_KEY not set"
+        elseif !isfile(real_frame)
+            @test_skip "real ZTF test frame not present — run examples/fetch_data.sh"
         else
-            mktempdir() do dir
-                nx, ny = 60, 60
-                wcs = WCSTransform(2; crpix=[nx / 2, ny / 2], crval=[150.0, 20.0],
-                                    cdelt=[-1 / 3600, 1 / 3600], ctype=["RA---TAN", "DEC--TAN"])
-                img = 100.0 .+ 5.0 .* randn(nx, ny)
-                for i in 1:nx, j in 1:ny
-                    r2 = (i - 30)^2 + (j - 30)^2
-                    img[i, j] += 2000.0 * exp(-r2 / (2 * 2.0^2))
-                end
-                path = joinpath(dir, "test.fits")
-                FITS(path, "w") do f
-                    write(f, img)  # deliberately no WCS: this is what plate_solve is for
-                end
-                solved = plate_solve(path; api_key=api_key)
-                @test solved isa WCSTransform
-            end
+            solved = plate_solve(real_frame; api_key=api_key)
+            @test solved isa WCSTransform
         end
     end