tilepy: A Flexible Open-Source Scheduling Engine for Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Astronomy
Fabian Schüssler, H. Ashkar, W. Kiendrébéogo, M. Seglar-Arroyo, M. de Bony, A. Berti, E. Ruiz-Velasco, R. Le Montagner
TL;DR
Tilepy tackles the challenge of rapid multi-messenger follow-up under large localization uncertainties by delivering a modular scheduling engine that decouples high-level planning from tiling and pointing, and supports both $2$D skymaps and $3$D galaxy catalogs. Its architecture enables flexible FoV tiling (including polygonal shapes and rotations), a greedy Observation Scheduler, and space-based observatory capabilities, all accessible through a public API and Astro-COLIBRI integration. The approach enhances real-time, cross-facility follow-up efficiency and democratizes access to advanced scheduling tools via user-friendly interfaces. These features position tilepy as a practical backbone for current and upcoming time-domain campaigns across ground- and space-based observatories.
Abstract
The era of multi-messenger astrophysics requires rapid and efficient follow-up of transient events, many of which, such as gravitational waves (GW), gamma-ray bursts (GRB), and high-energy neutrinos, suffer from poor sky localisation. We present tilepy, a Python-based software designed to optimize observation schedules for these events. We here detail the modular architecture of tilepy, which separates high-level scheduling logic from low-level tiling and pointing tools, enabling full adaptability for ground- and space-based observatories. Furthermore, we describe the integration of tilepy into the Astro-COLIBRI platform, providing the community with a user-friendly interface and API for triggering complex observation campaigns in real time.