CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation,...

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CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in Copyright © 2005-2011 by Paul Kanevsky All Rights Reserved. Published by CCDWare under an exclusive license. http://pk.darkhorizons.org http://www.CCDWare.com To purchase CCD Inspector: http://www.ccdware.com/buy Check for product updates: http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/updates.cfm Help and Support Forum: http://ccdware.infopop.cc/eve/forums

Transcript of CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation,...

Page 1: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDInspector,FWHMMonitorandCCDISPlug-in

Copyright©2005-2011byPaulKanevskyAllRightsReserved.PublishedbyCCDWareunderanexclusivelicense.

http://pk.darkhorizons.org

http://www.CCDWare.com

TopurchaseCCDInspector:http://www.ccdware.com/buy

Checkforproductupdates:http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/updates.cfm

HelpandSupportForum:http://ccdware.infopop.cc/eve/forums

http://pk.darkhorizons.org
http://www.CCDWare.com
http://www.ccdware.com/buy
http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/updates.cfm
http://ccdware.infopop.cc/eve/forums
Page 2: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDInspector

DramaticallyImprovequalityofyourimages:

increasesharpnessandresolution

Automaticallysortmanyimagesatoncebyevaluatingstar

sharpnessandtrackingquality

Pickthebestsub-framesforstacking,orfordecidingwhichtokeepCompareimagesbymanyobjectivecriteria,plottheresultsforabettervisualimpactMeasureand

plotfocusvariationsduetotiltorfieldcurvature

Determinehowflattheimageplaneis.CompareperformanceoffieldflattenersandfocalreducersCollimateyourtelescopein-focuswithyourCCDcameraorDSLR!EvaluateopticalsystemvignettingcharacteristicsEstimatehowwellthecurrentopticalsystemwillperformonalarger

sensorbeforeyoubuythatexpensivenewCCDorDSLR!

WorkswithCCDSoft,MaxImDL,andallothercameracontrolsoftwarein

real-timemode

FocusandcollimateyourtelescopeusingyourfavoriteDSLRandDSLR

controlsoftware!

Createrunningchartstomonitorseeingconditions,focusshift,trackingproblemswithyourCCDorDSLRinreal-timeIfyouuseCCDStacksoftware,CCDInspectornowshipswithanamazingnewplug-in,CCDIS.CCDIScompletelyautomatesCCDStackregistrationprocess,improves

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registrationaccuracy,anddoessoatblazingspeeds

Astrophotograpers,CCDanddigitalcamerausersoftentakemanyshorter

imagestolaterprocessandstacktosimulateonelongexposure.Toproducethehighestqualityimage,itisimportanttoeliminatefromthestacksub-framesthatareoflowerqualitythantherest.Sub-framescanbeinferior

duetochangingfocus,dew,trackingerrors,flexure,mirrorflop,wind,vibration,clouds,andmanyotherthings.

WithCCDInspector,you'llbeabletoquicklyselectthebestframesofthebatchbymeasuringthequalityofeachoftheimages.Thechosenimagescanbequicklymovedorcopiedtoasubfolderforstackingorfurtherprocessing.

CCDInspectorworkswithyourcameraacquisitionsoftwaretoallowreal-timeevaluationofimagestodeterminecollimation,imagetilt,focus,etc.

CCDInspectorcanalsobeusedindependentlyofanycapturingorprocessingsoftwarewithallSBIG,FITS,TIFF,orDSLRRawformattedimagesonyourcomputer.Ifyourimagesarerecordedwithfocallengthinformationintheheader,thenmultipleimages,evenacquiredwithdifferentfocallengthandaperture,canbecomparedbycomputingtheFWHMvalueinarcseconds.

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ReleaseHistory

Version2.5.1

IncreasedtheexpirationofCCDAP5imageassessmentfeatureforanother60daysAddedadelaywhendoingauto-opentoaddressareportedissueofMaxImDLunable

tosaveimagesonoccasion.ThedelaygivesMaxImDLenoughtimetofinishwriting

theimagebeforeCCDInspectorattemptstoreadit.

Version2.5.0

AddedpreviewofintegrationwithCCDAutoPilot5forautomaticimageassessment.AddedsupportfornewrawDSLRformats

Version2.2.1

FixtoacrashinDefocusedStarCollimationViewerwhennostarisfound,orthe

starisdim

Version2.2.0

Addedsupportformanymorerawimagefileformats,includingCanon5DMkII,

50D,500D,1000D,NikonD90,D700,D5000,etc.

Addedthemenuoptiontoselectimagesthatpassedthelimitalerttest,andto

invertimageselection

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Improvedthebehavioroferrormessagesinreal-timedisplays,changedthelookImprovedSingleDefocusedStarCollimationtobetterdetectrealstarsandto

ignoreotherobjectsinthefieldofview

ImprovedFWHMmonitorsinglestardetectionwhenusingafocusroutineto

deliveramuchmorestable,accuratedisplayofFWHMvalues,evenwhenthestar

iscompletelydefocused

Addedtransparencyoptionandauto-fadeoptiontoFWHMmonitordisplaytoallow

ittostayontopandnotinterferewithapplicationsbelow

FixedafewsmallissuesinbackgroundcalculationinCCDISpluginthatshould

nothaveamajoreffectonfunctionality

Version2.1.6

FixforFWHMMonitorcrashduetosomeinadvertentchangesintroducedinv2.1.5Fixforaproblemwhileenteringlicensekeyundercertaininternational

settings/languagesinboth,CCDInspectorandCCDIS/p

Version2.1.52.1.5

Addedsupportfor8-bitimagefiles(JPEG,BMP,GIF,PNG)to:CCDInspector:

Cananalyze8-bitfilesforFWHM,Collimation,Curvature,Aspectratio,

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etc.

Canuse8-bitfileswiththedefocused-starcollimationtoolCanusewithGenericCameradriver

FWHMMonitor:Canuse8-bitfileswithGenericCameradrivertoanalyzeimagesfrom

webcamsorDSLRs

CCDISandCCDIS/pCCDStackplug-ins:CanregisterJPEG/BMP/GIF/PNGfilestoFITS,TIFF,ortoeachother

ImprovedspeedandoverallperformanceofCCDISplug-inAddedsupportforsensorswithnon-squarepixelsinDefaultImage

Propertiesdialog

FixedacrashcausedbytooltipsintheAnalysisChartstool

Version2.1.0

AddedSingleStarCollimationmethodandviewerFixedanissuewithFlatAnalysistoolwhenprocessingBayer-matriximagesAddedsupportforupgradingfromCCDIS/pplugin

Version2.0.6

FixedCCDISS/Ncalculationroutinetoignorewildlyout-of-rangepixels

thatcanbegeneratedbyCCDStackcalibrationroutines.Thisshouldimprovesuccessrateoffindingregistrationsolutionsto,

especially,narrow-bandcalibratedimages.

Version2.0.5

FixedCCDIScrashon64-bitsystemswhenprocessingimageswithmostly

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transparent(rejected)pixelsattheedgeoftheimage

ChangedFileOpendialogtoberesizableFixedCCDInspector"hanging"problemwhenencounteringcertainrare

combinationsofFITSkeywords

Version2.0.4

ImprovedCCDISbehaviorwhenrunninginlow-memoryconditions,i.e.,when

handlingalargestackona32-bitWindows-CCDISwillscale-downitsownmemoryrequirementswhenmemoryconditionsare

tight-Bettererrormessagesreportedwhenout-of-memoryconditionsoccur

FixedCCDInspectorRAWDSLRimagedatehandler:itusedtoapplyDaylight

Savingstimecorrectiontwice

Version2.0.3

ImprovedCCDISregistrationalgorithmto:-Betterhandlesaturatedstarsandverybrightareasoftheimage,suchas

densenebulaorgalacticcore-Betterhandle8-bitimages,suchasJPEGs-Findregistrationsolutionmoreconsistentlyamongsimilarimages-Producebetteraccuracybyusingmorestarsinasolution-Optimizedforevenmorespeed!

ImprovedCCDInspectorscreenpaintingbehaviorwhilemeasuringimagesto

reducetheappearanceof'hanging'

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FixedaproblemwithcertainTIFFandRAWimagesthatwouldresultinhuge

curvature,FWHM,andtiltnumbersduetotheuseofinvalidimagescale

Fixedaproblemwithreal-timeFWHMmonitorupdate(affectedonlycertain

registeredusers)

Addedreal-timesimpleimageviewertoRealTimemenu

Version2.0.2

InternaltestreleaseofnewCCDISfunctionality.Notanofficialrelease.

Version2.0.1

FixedNext/PreviousmenuitemswhenusingImageViewerwithFlatAnalysis

andAspectRatiomaps

Fixedabugthatwouldcauseacrashwithsomeimagescontainingstars

verycloseoroverlappingimageframe

Addeddefaultsensorpixelsizesettingtouseforimageswithoutthis

informationintheheader

Version2.0.0

Majornewrelease,manynewfeatures,bug

fixes,andenhancements.

Version1.3.4

FixedbugsintheAuto-updatemechanismthatresultedinfailuresto

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updatewithsomeDSLandcablemodems

MadechangestoallowforaneasierupgradetotheupcomingCCDInspector2

Version1.3.2

AddressesvariabilityinmeasurementresultsduetotheuseofDirectX3D.

DirectX3Dsetsfloatingpointcalculationaccuracytolowforbetterperformance,butthisresultsinlessprecisioninallcalculations

byCCDInspector.Thishasbeenfixed.

Version1.3.1

Fixedcurvaturedisplayonthe3-DplotAddedautomaticsoftwareupdatewithperiodicchecks

Version1.3.0

FullsupportofWindowsVistaConvertedto.NET2.0RewriteoftheFWHMmeasurementalgorithmtoimproveaccuracyfor

undersampledimages

AddedIgnorebuttontowarningmessagesAddedsupportfordrag-and-dropofimageliststoandfromCCDStackAddedsupportforsingle-shotBayermatrixCCDsensorsAddedsupportforsettingacustomsaturationvalueFixforcurvature%display:wasincorrectlyadjustedbyimagescalewhen

displayedinarcseconds

FixforXandYtiltvaluesintheChartsdialog(onlyYwasshown)FixedOKbuttonplacementinwarningmessages

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Version1.2.0

Fixedstarselectionalgorithmthatsometimescausednoisetobetreated

asstars

AddedthreeNoiseThresholdsettingstoimprovestarselectionwith

noisysensors(e.g.,CMOS).Thedefault,Lowsettingshouldworkwellformost

cooledCCDsensors.

Added"Measureselectedimagesonly"feature:ifoneormoreimagesare

selectedinthelist,onlythesewillbemeasuredwhenMeasurebuttonis

pressed.Ifnoneareselected,onlynewimagesinthelistthathavenotbeen

measuredyetwillbemeasured.

AddedExposure,BinMode,andTemperaturecolumnstothemainimage

displayandcharts

FilesthatareloadedviaAutoOpenoptionthatarenotinarecognizable

formatwillnowbequietlyskippedandnotmeasured:noerrormessagewillbe

displayed

Version1.1.10

FixedTIFFfileprocessinginFWHMMonitorImprovedfilteredRGBimageprocessingwhenmostoftheinformationis

containedinoneofthethreechannels

Addedimagedate/timedisplayforimagesthatdon'tcontainthis

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informationintheheader(filecreationdate/timeisnowshown)

FixedtheMeasureAllfunctionbugthatonoccasionwouldstill

processsomeimagesthathavealreadybeenmeasured

Version1.1.9

AddedsupportforImagesPluscolorFITSformat(16-bit)MeasureAllnowmeasuresonlyimagesthathaven'tbeenmeasuredyetAddedAutoOpenfeaturetoautomaticallymeasureanynewimagesavedinto

specifiedfolder

Version1.1.7

Fixed:variouserrorsandfailurestomeasurewithcertainsizeimagesFixed:charttiltX/Ywereshownasthesamevalue,andonlyinarcsecondsImprovedstarextractionalgorithm:morestarsaredetectedresultingin

moreaccuratemeasurement

Improvedalgorithmformeasuringundersampledstars:givesaccurateresult

downtoapproximately1.5pixelFWHM

Version1.1.3

Fixedfailuretomeasurealargeimageoranimagewithalargenumberof

stars

CollimationViewerdisplaynolongershowsrecommendedcorrectiontoavoid

setupconfusion

FixedtheCurvaturedisplayinthemainCCDInspectorwindowcolumn:the

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valueoriginallydisplayedwasincorrectlyadjustedbytheimagescale,and

resultedinanumberdifferentfromtheoneontheCurvatureMapdisplay

Version1.1.1

AddeduseradjustableTopofChipdisplaytotheCollimationViewerto

accommodateallcamerapositionsonthebackofthetelescope

ChangedCollimationViewerdisplaytoselectonlytwoofthethreeknobs

forcollimationtoreduceriskoflooseningthesecondary

FixedtheproblemwithreadingTIFFfilesthatwasintroducedwiththe

additionoftheRAWfilesupport

Version1.1.0

IntuitiveCollimationVieweraddedforfast

andprecisereal-timecollimation

Genericsupportforallimagecapturesoftware,includingAstroArt,MaxDSLR,

etc.,capableofwritingFITS,TIFF,SBIG,ormostnativeDSLRRawfileformats:-Forreal-timecurvaturedisplayandcollimation,and-ForFWHMMonitorforfocusing,focusmonitoring,and

runningcharts

Nativesupportforover100DSLRRAWfileformats

-noconversionisneededintoanyotherformat

Supportforcolor(RGB)FITSfilesin16-and8-bitformatsascreatedby

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MaxImDL

AddedFITSheaderviewerAirMassindexaddedtothecalculatedvaluesStarsUsedisnowdisplayedinthe2-DmapviewerFixedabugthatcausedproblemscopyinganddisplayinglargeimagesStarextractionalgorithmtunedtofindandusemanymorestarsSignificantlyimprovedcollimationerrorcomputationimprovesstability

andaccuracy

ImagelistnowshowsCollimationandTiltvaluesinarcsecondsorpixels,

basedonuserselection

SupportforOBJCTALTkeywordforimagescapturedinMaxImDLMaxImDLimageselectionwasimprovedforusewithFWHMmonitor:clicking

onanimagenowactivatesit

AddedMovingAverageandReal-TimenumericdisplayoptionstoFWHMmonitor

todisplaythevaluesfromthecurrentrunningchart

Addedthelistofmost-recentlyloadedimagestothefilemenu

Version1.0.0

Initialpublicrelease

Page 14: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

NewFeaturesinCCDInspector2

1.LimitAlerts:Setlimitsonimageparameters,suchasFWHM,aspectratio,background,etc.Allimagesexceedingthelimitswillbeflaggedinredonthedisplayforeasyidentification.

2.Automaticdarkframescaling:younolongerhavetopickanotherdarkframejusttochangetheexposure,ortakeauto-darks.Allyou'llneedisasinglemasterdarkframe(andabias)

3.Newcameraextrapolationtool:allowscurvature,staraspectratio,andvignettingtobeprojectedtoadifferentsizechip.Easilyfindoutifyou’llneedafieldflattenerwiththatlargersensor,orwhetheryou’llneedalargersecondaryduetoseverevignetting,orifthenewcamerawillproduceacceptableimageswithyourcurrentoptics.

4.ImprovedimageTiltindicatorthatshowsthedirectionandtheabsolutemagnitudeofthetilt.

5.NewAspectRatioMaptool.Similartocurvaturemap,aspectratiomapshowshowstarsshapesvaryacrossthefieldofview,forexampleduetocomaortoopticaltilt.

6.NewFlatFrameAnalysistooltohelpmeasuredegreeofvignettingfromastarfieldimageoraflatframe.

7.NewSingleStarCollimationtooltoallowcollimationonasingledefocusedstar(v2.1.0)

8CCDISplug-inisincludedwithCCDInspector2.0.Thisplug-inworksinconjunctionwithCCDStacktoprovideamuchfasterandextremelyaccurateimageregistrationusingCCDInspectoradvancedstardetectionalgorithm.ThisworksseamlesslywithCCDStack1.3.2andlater,andregistersimagescompletelyautomatically.CCDIShandlesrotation,differencesinscale,imageflip,andlinearshiftwithease.ForalltheCCDStackusers,you’llloveit,Iguaranteeit!Andit'sfast!

9.Over100newRAWDSLRimageformatsadded,includingsomeofthemorepopular:

Page 15: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Canon40D,1DIIandIII,400D/XTi,450D/XSi,DNGNikonD3,D300,D40,D60FujiE900,S100FS,S5200/S5600,S5Pro,S6000,S9100/S9600

ClickhereforthefulllistofsupportedRAWformats

10.SupportfordisplayingandsortingallFITSheaderkeywordsintheCCDInspectorimagelist.

11.Supportforcommand-lineargumentssothatCCDInspectorcannowbelaunchedviascript.

12.Improvementsinnoiserejectionalgorithmallowimageswithfewerstarstoproducestablemeasurementsofcurvatureandcollimation.

13.Mostotherfeaturesandbugfixesrequestedbytheusers.

Page 16: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

UsingCCDInspector

StartCCDInspectorbydouble-clickingontheCCDInspectorPanelicononthedesktop:

CCDInspector

CCDInspectorwindowwillcomeup.Thewindowisresizable,soyoucanexpanditorcollapseittoseemoreorlessoftheimagedata:

Thedisplayisdesignedtobeassimpletouseaspossible.Here'satypicalsessionwithCCDInspector:

1.ClickontheOpen...button.Awindowsexplorerwillcomeupgivingyoutheabilitytoselectoneormoreimagesyou'dliketomeasure:

Page 17: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

NotethatonlyfileswithExtensionsofFIT,FTS,FITS,.S*,and.TIF*willbelisted,astheseareallthesupportedimagetypes

2.SelectanynumberoftheimagesfromtheSelectImageswindow,andclickOpen.You'llseetheimagesyoupickedaddedtothelistofimagesintheCCDInspectorwindow:

3.Iftherearemoreimagesyou'dliketosortthrough,simplyclickontheOpen...buttonagain,andselectmoreimages.Theimageslistcanbeassembledfromanynumberoffolders.

4.Tomeasureraw,unprocessedimagesmoreaccurately,youmaychosetosubtractadarkframefromeach.Thisisparticularlyrecommendedwithveryfaintorlongexposurerawimages.Tochosethedarkframereduction,clickontheReducecheckbox.You'llseethefollowingwindowdisplayed:

Page 18: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

ClickontheDarkFramebuttontobrowsefortheappropriatedarkframefile.Notethatifyouaremeasuringmultipleexposuresthatofdifferentexposurelength,asingledarkframewillnotworkonallofthem.Inthiscase,itisbettertonotuseimagereduction.

Also,iftheimagesyouaremeasuringhavealreadybeendark-subtractedinanothersoftwarepackage,unchecktheReducecheckbox,asaseconddark-subtractionwillbecounter-productive.

5.Onceyoupickalltheimages,clickonMeasureAllbuttonandCCDInspectorwillgothroughthelistofnewlyaddedimagesandmeasureeachinturn.Whendone,you'llseetheresultsofthemeasurementnexttoeachimagename.

Anyimagesthatdonotcontainenoughstars(oraretoonoisytomeasure)willbelistedwith"N/A"intheFWHMandAspectratiocolumns.AllotherimageswillhaveanumberassignedtothemrepresentingtheiraverageFWHMandAspectRatio.Iftheimagescontainfocallengthinformationintheirheader,youcanclicktheInArcsecondscheckboxon,andtheFWHMvalueswillbeshowninarcseconds,otherwiseFWHMwillbegiveninpixels.

6.Oncemeasured,youcansorttheimagesbyanyofthecolumnsintheCCDInspectorwindow,includingFWHMandAspectratio,bysimplyclickingonthelabelintheappropriatecolumn.Anupordownarrowwillindicatewhatcolumnisbeingsorted,andthedirectionofthesort(upmeansincreasingvaluesfromtoptobottom,downmeansdecreasing).

Note:therearemanyvaluesthatCCDInspectorcollectsandmeasuresforeachimage.Youcanchosetodisplayallofthem,oronlytheonesofinteresttoyoubygoingtotheFile/Settings/DisplayColumnsmenu,andthenpickingthecolumnsyou'dliketosee.

7.Atthispointitiseasytoseewhatimagesarebetter(forexample,theoneswithlowerFWHMvalues,lowerAspectRatio,andhighestContrastRatio).Youcanselectanumberofimagestopreviewthembeforedecidingtousethemor

Page 19: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

nottousethem.Simplyhighlightmultipleimagesyouwanttosee,andclickontheOpenSelectedbutton.ThechosenimageswillcomeupinanumberofImageViewerwindowsfloatingaboveCCDInspector.

Youcanscrollaroundtheimage,andzoominorzoomoutbyclickinganywhereintheimageandpickingthezoomlevel.Asashortcut,youcansimplydouble-clickonanyoftheimagenamesintheCCDInspectorwindowtoopenitintheImageViewer.

ItisveryeasytoseetheFWHMandAspectRatiovaluesforanyofthestarsintheimage:simplymovethemousepointertopointtothedesiredstar,andatool-tipwindowwillpop-upwiththemeasuredstatisticsforthisstar.Ifthere'snostarorthestarcannotbeproperlymeasured(forexampleifit'stoodimor

Page 20: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

oversaturated,orbloomed),thetool-tipwilldisplay"N/A".NotethatImageViewerdoesnotfilterouthotpixels,asisdoneintheoverallimageMeasurementstep.ThismayresultinsomehotpixelsdisplayinganFWHMandAspectvalue--youshouldbeabletotellwheretherealstarsare.Hotpixelsareignoredwhendeterminingtheoverallimagestatistics.

8.Whenyoudecideonthesetofimagesyou'dliketouseforstacking,youcanselectthemintheCCDInspectorwindow,andthenclickonMoveToFolderorCopytoFolderfromtheImagesmenu.

MoveToFolderwillphysicallymovetheimagesfromtheiroriginalfoldertothefolderofyourchoice.CopyToFolderwillcreateacopyofallthechosenimages,keepingtheoriginalsintact.

9.Youcanalsodrag-and-dropfilesbetweenCCDInspectorandWindowsExplorerorotherapplications.FilescanbeaddedbydraggingthemintoCCDInspector.Oncemeasuredandsorted,filescanbemovedorcopiedtothefolderopeninWindowsExplorerbyselectinganddraggingthemfromCCDInspectortotheExplorerorotherapplicationwindow.Notethatifyouusejustthemousebuttontodragimages,theywillbemoved(equivalenttoMoveSelected).Ifyou'dliketocopythefiles,leavingoriginalimagesintheoriginalfolder,holddowntheCtrlkeyonthekeyboardasyoustarthedrag.Thisisthesamewaydrag-and-dropworksinWindowsExplorertomovefilesbetweenfolders.

HINT:Sometimes,youmaywanttomoveseveralfilesatonce.Ifthisisthecase,holddownCTRLwhenyouclickonthefilenames.Eachnamewillstayhighlightedasyouselectthenextfile.Ifallthefilesyouwishtomovearelistedsequentiallyinagroup,youcanclickonthefirstfile,holddowntheShiftkeyandclickonthelastfile.Tomovetheselecteddocuments,holddownthemousebuttonanddragtothedesireddestination.Tocopy,holddowntheCtrlkeyasyoustarttodrag.Ifyouarehavingproblemsselectingmultiple,pleaseseeFAQitem#1belowforawork-around.

10.Onceimagesaremeasured,itiseasytocreateafullreportoftheimagenamesandtheircorrespondingFWHMandAspectRatiovaluesbyclickingontheFile/CopyReportToClipboardmenu.TheresultingreportwillbeplacedontheWindowsClipboard,andcanbepastedintoatextdocument,spreadsheet,e-mail,etc.HereisanexampleofthereportafterbeingpastedintoMicrosoft

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Word:

FilePathFWHMAspectRatio

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000188.FITN/AN/A%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000185.FIT2.86"16%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000184.FIT2.93"13%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000186.FIT3.01"15%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000181.FIT3.08"11%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000182.FIT3.08"17%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000183.FIT3.08"13%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000175.FIT4.94"18%

C:\images\2005-08-24\VDB142_HA_20m.00000176.FIT5.80"17%

11.Asashortcut,youcandomostoftheoperationslistedabovebysimplyclickingtherightmousebuttonontheimagelist:

ViewwillopenalltheselectedimagesinImageViewerRemovewillremovealltheselectedimagesfromCCDInspectorlist

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AddMoreImages...willallowtoselectmoreimagesformeasurementMoveToFolder...willallowyoutopickafoldertomovetheselectedimagestoCopyToFolder...willallowyoutopickafoldertomovetheselectedimagestoMeasureAllwillmeasurealltheimagesinthelistCheckAllwillselectallitemsinthelistUncheckAllwillunselectallitemsinthelistCurvatureMap...willdeterminefieldcurvaturefromselectedimagesanddisplaythemap3-DCurvaturePlot...willuseselectedimagestodisplaythecurvatureinthreedimensionsCharts...willallowyoutoseeanyofthemeasuredvaluesforalltheimagesplottedagainsttime,oranyotherimagevalue

Page 23: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

InstallingCCDInspector

ToinstallCCDInspector,

1.Ensurethatallthepre-requisitesareinstalled(seedetailshere)

2.Downloadtheinstallationfile

3.Extractthefilesfromtheziparchiveintoatemporaryfolder4.Double-clickontheSetup.exefiletostarttheinstallation.

5.FollowpromptstoselectfoldersCCDInspector.Inmostcases,acceptingthedefaultvalueswillbesufficient.

6.Oncompletingtheinstall,double-clicktheCCDInspectorPanelicononyourdesktop.

7.IfyouaregoingtouseCCDISplug-inwithCCDStackona64-bitoperatingsystem(XP-64,Vista-64,Windows2003x64),double-clickontheCCDIS64.msifiletoinstallthe64-bitcomponentsforCCDStackplugin.

http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/
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Howdoesitwork?

CCDInspectoremploysaproprietaryalgorithmforstarfilteringandextraction.Foreachimage,itwillextractuptoafewthousandstarsfromtheentireimage,ignoringhotpixelsandothernon-stellarstructures.Aspartoftheanalysis,CCDInspectorwillthrowoutstarsthatarebloomedorsaturated,andanystarswithtoolowasignal-to-noiseratiothatmayyieldaninaccuratemeasurement.ItwillthenpickthemedianFWHMvalue,andthemedianAspectRatiovalueofallthestarsremaininginthelist.Thesewillbethevaluesdisplayednexttotheimagename.

Byitsnature,theFWHMandAspectRatiodisplayedrepresentan"average"valuefortheimage.TherewillbesomestarswithhigherandsomewithlowerFWHMintheimage.Thesameappliestoaspectratiovalue.Thevalueschosenaremeanttoquantifytheimageforameaningfulcomparisonbetweensimilarimages,suchasmultiplesub-framesofthesamefieldofview.

Forimagesthatcontainsomefieldcurvatureattheedges,theresultingmeasurementwillnotbeskewedbysuchcurvature,aslongasthemajorityofthestarsarenotontheperipheryoftheimage.

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What'sinCCDInspector?

CCDInspectorisacollectionoftoolstohelpyougetthebestqualityimagesfromwhateveropticsandmountyoucurrentlyuse.

ThetwomajortoolsareCCDInspectoritselfandareal-timeFWHMMonitorutility.Bothtoolsareintegrated,butcanbeusedindependentlyofeachother.

Newwithversion2.0ofCCDInspectoristheCCDISplug-intoCCDStack.

Thebasicfunctionsofeachtoolareasfollows:

CCDInspector

1. Measureandcompareanynumberofsavedimages2. Chosethebestimagesbyanymeasuredcriteria,move,copy,ordrag

selectedimagestootherfoldersorapplications3. Plotvaluesforalltheimagesagainstanyothervalueforadirect

comparison4. Previewanyoftheimages,anddetermineFWHMandAspectratioofany

starintheimagebypointingtoit5. Analyze2-Dand3-Dcurvatureplots,determineimageplanetilt,distance

fromperfectcollimation,etc.6. Monitor2-Dor3-Dcurvatureplotsofimagescapturedbythecamerain

real-time7. Collimateyouropticsinreal-time,in-focus,andwithyourCCDcamera

attachedtothetelescope

FWHMMonitor

1. FocusyourtelescopebymonitoringFWHM,HFD,PeakValue,oranumberofothervariableinreal-time

2. MeasureFWHMvalueforimagesastheyaredownloadedfromthecamera3. MonitorfocusovertimebymeasuringFWHMoftheautoguiderstarimage4. Monitorguidingortrackingaccuracybymeasuringstarcentroidwander5. MonitorseeingconditionsbymeasuringFWHMvariationsofastarinthe

focuswindow6. Plot,onrealtimerunningchart,allthevariables,suchasFWHM,HFD,

Page 26: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

PeakValue,AspectRatio,StarProfile,Centroidwander.7. Selectreal-timeoramovingaverage(orboth)forthedisplay,andchoose

howmanypointstokeepontherunningchart

CCDISPlug-In

1. CCDISisanadvancedimageregistrationplug-inthatworksinconjunctionwithCCDWareCCDStacksoftware

2. Ifboth,CCDStack1.3.2orlaterandCCDInspector2.0areinstalledtogether,you'llnoticeanewCCDIStabintheRegistrationdialogofCCDStack

3. CCDISperformsacompletelyautomaticregistrationofanynumberofimages

4. Imagescanberotated,flipped,binned,oratdifferentfocallength:CCDIScanhandlethemallautomatically.Nomanualstarselectionisneeded.

5. CCDISisoptimizedforspeedandisextremelyaccurate,usuallyresultinginregistrationaccuracymuchbetterthan1/10ofapixel.

6. CCDISismadepossiblebytheadvancedimageextractionandrecognitionalgorithmsthatpowertherestoftheCCDInspectorsoftware.

http://www.ccdware.com/products/ccdstack/
Page 27: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

SoftwareRequirements

Operatingsystemscurrentlysupportedare:WindowsVista,WindowsXP,Windows2000,Windows98.

MicrosoftDirectXversion8.0orlaterisnecessaryfor3-Dgraphicssupport.FollowthelinkforDirectXEnd-UserRuntimesWebInstaller:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/directx/aa937788.aspx

VisualBasic6.0run-timeenvironmentisnecessarytosupportreal-timemonitorswhenusingCCDSoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7b9ba261-7a9c-43e7-9117-f673077ffb3c&displaylang=en

Microsoft.NETFrameworkenvironment2.0:

Microsoft.NETFrameworkruntime

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/directx/aa937788.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7b9ba261-7a9c-43e7-9117-f673077ffb3c&displaylang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&DisplayLang=en
Page 28: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

UpgradingtoCCDInspector2

CCDInspector2isdesignedasareplacementforCCDInspectorversion1.Nonewfeaturesareplannedforversion1.Allfutureenhancementsandnewfeatureswillbereleasedaspartofversion2.

Inordertoeasethemigrationtothenewversionandtoallowexistinguserstocompareandcontrastfeatures,CCDInspector2isinstalledseparatelyfromthepreviousversions.ThismeansthatCCDInspector1and2canco-existonthesamecomputerandcanevenrunside-by-side.

RegisteredusersofCCDInspector1canupgradetoCCDInspector2atagreatlyreducedcost,whilenewusersareaskedtopurchaseafulllicense.BothtypesofuserscanevaluateCCDInspector2forthestandardtrialperiodof30days.ThetrialperiodstartsassoonasCCDInspector2isinstalledandlaunchedforthefirsttime.

CCDInspector2trialperiodisalsoindependentofCCDInspector1,soevenifyouhavealreadyevaluatedversion1for30days,yougoaheadandtestoutthenewfeaturesinversion2foranadditional30days.

Whenupgradingfromversion1toversion2withapurchasedupgradelicense,CCDInspectorversion1mustalsobeinstalledandregisteredonthesamecomputer.OnlythenwillCCDInspector2promptfortheupgradelicense.

Alternatively,ifyoudon'thaveCCDInspector1installedandregistered,butdidreceivealicensekeyforit,youcanstillentertheupgradelicensekeyinCCDInspector2,butyou'llneedtodosothroughamenuinthemainwindow.ThemenuisunderHelp->Upgradefromv1.0.Whenclicked,youwillbepromptedtoenteryourversion1registrationinformationfirst.Whendone,anotherwindowwillpop-upforrequestinganupgradelicensekeyforversion2.Oncethat'sentered,version2.0willbefullyregisteredandunlockedforyouruse.Pleasemakesurethatyouhaveboth,version1andversion2registrationkeysande-mailaddressesbeforeproceedingdownthispath.

UpgradingtoCCDInspector2fromCCDIS/pPlug-Infor

Page 29: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDStack

OwnersofCCDIS/pplug-incanupgradeatadiscounttoCCDInspector2.Bothlicensekeys,CCDIS/pandCCDInspector2upgradefromCCDIS/parerequiredtoperformtheupgrade.

1.IfyoualreadyhaveCCDIS/pplug-ininstalledandregisteredonyourcomputer,simplystartCCDInspector2,andenteryourupgradekeywhenprompted

2.Ifyoudon'thaveCCDIS/pplug-ininstalledbuthavepreviouslypurchasedalicense,thenfollowtheseinstructions:

LocateCCDIS/pandtheupgradelicensekeysStartCCDInspector2GotoHelp->UpgradeLicensefromCCDIS/p...menuYou'llbefirstpromptedtoenteryourCCDIS/plicensekey,enteritnowWhendone,you'llbepromptedtoenteryourCCDInspector2upgradekey:enteritnowStartusingCCDInspector2

3.Note:CCDInspector2installationincludesCCDISplug-inforCCDStack,soonceyouregisteryourCCDInspector2,youcansafelyremovetheoriginalCCDIS/pinstallationfromyourharddrive

Page 30: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

SettingImageScale

CCDInspectorderivestheinformationaboutimagescalefromtheimageheader.Thesoftwareusedtoacquiretheimageneedstobesettorecordthisinformationintheheader,oritwillnotbeavailabletoCCDInspector.

SettingupCCDSofttorecordthefocallengthinformationintheimageheader:

Inordertodisplayinformationinarcseconds,youwillalsoneedtoensurethatCCDSoftknowsthefocallengthofyourimagingsetup.ForusewithCCDInspector,thisshouldbeexpressedinunitsofmm.ThiscanbeenteredinCCDSoftintheCameraSetupscreenbypressingtheFileDefaultsbutton:

Pleasemakesurethatthefocallengthissetinmm,andnotinches,otherwisethearcsecondscalculationwillbeincorrect.

SettingupMaxImDLtorecordthefocallengthinformationintheimageheader:

ClickonFile/Settingsmenu,andselectSiteandOpticstab,andenterthefocallengthandapertureparameters:

Page 31: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Note:IfyouselectdisplayinArcseconds,butthefocallengthorpixelsizeparametersarenotavailablefromtheimage,CCDInspectorwilldisplaymeasurementsinpixelsbydefault.

Page 32: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDInspectorDisplayElements

CCDInspectormainwindowprovidestheviewofthesortedlistofimages,themechanismfortheirselection,andachoiceofoperation:.FeaturesthatarenewinCCDInspector2.0aremarkedwiththe symbol.

Acrossthetopofthelistarecolumnheaders(ImageFile,FWHM,Aspect(%),etc.).Shownarethedefaultcolumns.TheactualdisplaycanbetailoredtoshowanyvaluescalculatedbyCCDInspector,aswellasanystandardorcustomvaluesstoredinanimageFITSheader .

Clickingontheheaderofacolumndefinesthesortorderforalltheimages.Anuparrowintheheaderindicatesimagesareorderedintheincreasingvalueorder,andadownarrowmeanstheorderisdecreasing.

Page 33: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Toselectmorethanoneimage:holddownCTRLwhenyouclickonthefilenames.Eachnamewillstayhighlightedasyouselectthenextfile.Ifallthefilesyouwishtomovearelistedsequentiallyinagroup,youcanclickonthefirstfile,holddowntheShiftkeyandclickonthelastfile.Tomovetheselecteddocuments,holddownthemousebuttonanddragtothedesireddestination.Tocopy,holddowntheCtrlkeyasyoustarttodrag.

Youcanalsodrag-and-dropfilesbetweenCCDInspectorandWindowsExplorer,CCDStack,orotherprogramsacceptingfiledragginganddropping.FilescanbeopenedbydraggingthemintoCCDInspectorandreleasing(dropping)themontopofthelist.Oncemeasuredandsorted,filescanbemovedorcopiedtothefolderopeninWindowsExplorerbyselectinganddraggingthemfromthelisttotheexplorerwindow.Notethatifyouusethemousebuttontodragimages,theywillbemoved.Ifyou'dliketocopythefiles,leavingoriginalimagesintheoriginalfolder,holddowntheCtrlkeyonthekeyboardasyoustarthedrag.Thisisthestandardwayinwhichdrag-and-dropworksinWindowsExplorertomovefilesbetweenfolders.

Imagesareshowncolor-coded.Imagesshowningrayhavenotbeenmeasuredyet.Unmeasuredimageswillstillshowallvaluesthatdon'trequirecalculations.

WhentheLimitAlertfeatureisturnedon,imagesthatarewithinthespecifiedlimitswillbedisplayedinblack,whileimagesoutsidethedefinedlimitswillbeshowninred.

Rightclickonanyoftheimagesoranywhereinsidethelistareawilldisplaythepop-upshortcutsmenushownabove.Theoptionsinthemenuareequivalentshortcutstothevariousmenucommandsatthetop.

AutoOpencheckboxprovidesawaytotocontinuallymonitorafolderofimages.Whenanewimageisdetected,itwillbeautomaticallyaddedtothelistandmeasuredOpenbuttonprovidesashortcuttoaddnewimagestothelist.ItisequivalenttoFile/OpenmenucommandRemovebuttonisashortcuttoImages/Removemenu.Itremovesselectedimagesfromthelist.

Page 34: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Reduceinvokesthedarkframesubtractiondialogthatdefinesanimagefilecontainingthedarkframetobesubtractedfromallimages.Ifyoudon'twanttosubtractadarkframe,unchecktheboxnexttoReduce...

CCDInspectorprovidesautomaticscalingofdarkframestomatchthelengthofthelightexposure.Forbestresults,specifyamasterbiasframeinadditiontoagoodmasterdark.Oncespecified,allimageswithvaryingexposurelengthcanbeautomaticallyandoptimallyreduced.Forbestresultsuselightanddarkframesacquiredatthesame(ornearlythesame)temperature.AlthoughCCDInspectorwilldoitsbesttoreduceanimagewithtemperature-mismatchedimages,theresultswillnotbeasaccurate.

InArcsecstellsCCDInspectorthatwheneverpossiblethedisplayshouldbeinarcsecondsinsteadofpixels.Ifimagescaleisnotavailablefromtheimage,CCDInspectorwillusethedefaultimagescaledefinedthroughSettings/DefaultImageScaledialog.Ifthat'salsonotset,thevalueswillbedisplayedinpixels.MeasureAllwillmeasureanddisplayalltheappropriatestatisticsforalltheimagesinthelist.YoucaninterruptthemeasurementprocessbypressingandholdingtheEsckeyuntilitstops.Thisoptionisavailablewhennoimagesarehighlightedinthelist.Measurewillmeasureonlytheselectedimagesinthelist.Theselectedimageswillbemeasuredwhetherornottheyhavealreadybeenmeasuredpreviously.

LimitAlertfeatureallowsyoutosetboundsonanumberofdifferentimageattributes.AllimagesthatmeasureoutsidethespecifiedboundswillbehighlightedinredcolorinthemainCCDInspectordisplay.LimitalertsareonlyactivewhentheLimitAlertcheckboxischecked.

Page 35: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Selected:theboxbelowthislabelshowshowmanyimagesarecurrentlyselected,andoutofhowmanytotalimagesinthelist.View:shortcuttoImages/Viewmenucommand:openselectedimagesintheimageviewerCurvatureshortcuttoAnalysis/CurvatureMapmenucommand.Displays2-DCurvatureMapforallselectedimages3-DPlotshortcuttoAnalysis/3-DPlotmenucommandChartsshortcuttoAnalysis/ChartsmenucommandExtrapolatethisfeatureestimatestheperformanceoftheopticalsystemto

anothercamera/sensorsizefromjustasinglemeasuredimage

Page 36: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

LimitAlertSettings

LimitAlertfeaturesetsboundsonanumberofdifferentimageattributes.AllimagesthataremeasuredtobeoutsidethespecifiedboundswillbehighlightedinredcolorinthemainCCDInspectordisplay.Thisallowsquickidentificationofimagesthatareoutoffocus,withtrailedstars,ortoobrightabackground.Onceidentified,theseimagescanberemovedfromthelist,orfurtherexaminedtodeterminewhethertheyareacceptable.

LimitalertsareonlyactivewhentheLimitAlertcheckboxischecked.

Imagesareshowncolor-codedinthemainCCDInspectordisplay:

Imagesshowningray(gray)havenotbeenmeasuredyet.WhentheLimitAlertfeatureisturnedon,imagesthatarewithinthe

Page 37: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

specifiedlimitswillbedisplayedinblack,Imagesoutsidethedefinedlimitswillbeshowninred.

ToactivateLimitAlerts,clickontheLimitAlert...checkboxonthemainCCDInspectordisplay.Thefollowingdialogwillpop-up:

Youcannowenterthedesiredlimitsonanyoftheseparameters:

FWHMAspectRatioBackgroundbrightnessContrastRatioStarsused(found)AltitudewheretheimagewasacquiredCurvatureCollimationTiltinXTiltinYExposurelengthTemperatureoftheCCD

Tochangethelimit,clickontheMinValueorMaxValueboxnexttothedesiredImageProperty.Thevaluewillbecomeeditable:

Page 38: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Youcannowtypeinthedesiredlimit.ClickontheMaxValuecellifyouwanttochangetheMaxValueforthatproperty.Tocleartheproperty,eitherenterablankforthevalue,orclickontheImagePropertynametohighlightthewholerow,andthenpresstheDeletekey.

NotethatallthepropertiesthatcontainMinand/orMaxvalueswillbeevaluatedforeachimage.Ifanyoneofthesepropertiesexceedthespecifiedbounds,theimagewillbehighlightedinred.

Page 39: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

UsingImageViewer

ImageViewer(availablefromImages/Viewmenu)providesaquickpreviewoftheimage.Thiscanbeusefultoconfirmthemeasurementsortoverifythattheimage.

WhenanimageisdisplayedintheViewer,movingthemouseoveranyofthestarsintheimagewilldisplaythemeasurementsassociatedwiththatstarinapop-upwindowabovethemousecursor.InformationdisplayedwillcontaintheFWHMvalue,AspectRatio,andpeakADUvalue.N/AwillbedisplayedforanystarsthatCCDInspectorfailstomeasure(eitherbecausetheyaretoolarge,distorted,toodim,notastellarobject,ormultiplestarstooclosetoeachothertodistinguish).NotethatImageViewerdoesnotfilterouthotpixels,asisdoneduringimagemeasurement.ThismayresultinsomehotpixelsdisplayinganFWHMandAspectvalue--youshouldbeabletotellwheretherealstarsare.Hotpixelsareignoredwhendeterminingtheoverallimagestatistics.

Page 40: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Youcanscrollaroundtheimage,andzoominorzoomoutbyclickinganywhereintheimageandpickingthezoomlevel.Thefollowingoptionsareavailablebyclickingtherightmousebuttonanywhereintheviewerwindow:

UseZoomleveltoselectthemagnificationlevelfortheimagedisplayUseCopytoClipboardtoplaceacopyoftheimageontotheWindows

Page 41: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Clipboard.Itcanthenbepastedintoadocumentorintoanyimageeditingsoftware.DisplayRangecanbeusedtoadjustthebrightnesslevelsfortheimagedisplay,soastoshowoffmoreofthestars,ortheobjectintheimageUseNextImagetodisplaythenextimageinthelist(intheorderthattheyappearinthemainCCDInspectorwindow)UsePreviousimagetogobackoneimageinthelistStartAnimationwillstartanautomaticdisplayofalltheimagesinsequence,intheordertheyappearinthemainwindowStopAnimationwillstoptheautomaticdisplayatthecurrentlydisplayedimage

Page 42: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

ImageSelectionforBetterCurvatureMapping

Ideally,thefollowingcriteriashouldbeappliedtothemultipleimage

selectiontoproduceanaccuratecurvaturemap:

1.Allimagesmustbeofthesamesize2.Imagesshouldbeacquiredduringthesamesessionwiththesameoptical

configuration,preferablywithlittleornofocusvariationsbetweentheframes.

Theimagesdonothavetobeofthesameareaofthesky,butshouldbeclose-bytoavoidtheeffectsofmirror-flopandflexureonfocus.3.UseCCDInspectortomeasureimages,andpickonlyonesthatareveryclosetoeachotherinFWHMandAspectRatio.4.Useimageswithagoodsprinklingofunsaturatedstarsthroughouttheimage

frame.Forexample,aglobularclusterwouldnotbeagoodimage,asallthebrightandbloatedstarswillbeconcentratedatthecenteroftheglob.5.UseCCDInspectordarkframereduction,orimagesthatarealreadyreducedby

darkframesubtraction.6.Use3ormoreconsecutiveimagesforbuildingamoreaccuratecurvaturemap.

Thisincreasessignal-to-noiseofthemeasurementandproducesamoreaccuraterepresentationofthefieldcurvature.7.Usegoodsampling:ifFWHMvaluesarewellbelow2pixels,theFWHM

measurementwillnotbeperformedaccurately,andtheresultingcurvaturemapmayappeardistortedduetouncertaintyindeterminingthecorrectstellar

profile.Onewaytodealwithundersampled,shortfocallengthconfigurationsistodefocusthetelescopeslightlybeforetakingatestimage.ThiswillresultingreaterFWHMvaluesthatcanthenbemoreaccuratelymeasuredbyCCDInspector.

Ifyou'dliketomeasureasingleimage,itshouldcontainanevenly

Page 43: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

spread-outstarfieldofunsaturatedstars,andshouldbedark-framesubtractedforbestresults.

Page 44: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

UsingCurvatureMapViewer

CurvatureMapViewer(availablefromAnalysis/CurvatureMapmenu)providesatopographicmapoftheimagesurface.Differentcolorsareassignedtovariouslevelsoffocus:thedarkestcolorsarebestfocus,thebrightestcolors--theworstfocus.

CCDInspectorextractsthousandsofstarsfromeachimageandcomputestheirFWHM.Then,apolynomialfunctionisfittedtothedistributionofFWHMvalues.Thisisthenplottedusingvaryingcolors,asfollows:

Black:lowestFWHMBlue:slightlydefocusedGreen:moredefocusedRed:highestdefocus

MovingthemouseoveranyportionofthecurvaturemapwilldisplayFWHMmeasurementassociatedwiththestarsinthisareainapop-upwindowabovethemousecursor.

Page 45: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Thetopleftcornercontainsanumberofvaluablestatisticsderivedfromthemeasuredimage:

MinFWHM:lowestFWHMvalueinthecurvaturemapMaxFWHM:maximumFWHMvalueCurvature:percentdefocusbetweenlowestandhighestdefocuspointsonthemapTiltinX,Y:defocusfromlefttoright,andfromtoptobottomoftheimage,expressedinarcsecondsorpixelsTotalTilt:istheabsoluteamountofmeasuredtiltintheimage,expressedin%,anditsdirectionshownindegrees,aswellaswithapointingarrowCollimation:thedistancebetweenphysicalandopticalcentersintheimage,showninarcsecondsorpixels.Assumingasmallopticaltilt,thisishowfartheopticsarefromperfectcollimation.

Thetwosetsofcrosshairinthemiddleoftheimagemarkthephysical(largecircle)andoptical(smallcircle)centersoftheimage.Inaperfectlycollimated

Page 46: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

telescope,thesewillcoincide.Asmuchasafewarcsecondsmis-collimationcanaffectimagequality.

Youcanzoominorzoomoutbyclickinganywhereintheimageandpickingthezoomlevel.Thefollowingoptionsarealsoavailablebyclickingtherightmousebuttonanywhereintheviewerwindow:

UseZoomleveltoselectthemagnificationlevelfortheimagedisplayUseCopytoClipboardtoplaceacopyofthemapontotheWindowsClipboard.Itcanthenbepastedintoadocumentorintoanyimageeditingsoftware.DisplayRangecanbeusedtoadjustthecolorassignmentfromlowesttohighestFWHMvalues(thevaluesintherangearealwaysinpixels).UseNextImagetocomputeanddisplaythemapfornextimageinthelist(intheorderthattheyappearinthemainCCDInspectorwindow)UsePreviousimagetogobackoneimageinthelistStartAnimationwillstartanautomaticdisplayofmapsofalltheimagesinsequence,intheordertheyappearinthemainwindowStopAnimationwillstoptheautomaticdisplayatthecurrentlydisplayedimageCollimationDisplaywillshowthecollimationviewerwithcomputedcollimationerrorfromthecurrentmapSaveImagewillallowthisimagetobesavedasaFITSfile.

Page 47: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Using3-DCurvaturePlotViewer

JustliketheCurvatureMap,the3-DCurvaturePlotprovidesamapoftheimagesurface.Theplotisshownin3-Dimensions,withdifferentcolorsassignedtovariouslevelsoffocus:thedarkestcolorsarebestfocus,thebrightestcolors--theworstfocus.

CCDInspectorextractsthousandsofstarsfromeachimageandcomputestheirFWHM.Then,apolynomialfunctionisfittedtothedistributionofFWHMvalues.Thisisthenplottedona3-Dsurface,withvaryingcolors,asfollows:

Black:lowestFWHMBlue:slightlydefocusedGreen:moredefocusedRed:highestdefocus

Movingthemouseoveranyportionofthe3-DplotwilldisplayFWHMmeasurementassociatedwiththestarsinthisareainapop-upwindowabovethemousecursor.

Page 48: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Youcanrotate,tiltandzoominandoutusingthemouseinthe3-Dview.Todothis,clickdownontheleftbuttonanywhereinthe3-Dviewand:

Movemouseupanddowntotiltbackandforward

Movemouseleftandrighttorotatetheimage

Usethemousetrack-wheeltozoominandout,orholddowntheCtrlkeyonthekeyboardandmovethemouseupordowntozoominorout.

Thetopleftcornercontainsanumberofvaluablestatisticsderivedfromthemeasuredimage:

MinFWHM:lowestFWHMvalueinthecurvaturemapMaxFWHM:maximumFWHMvalue

Page 49: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Curvature:percentdefocusbetweenlowestandhighestdefocuspointsonthemap

ThetwoaxisarelabeledXandYnearthebottomrightcorneroftheimage.Xisthehorizontalaxisoftheimage.

Youcanzoominorzoomoutbyclickinganywhereintheimageandpickingthezoomlevel.Thefollowingoptionsarealsoavailablebyclickingtherightmousebuttonanywhereintheviewerwindow:

UseZoomleveltoselectthemagnificationlevelfortheimagedisplayUseCopytoClipboardtoplaceacopyofthemapontotheWindowsClipboard.Itcanthenbepastedintoadocumentorintoanyimageeditingsoftware.DisplayRangecanbeusedtoadjustthecolorassignmentfromlowesttohighestFWHMvalues(thevaluesintherangearealwaysinpixels).UseNextImagetocomputeanddisplaythemapfornextimageinthelist(intheorderthattheyappearinthemainCCDInspectorwindow)UsePreviousimagetogobackoneimageinthelistStartAnimationwillstartanautomaticdisplayofmapsofalltheimagesinsequence,intheordertheyappearinthemainwindowStopAnimationwillstoptheautomaticdisplayatthecurrentlydisplayedimage

Page 50: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

FITSHeaderViewer

FITSHeaderViewerisusefulforverifyingthattherightimagescale,focallength,camerasettings,altitude,etc.areintheimageheader.Todisplaytheviewer,selectasingleimagefromthelistofallimages,andclickontheImages/ViewImageHeader...menu.Thisoptionisalsoavailablefromthepop-upmenuwhenright-clickingonanyoftheimagesinthelist.

Ifanyofthevaluesareincorrect,youcanuseCCDSoftorMaxImDLamongothertoolstocorrectthem.

Page 51: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

PreciseCollimation

Unlikecollimationproceduresofthepast,CCDInspectorprovidesarevolutionarynewwaytocollimateacompound-opticstelescope.

Collimationmakesahugedifferenceinthequalityofimageandresolutionthatcanbeachieved.WithCCDInspector,acollimationerrorof10arcsecondscanproduceasmuchas1arcsecondsincreaseinFWHMofastar.Thismeansthatagood3.0arcsecondFWHMimagecanbecomea2.0arcsecondimagewithpropercollimation!

Bymeasuringtheexactdisplacementoftheopticalcenterfromthephysicalcenteroftheimagingconfiguration,CCDInspectoriscapableofdetectingthesmallestcollimationerrorswithyourCCDstillattachedtothetelescope,andwithtelescopewellfocused!Thisisthebestpossiblewaytocollimate,since:

TheopticaltrainisnotdisturbedbyremovinganeyepieceandreplacingthecameraaftercollimationFocuspositionwillneedonlyminoradjustmentstogettobestfocusaftercollimationiscompletedWhat'smore,thecollimationcanoccurrighton,orverynear-bytothefieldyouwillbeimaging.ThismaybethebestwaytocollimateatelescopeswithsignificantmirrorflopSincecollimationisdoneonhundredsofstars,there'snoneedtore-centeranythingafteradjustingcollimation:justtakethenextimage,andkeepadjusting.

WithCCDInspectorversion2.1.0,weintroduceanotherbreakthroughinnovation:SingleDefocusedStarCollimationmethod.Thismethodwillhelpyouachievethesamespectacularresultsaswiththeoriginalcollimationroutine,butusingonlyonebrightstarcenteredinthefieldofview.

DifferencesbetweenMulti-StarandSingleDefocusedStarcollimationmethods

Multi-starmethodcanbeusedinperfectfocus.Thisisbeneficialwhenthe

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focusermechanismcanintroducechangesinthecollimationofthesystem,orifyouwanttodoaquickcollimationcheckwithoutlosingfocusSingle-starmethodcanbeusedwithasinglebrightstar.There'salwaysabrightstarsomewhereinthesky,butsometimes,thereisnotarichstarcluster,suchasisrequiredbythemulti-starmethodMulti-starmethoddoesn'trequirere-centeringaftermakingcollimationadjustments,Single-starmethoddoesSingle-starmethodisnotassensitivetotrackingerrorsbecauseabrightdefocusedstarcanbeusedwith1secondorlessexposure.Multi-starmethodcanrequiremuchlongerexposuresthataresubjecttotrackingerrors

WhichmethodshouldIuse?

Thatdependsonwhat'smostconvenientatthetime.Decidebasedthedifferenceslistedabove.Eithermethodwillhelpyouachieveexcellentcollimation.

[NOTE:CCDInspectoralsoprovidesasimplifiedCollimationViewerdisplaythatiseveneasiertouseforreal-timecollimation]

Tofacilitateachievingperfectcollimation,CCDInspectorprovidestwosetsofcrosshaironthescreen:thelargeronemarkingthephysicalcenterofthechip,andthesmalleronemarkingthecurrentopticalcenterofcollimation.Bymakingcollimationadjustmentstomovethesmallcrosshairtothephysicalcenterofthechip,thebestcollimationisachieved.Tohelp,CCDInspectoralsoprovidesanumericreadingatthetopleftoftheCurvatureMapViewerwindowthatshowsthedistancebetweenthetwocrosshairinarcsecondsorpixels(basedonthechoicemadeinthemainCCDInspectorwindow).

Theproceduretoadjustcollimationisfairlysimple:

1.Findareasonablycrowdedstarfieldofreasonablyevenly-spreadstars,withnoextremelybrightstarsinthefieldofview.JustpointsomewhereneartheMilkyWayandyou'lllikelyseemanyhundredsofstarsinoneshot.

2.StartCCDInspector,andopentheReal-TimeCurvatureMapwindowfromReal-Time/CurvatureMap...menu.

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3.Starttakingexposuresusingthecamera'smainchip.Thefollowingaresomeguidelines,actualsettingswillbedifferentforeachindividualsetup:

30to60secondsexposureshouldbesufficientforbestS/Nandforcollectingenoughstarstomeasurefieldcurvature.Alongerexposuremaybenecessarywithreallylongfocallengthtelescopes,orifawell-populatedstarfieldisnotavailable.Thegoalistoseeatleast100ormorereasonablybright,butnotsaturatedorbloomed,starsintheshot.Morestarsarebetter.Alargeconcentratedstarcollectionanywhereintheimagewilldistortthemeasurement(suchasaglobularcluster,forexample).Binthechip1x1forbestresultswithshorterfocallengthsystems.FWHMofanaveragestarinthefieldshouldbearound2pixelsormore.Ifit'sless,theFWHMmeasurementwillnotbeasprecise,resultinginalesssensitivecurvaturecomputation.Iftheseeingisexceptionallygoodortheimageisreallyundersampled,itwouldbedesirabletodefocustheimageabittoachievetheminimumof2pixelsFWHM.Ifyourimagescaleis0.6arcsecs/pixCCDInspectorwilldetectconditionswhentherearen'tenoughstarsinthefieldofview,ortheyarenotevenlyspreadout,andwilldisplayamessageindicatingthismaynotresultinanaccuratemeasurement.Ifyoureceivethismessage,it'susuallybesttostop,andadjusttheparameterstogetmorestarsinthefieldofview(increaseexposure,ormovethetelescope).

4.Aftereachexposure,checkthecurvaturemaptoseehowmuch,andinwhatdirectiontoadjustcollimation.Justlikeinstandardcollimationtechniques,thecloseryougettoperfect,thesmallertheadjustmentsneeded.

5.Makeanadjustment,takethenextimage,andrepeatwithstep4.Keepdoingthisuntilthecrosshairatthecenteroverlap,andtheerrorisindicatedasonlyafewarcseconds.Atthispoint,you'reinexcellentcollimation!

Someadditionalhintstohelpwithcollimation:

Tohelpseethedirectionanddistanceofthecollimationerror,rightclickonthefieldcurvaturemap.Fromthepop-upmenu,selectMagnifyCrosshair

Youcanalsozoom-infurtherfromthepop-upmenutoseetheerrormagnified.Youmayneedtoscrolltheimagetothecentertoseethecrosshair,ifthezoomed-inimagedoesnotfitcompletelyonthescreen.

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Removeasmuchtiltfromthecameraaspossibletoachievebestcollimation.Usescrew-inconnectorsexclusively,andifyourfocuserhascollimationadjustments,usethemtosquarethecameratotheopticaltrain.YoucanusetheCCDInspectorTiltmeasurementsinthereal-timecurvaturemapviewtohelpwithdoingthis.Makesurethetelescopeiscooleddownandequalizedwithambientair:ifnot,youwillseestrangeartifactsinthecurvaturemapsthatareduetoaircurrentsastheOTAcools,suchasthis:

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CollimationViewer

CollimationViewerisareal-timedisplaythatprovidesanintuitiveguidetothecorrectionsnecessarytoachieveperfectcollimation.ThistoolusesthesamecalculationastheCurvatureMapdisplay,butshowstheresultinaformmoresuitabletoreal-timecollimation:

CollimationViewercanbestartedintwodifferentways:

Todoreal-timecollimation,clickontheReal-Time/CollimationViewer

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menufromthemainwindowinCCDInspector.Thenstarttakingexposuresusingyourcamera,anditwillautomaticallyshowcollimationfromthemostrecentlyacquiredimage.Toseecollimationdisplayforanimage,firstdisplaythecurvaturemapforit:Analysis/CurvatureMapmenu.Then,rightclickonthemapimage,andselectCollimationDisplay...TheCollimationViewerwillshowtheerrorandrecommendedcorrectionfortheimagethatwasusedtocreatetheoriginalcurvaturemap.

Collimationviewershowsthethree-screw,tip-tiltcollimationarrangementthatiscommonlyusedonSCT's,RC's,Newtonians,andotherstylesoftelescopes.

HerearethenecessaryconfigurationstepstostartusingtheCollimationViewer:

1.First,notethatthetopofthecollimationviewermustalwayscorrespondtothetopoftheOTA2.WhenlookingatanSCTfromthefront,thethreeknobs,labeledA,B,andCneedtobealignedtothetopoftheCollimationViewerinthesamewaythephysicalknobsarealignedtothetopoftheOTA.Toalignthedisplayknobs,clicktheleftmousebuttonononeofthem,anddragtorotatetothedesiredposition.NotethatthelabelsA,B,andCarenotimportant,andareusedjusttomakeiteasiertoidentifywhichbuttonisbeingselected.WhetherA,B,orCisalignedwiththetopsideintheaboveimagedoesnotmatter,aslongasoneoftheknobsislocatedinthisposition.

Important:Inordernottoloosenthesecondarymirrorcompletely,avoidrepeatedlyturninganyoneknobinthecounter-clock-wisedirection.

TocollimateanSCT,startbylookingatitfromthefrontofthetelescopetowardstheback.Inthemiddleofthecorrector,you'llfindathesecondarymirrorwiththreecollimationscrewsorknobs.

TheimagebelowshowsaschematicviewofthefrontofthesecondarymirrorwithcollimationscrewsrepresentedbycirclesA,B,andC(notethattheactuallabelsarenotimportant.Theyaretheretomakeiteasiertoidentifyaknobonthetelescope.Ifconvenient,youcanevenaddastickernexttoeachoftheknobstolabelthemwiththecorrespondingletter.Thiswillmakeiteasiertoidentifywhichknobtoturnwhenthetelescopeisrotatedorwhenyouarefacingitfrom

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andifficultangle):

ThetopoftheimagewillcoincidewiththetopoftheOTAandthetopofthesecondarymirror.TomatchtheknobstotheirpositionontheSCT,clickanddraganyoftheA/B/CcollimationknobsintheCollimationViewertorotatethemtoalignwiththetopofimage.

ThesametypeofalignmentprocedureappliestoanRC,MCT,oraNewtonian,althoughNewtonianmayrequirealittleexperimentationtodeterminewhichknobcorrespondstothetopoftheimage,sincethecameraispositionedata90degreeangletotheprimary.FortheRCorNewtonian,simplyimaginetheCollimationViewerknobdisplaytoshowthebackoftheprimary,withthethreeknobscontrollingthetip-tiltoftheprimarymirror.

Onceproperlyaligned,theCollimationViewerwillshowthecollimationerrordirectionandmagnitudeautomatically,assoonasanewimageisdownloadedfromthecamerausingyourconfiguredimageacquisitionsoftware.Tomakeacorrection,tryturningeachknobinturntoseewhichonereducesthecollimationerrornumberdisplayedinthemiddle.

Thedisplayshows:

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Themagnitudeofthecollimationerrorinthecenterofthedisplay

Thedirectionofthecollimationerrorshownbyalinefromthecenteroftheviewerdisplay.Thelineonlyshowsthedirectionoftheerror,nottheerrormagnitude.

Numberofstarsdetectedintheimage(showninthetitleoftheCollimationViewerwindow).ThesamerecommendationsapplytotheCollimationViewerasdofortheCurvatureMapViewer:50starsisaminimum,100+starsisrecommendedforamoreaccuratecollimationcomputation,andproperstarsamplingisrequired.

NotethattheCollimationViewerwindowcanbesizedtobebettervisiblefromadistance:simplyclickanddragonthebottom-rightcornerofthewindowtoincreaseordecreasethedisplaysize.Collimationviewercanbedisplayedatthesametimewiththereal-timeCurvatureMapdisplayforadifferentviewofthecollimationerror.

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Single(Defocused)StarCollimationMethod

DefocusedstarcollimationmethodisnewinCCDInspector2.1.0.Themain

differencesbetweenthepreviouslyavailablecollimationmethodinCCDInspectorandtheSingleStarCollimation(SSC)are:

Onlyone,centeredbrightstarisneededforSSCThestarmustbesufficientlyoutoffocus,soastofilloutacircleof

atleast40-100pixelsradius

ThestarmustbepositionedclosetotheimagecenterThestarmustbebeexposedwellenoughtogetagoodsignal-to-noise

ratio

Thismethodshouldlookfamiliartoanyonewhohasdonevisualcollimation

throughaneyepiece.ThemainadvantageofusingCCDInspectoristhatunliketheconventionalmethods,youcankeepyourcameraattachedtothetelescope,yourhandsandeyesnexttothecollimationscrewsandgetacontinuousandprecisenumericalread-outofcollimationerroranddirection.

QuickStart

Thefollowingdescribesallthestepsnecessarytostartcollimating.With

practice,thisprocesscantakeaslittleasfewminutes,evenwhenthescopeisfar

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outofcollimation.

1. Pointyourtelescopeatabrightstar,wellabovethehorizon.Amagnitude-2orhigherisrecommended,butlargeraperturetelescopesmayusedimmerstars.Adimstarcanstillbeused,butmayrequirealongerexposure.

2. Starttakingcontinuousimagesofthestarusingafocusroutineofyour

imageacquisitionsoftware:

-MakesuretheimageacquisitionsoftwareisproperlyselectedinSettings->CameraControlSoftwaremenuofCCDInspector-youcanbinthechip2x2oreven3x3.BinningincreasesS/Nratio,and

increasesdownload/processingspeed,soit'sdefinitelyrecommended-useautomaticdarksubtraction,ifthisoptionisavailableinthe

acquisitionsoftware-forbrightenoughstars,anexposureofonesecondcanbeplenty,especiallywithabinnedchip

3. StartthecollimationviewerfromReal-Time->Collimation->DefocusedStarCollimationViewermenuinCCDInspector

4. StarttheimageviewerfromReal-Time->Image

Viewermenu

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5. Positiontheimageviewerwindowandthecollimationviewerside-by-side,

soyoucanseebothatthesametime

6. Defocusthestarsothatitoccupiesaboutthesizeofthecirclenearthecenterintheimageviewer.Exactsizeisnotveryimportant,butitshouldbegreaterthanabout20pixelsradius,andnotsodefocusedsoastobecometoodim.CCDInspectorcanhandlestarsthesizeofabout90%ofthewholechip,andassmallas20pixelsradius.Ifthestaristoodim,ortoosmall,

CCDInspectorwilldisplayabrieferrormessageindicatingtheproblem.

7. Centerthestarasbestasyoucanusingyourtelescope'smovement

controls.Ifit'snotexactlyatthecenter,nobigdeal.But,ifitisreallyfaraway,theerrorsizeandthedirectionwillnolongerbeaccurate.-Thecircleatthecenteroftheimageviewerispositionedexactlyinthe

middle.-Thecrossmarksthecenterofthedefocusedstar.

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-Ideally,thecrossshouldbepositionednearthecenterofthecircle(in

theimageabove,itsawayfromthecenter,tothetopright)

8. TakeafewimagesandwatchtheCollimationViewerupdate.Eachtimethe

windowisupdated,itwillflashredforafewseconds,thenumberinthecenterwillchange,andthedirectionarrowwillbeadjusted

9. Yourgoalistoturnacollimationknobsothattheimageofthestar

movesinthedirectionthatthecollimationarrowispointing.

Thestarmovementdoesn'thavetobeexactlyinthisdirection,butshouldbeclose.Youcandeterminewhichknobtoturnbytrialanderror.

10. Afteryouturnthecorrectknob,youwillseetheimageofthestarshift

inthedirectionthearrowispointing.Inordertoreadtheupdated

collimationvalues,first,re-centerthestarusingyourtelescopecontrols

11. Waitafewsecondsaftermakingtheadjustmentforthetelescope

vibrationstodiedown,andthenwatchtheresultshownintheCollimationViewer.Theerrornumbershoulddecrease

12. Asthenumbergetssmaller,theamountofknobadjustmentneededalsogetssmaller.Witherrorvaluelessthanabout5,averylighttouchtotheknobintherightdirectionisallthatmaybeneeded.

13. Note:Ifthedirectionarrowkeepspointingindifferentdirectionsallbyitself,youropticsarealreadycollimatedtothebestpossiblelevelunderthecurrentseeingconditions:it'snotadvisabletoproceedanyfurther

14. Repeatsteps8-14untilthevalueinthemiddleisaslowaspossible,andwhilethedirectionarrowdoesnotjumparoundtocompletelydifferent

directions

15. Undergoodseeingconditions,itshouldbepossibletoreducetheerrortonearzero.

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CollimationViewer

ThesameCollimationViewerthatisusedforthemulti-starcollimation

methodinCCDInspectorisalsousedforOneStarCollimationmethod.Theviewerisareal-timedisplaythatprovidesanintuitiveguidetothecorrections

necessarytoachieveperfectcollimation.Thistoolusesinnovativeimage

processingandimagerecognitionalgorithms,

andshowstheresultinaformsuitabletoreal-timecollimation:

CollimationViewercanbestartedbyclickingontheReal-Time->Collimation->DefocusedStarCollimationViewermenuinCCDInspector.

Collimationviewershowsthethree-screw,tip-tiltcollimationarrangement

thatiscommonlyusedonSCT's,RC's,Newtonians,andotherstylesof

telescopes.Thisdisplayisformnemonicpurposes,tohelpyoukeeptrackofwhichknobdoeswhat.

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Important:Inordernottoloosenthe

secondarymirrorcompletely,avoidrepeatedlyturninganyoneknobinthe

counter-clock-wisedirection.Turningaknobcounter-clockwiseisequivalenttoturningtheothertwoknobsclock-wise.

TheViewerdisplayshows:

Themagnitudeofthecollimationerrorinthe

centerofthedisplay.Thisnumberisunit-less,anddoesn'tchangewithimagescaleortheamountthestarisdefocused

Thedirectionofthecollimationerrorisshown

byalinefromthecenteroftheviewerdisplay.Thelineonlyshowsthe

directionoftheerror,nottheerrormagnitude

Yourgoalistogettheerrornumberaslowaspossible.Onanightofgoodseeing,thisvaluecanbeloweredtonearlyzero.

NotethattheCollimationViewerwindowcanbesizedtobebettervisible

fromadistance:simplyclickanddragonthebottom-rightcornerofthewindowtoincreaseordecreasethedisplaysize.

ImageViewer

WhiletheCollimationViewerisdisplayed,theImageViewerdisplaywill

overlaytheimageofthestarwithsomeadditionalgraphics:

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TheAngleandErrordisplayatthetopshowthecollimationerror

numerically:theerrorvalueisthesamevalueasshownatthecenterofthecollimationviewer,whiletheangleistheangleindegreesoftheerror

direction(negativedegreesindicateclock-wisedirection,whilepositive

indicatecounter-clock-wise).

Thecrossindicatesthecenterofthestarimage,whilethelinecircle

indicatesthecenteroftheCCDchip.Asyoumakeadjustmentstocollimation,re-centerthestarbymovingthecrossclosertothecenterofthecircle.Theextralinecomingoutfromthecenterofthecircleisthecollimationdirectionarrow.Itpointsinthesamedirectionasthearrowinthecollimationviewer.

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HelpfulHints

Makesuretore-centerthestarifitmovesmorethanabout20pixelsawayfromthecameracenter.Theaccuracyofthemeasurementwillbeaffectedinsomeopticaldesigns(forexample,SCT)ifthestarisfarawayfromthe

center

Youcanuseasub-framemode,butleaveabackgroundborderofabout20-50

pixelsallaroundthedefocusedstar.Makesurethatthesubframeyouuseiscenteredonthechip,otherwisethecollimationaccuracywillbeaffected

Averybrightstarmayrequireshorterexposureand/ornobinning.Ifthe

exposureistoolong,therecouldbebrightbloominganddiffractionspikesaroundthestarthatcanaffectaccuracy.Toseeifthisisthecase,decreasethedisplayrangeoftheimagetomakethestarverybrightonthedisplay.Ifyouseesolidraysemanatingfromthetopandthebottom(sometimesleftandright)ofthestar,thentheexposureistoolong

Don'tmaketheexposuretimetooshort,either.Lessthan0.5secondsis

notrecommended,asthatwilloftenbeaffectedbyseeingchangesinthe

atmosphere.Bestresultswillbeachievedwithanexposurefrom0.5toabout2

seconds.

Payparticularattentiontothecollimationerrordirectionarrow:ifit

keepsjumpingbymorethan30-40degreesbetweenconsecutivemeasurements,thenyouhavereachedthelimitofwhatcanbedoneinthecurrentseeingconditions,regardlessofthevalueoftheactualerror.Undergoodseeingconditions,Ihavebeenabletolowerthecollimationerrortolessthan1.

Underpoorseeingconditions,theerrordirectionstartedgettingjumpyat

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around5.

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UsingCharts

Chartsfeatureisapowerfulanalyticaltoolthatallowsdirectcomparisonofvariousmeasuredvaluesfrommultipleimages.Anyofthenumericvaluescanbeusedinachart,whethercomputedorderivedfromtheimage.

Toinvokecharts,theimagesinthelistmustbemeasured,andCCDInspectorwillpromptifthisnotalreadydone.Allimagesinthelistareplottedonthechart.ChartsfeaturecanbeinvokedthroughtheAnalysis/ChartsmenuorbyclickingontheChartsbuttononthelowerleftpanelofthemainwindow.

ChartsdefaulttodisplayingFWHMvaluesovertime.Inthisway,onecanseethechangeinfocusortrackingoveranumberofimages.Anyofthenumericvaluescanbeselectedforthehorizontalaxis,andanyforthevertical.Inthisway,it'seasytofindacorrelationbetweendifferentvariablesinyoursystem.Eachpointonthechartrepresentsasingleimageandismarkedbyasmallrectanle.Ifyoumovethemouseovertherectangle,apopupwindowwillshow

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both,thevaluesforXandYaxisforthatimage,andtheimagefilename.

Herearesomeexamples:

AspectRatioplottedagainstAltitudecangiveanindicationofhowthemounttracksdependingonpositioninthesky:

Collimationplottedagainstaltitudeortimecangiveanindicationofmirrorflopinthesystem

XorYtiltovertimecanbeanindicatoroffocusersag,flexure,ormirrorflop

Backgroundbrightnessovertimecanindicatethetimeofthenightwhentheskyisdarkest

Changingcurvatureovertimealsoimplieschangingcollimationduetoflexureormirrorflop:

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UsingGenericCameraControlSoftware

CCDInspectorworksdirectlywithCCDSoftandMaxImDLtoacquireandprocessimagesinreal-time.Startingwithversion1.1itcanalsobeusedwithallothersoftwareacquisitionpackages,aslongastheyareabletoautomaticallysavecapturedimagesintoaspecificfolderinFITS,SBIG,TIFF,orDSLRRAWformats.

TousetheGenericcamerasupport:

SelectSettings/CameraControlSoftware/Generic...menucommand.

Youwillbepromptedtochosethedestinationfolderwheretheacquisitionsoftwarewillwriteoutcapturedimages.Pickanexistingemptyfolderorcreateanewone.

SelectRealTime/CurvatureMap...orRealTime/3DCurvaturePlotmenutobringupthereal-timeviewer.You'llbeaskedifyouwanttodeletetheimagesfromthespecifiedfolderaftermeasuring.SelectYesifyouarenotgoingtoneedtheimages:CCDInspectorwilldeletethemautomatically.SelectNoifyouwanttokeeptheimagesaftertheyhavebeenmeasuredbyCCDInspector.CCDInspectorwillonlyinspectnewfileswrittentothefolder,soyoucankeepolderimagesinthesamefolder.Now,starttheacquisitionsoftware,connecttothecamera,pointthe

telescopeintoastar-richportionoftheskynotfarfromzenith,andsetittoautomaticallysavealltheexposurestothesamefolderselectedfor

CCDInspectorGenericanalysis.

Next,starttaking10-30secondexposures.Aftereachexposureis

downloadedfromthecameraandsavedintothechosenfolder,CCDInspectorwillpickitup,loadandmeasureit,anddisplaythecorrespondingcurvaturemap.

IfyouchoseYestodeletetheimages,theimagewillberemovedfromthisfolderafterthemapisgenerated,otherwise,allimagescapturedbythecamera

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willremaininthisfolder.

Donotusetooshortofanexposure.Ashortexposureisnotverygoodfor

curvatureanalysis,andCCDInspectormaynothaveenoughtimetoprocessthefirstimagebeforethesecondoneisdownloaded.Asaresult,someimagesmaybeskipped.10-30secondsexposureshouldbelongenough,butmaydependon

thespeedofyourcomputer.

.

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SensorExtrapolationTool

TheSensorExtrapolationToolcanbeinvokedfromtheAnalysismenu.Thebasicfunctionofthetoolistoprovideanestimateofhowwellanopticalsystemwillperformwithadifferentsizesensorbyanalyzingimagestakenwithyourexistingcamera.Thetoolcontainsalonglistofdifferentcamerasandsensorchips,sotheappropriatecameracanbequicklyselectedfromthelist.Forexample,ifthecurrentcamerahasaKAF-3200chip,andtheuserisconsideringupgradingtoalarger,KAF-16803chip,somereasonablequestionsmaybe:

1.Howflatwillthefieldbeattheedgesoftheimage?Willthestarsbetoodefocusedinthecorners?WillIneedafieldflattener?2.Howmuchcomawilltherebeinthecorners?Howelongatedwillthestarsappearwiththenewchip?3.Howmuchlightfall-off(vignetting)willtherebewiththelargerchip?Willtheedgesandthecornersbesufficientlyilluminated?

Normally,toanswerallofthesequestionsonewouldhavetoborrow,steal,orbuythenewcameraandtryitoutontheexistingequipment.CCDInspectormakesthisprocessmucheasier(andcheaper!)Simplyacquireoneormoreimagesofawell-populatedstarfield,justliketheonesusedforCurvatureMap,Collimation,andanyotheranalysistoolsinCCDInspector.Ifyouhavesomeoldframes,thesewillworkjustaswell.

LoadtheimagesintoCCDInspector,selectoneormoreofthem,andthenclickontheAnalyze/SensorExtrapolationmenu(alsoavailablefromtheExtrapolate...buttononthemainscreen).Pickthedesiredmeasureyou'dliketoextrapolate:

FWHM(curvature)AspectRatioVignetting

CCDInspectorwilldisplayachartofthemeasureyouselected:

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Initialchartwillrepresentthemeasurementoftheexistingsystemandchipsize.ThecurrentchipisdisplayednexttotheChipSizelabel,attopleft.Notethatthesensor,KAF-3200haschipsizeof14.9mmx10mm.Theimagebelowrepresentsameasurementtakenalongalinefromthetoplefttothebottomrightofthesensor.Theverticalaxisrepresentsthemeasure(FWHMvalueabove),whilethehorizontalaxisrepresentspercentdistancefromthecenterofthechip.0%isatthechipcenter,while-100%isatthetopleftcorner,and+100%atthebottomright:

Notethatfromthechartabove,onecanseethatthere'saslighttilttotheimagethatmakesthestarsatthebottomright(100%mark)biggerthanthestarsatthe

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topleft(-100%).Overall,starsizesareabout8-10%largeratthecornersthantheyareatthecenter.Prettygoodperformance.

Now,let'sseewhatthesameopticalsystemwilldowiththelarger,KAF-16803sensor.ClickonthedownarrownexttoChipSize,andpickeitherthecamerabrandyouareconsidering,orthenameofthesensor:

AnalysischartwillnowdisplayFWHMvaluesasestimatedbyCCDInspectorforthenewsensorsize.Notethatthenewsensorissignificantlylarger,36.9x36.9mm,andissquareinsteadofrectangular.Fromthechartabove,itiseasytoseethatthestarsinthecornerswillbequiteabitlarger,about3.3arcsecondsFWHMontheaverage.Thisrepresentsa60%increaseinstarsizeatthecorners--muchmoreobviousthanthe8%measuredwiththesmallerchip.Lookslikeafieldflattenerwouldbeagoodideaforthissizechip!

CCDInspectorcanalsoestimatingstaraspectratioasitwouldappearonthenewchip.SimplychangeChart:typetoAspectRatio(%),andthechartontheleftwillbedisplayedfortheoriginalsensor:

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Notethataspectratioincreasestowardstheedges,probablyduetocomaandotheraberrationspresentinthesystem.FortheKAF-3200sensor,theincreaseisfairlynegligible,andaspectratioisunder15%forstarsallthewayinthecorners.Now,let'sseewhattheaspectratiosystemperformancewouldbewiththelargerchip.Thechartattherightshowsthattheestimatedaspectratioswillbenearly55%inthecorners!Thiswillbefairlynoticeableandso,acomacorrectorisverylikelyneededwhenupgradingtothelargersensor.

Similarly,onecananalyzetheamountoflightfall-offinthecornersoftheimage.SelectVignetting(%)fromtheChart:drop-downlist.Fortheoriginalimage,thechartwillbeshownin%oflightavailablealongthesamediagonallineasbefore:

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Fromthechartabove,it'seasytoseethatlightfall-offisabout15%inthecornersofthecurrentsensor.Althoughthat'sreasonablylarge,thisamountofvignettingiseasilyhandledbyagoodflatframeapplication.Now,let'sseewhatthelightfall-offwillbeforthelargerchip:

Wow!Thelargerchipwillhave0%illuminationinthecorners!That'saseriousproblemthatwillneedtobeaddressed!If30%isaboutthemaximumacceptablelevelofvignetting,thenonlyabout1/2ofthislargerchipwillbesufficientlyilluminated,judgingfromtheabovechart.

Page 78: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

UsingFlatFrameAnalysisTool

Flatframeanalysistoolprovidesaneasyquantitativewaytodeterminethedegreeofilluminationthroughoutanimageframe.

Thistoolcananalyzeimagescontainingastar-field,similartothekindthatwouldbeusedforcollimationusingCCDInspector,oratrueflatframeimage.

Forbestresults,don'tuseimagescontaininganyextendedobjects(nebulae,galaxies,denseglobularclusters).

Toanalyzeanimage,selectitinthemainwindowandclickontheAnalysis/FlatFrameAnalysismenu.Ifyourimagecontainsstars,theresultwilllooksomethinglikethis:

Thejaggedlinesindicatethepercentoflightfall-offfromthecenter.Forexample,linelabeled2%enclosestheareaoftheimagewherelightfall-offis

Page 79: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

lessthan2%.

Fromtheimageabove,it'sclearthatthelightfall-offforthissystemisabout5%-7%allthewayinthecornersofthesensor.Asyoumovethemouseacrosstheflatfieldanalysisimage,asmallpop-upwilldisplaytheamountoflightfall-offunderthecursor,andwillalsoshowhowfarawaythecursorisfromthecenteroftheimage.Intheimageabove,themousepointerisat60%awayfromcenter,andshowsthatatthatlocation,thevignettingisonlyat2%.

Inadditiontoseeingthepercentlightfall-off,thedisplayabovealsoshowshowfartheopticalilluminationcenterisfromthephysicalcenterofthechip.Thecenterofthechipismarkedbythe+symbol,whiletheopticalilluminationcenterbyX.

Animageofastarfieldcanalsobeanalyzedforvignetting.Proceedasbefore,byselectingtheimageandthenclickingonAnalyze/FlatFrameAnalysismenu.Theresultingimagemaylooksomethinglikethis:

Page 80: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Thesametypeofinformationisavailableinthisdisplayasintheonedescribedabove,althoughtheimageitselfrepresentsamathematicalapproximationoftheflatfield,computedbyevaluatingimagebackgroundatvariouspointsintheimage.

Page 81: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

AspectRatioMap

AspectRatioMapisanewtoolthathelpsvisualizestarselongationthroughouttheimage.Starscanbeelongatedforvariousreasons,includingcollimationerrors,imageplanetilt,andcoma.

AspectMapisaheat-map,similartotheCurvatureMap.But,insteadofassigningdifferentcolorstostarFWHMvaluesacrossthefield,AspectMapassignsdifferentcolorstoaspectratiosofthestarsacrossthefield.Blue,darkercolorsindicatelowaspectratiovalues,whilebrighter,reddercolorsindicatehigheraspectratios.

Page 82: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Inadditiontoaheat-mapdisplay,AspectRatioMapprovidesaminimumandmaximumaspectratiosfortheimage.TotalTiltvalueisanindicationofasymmetryinthedistributionofelongatedstars.Thetotaltiltshowstheamountofasymmetry,inpercent,andthedirectioninwhichtheaspectratiosincreasethemost.

Page 83: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDISPlug-inforCCDStack

AnewandexcitingdevelopmentinCCDInspector2istheinclusionofanadvanced,automatedimageregistrationmodulethatworksseamlesslywithCCDStack.Thismodule,CCDISwillonlyworkifboth,CCDStackandCCDInspectorareinstalledonthesamecomputer.

Imageregistrationistheprocessofadjustinganimagestacksothatalltheimagesareproperlyalignedtoabaseimage.Thiscaninvolvescalingtheimagestothesamedimensions,shiftingthemverticallyandhorizontally,andde-rotatingthemsoastoallowthemtobestacked.

WithoutCCDISregistrationprocesscanbetedious,andtheresultingregistrationmaynotbeasaccurate.Inaccuraciesinregistrationcanleadtoblurringandlossofresolutioninthestackedimage--somethingtobeavoidedatallcosts!CCDISusesanextremelyaccurateandsophisticatedalgorithmtofinduniquestarpatternsbetweenalltheimages,automatically!CCDISthenappliestheappropriatescalingfactor,de-rotation,andlinearoffsettoaligntheimagesinthebestpossibleway.CCDISwillalsofliptheimageifthehorizontalorverticalaxisarereversed.Generally,CCDISalignmentaccuracywillbebetterthan1/10ofapixel.Inmanycasesitisbetterthan1/30ofapixel!

CCDISplug-inisincludedandautomaticallyenabledduringtheinstallationofCCDInspector2.IfyoualreadyhaveCCDStackordecidetoinstallitlater,CCDISwillquicklybecomeyourprimarychoiceofregistrationmethods:

http://www.ccdware.com/products/ccdstack
Page 84: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Wheninstalled,CCDIStabwillbethefirsttabofavailableregistrationmethodsintheCCDStackRegistrationdialog.Therearenocomplicatedsettings:justclickalignalloralignthisbuttonstoperformthefullyautomaticregistration.Whendone,theresultsoftheregistrationwillbeshowninthelowerhalfofthedialog.Resultsforthisimagesectionshowstheregistrationstatisticsforthecurrentlyselectedimage.Aboveexampleindicatesthatatotalof325starswerechosenfortheregistrationprocess,andfromthese,a23-staruniquepatternwasidentifiedthatmatchedwiththebaseimage(baseimageisshownonthebottomofthedialog).TheRMSerrorshownistheaverageerroracrossall325stars,aftertheregistrationprocesscompletes.Thisisexpressedinpixels.Theaboveresultisverygood,showingthattheerrorisalmost1/50ofapixel!

TheonlyoptionintheCCDISRegistrationdialogistousehighprecision.ThisoptionmakesCCDISdomoreworkbyextractingmorestarsfromtheimage,andbylookingforthestarpatternforabitlonger.Theresultsareusuallysomewhatimprovedcomparedtothelow-precisionregistration.Highprecisionmodecantakeabitmoretime,butcanworkbetterespeciallyforimagesthatdonothavealargeoverlap,suchaswhendoingmosaics.IfCCDISisunabletofindamatchingstarpatterninthelow-precisionmode,itwillautomaticallyswitchto

Page 85: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

thehigh-precisionmodeandtryagain.Inmostcases,itissafetoleaveusehighprecisionoptionunchecked.

Onceregistrationcompletes,youcanseetheactualtransformationsettingsCCDISfoundforeachoftheimagesbyopeningtheManualtab:

Asyouselectdifferentimagesintheimagemanager,thevaluesintheManualtabwillchangetoshowtheCCDIS-determinedregistrationparameters.Intheexampleabove,theselectedimagewasshiftedoverby-69.13pixelshorizontally,237.52pixelsvertically,andwasrotatedby33degrees.Theimagescalewasfoundtobethesame,sothescalingfactor(Magnify)wassetto1.000.

NOTE:afterperformingregistrationandlookingatthecolordisplayinCCDStack,thestarsmayappeartobeslightlyoutofalignment,especiallyathighmagnification.Thisisbecausethedisplaycannotadjustimagesbyafractionofapixel,andisnotanindicationofCCDISerror.Onceyouapplytheregistrationtotheimages,thepositionerrorswilldisappear(exceptwhenusingtheNearestNeighborinterpolationmethod,thestarsalsocannotbeadjustedbylessthanawholepixel).

Page 86: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CCDISusesahighlyoptimized,efficientalgorithmtoperformpatternmatching.Itwillusemulti-core,ormulti-processorcomputerstoperformitsfunctionsevenfasterthanonasingleCPU.

Page 87: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

DSLRRAWFileSupport

CCDInspectorsupportsnativeRAWdigitalcameraformatscreatedbythecamerasshownbelow.

TheRAWformatcapabilityisbasedonthesourcecodeprovidedbyDavidCoffin,andonlysomehavebeentestedbyus.David'ssoftwareisverywellwritten,andweareconfidentthatalloftheformatslistedbelowwillwork.

Shouldyoufindaformatthat'slistedbutnotworking,pleaseletusknow.

AdobeDigitalNegative(DNG)

AgfaPhotoDC-833m

AppleQuickTake100

AppleQuickTake150

AppleQuickTake200

AVTF-080C

AVTF-145C

AVTF-201C

AVTF-510C

AVTF-810C

CanonPowerShot600

CanonPowerShotA5

CanonPowerShotA5Zoom

CanonPowerShotA50

CanonPowerShotA460

HasselbladV96C

ImaconIxpress16-megapixel

ImaconIxpress22-megapixel

ImaconIxpress39-megapixel

ISG2020x1520

KodakDC20

KodakDC25

KodakDC40

KodakDC50

KodakDC120

KodakDCS200

KodakDCS315C

KodakDCS330C

NikonE4500

NikonE5000

NikonE5400

NikonE5700

NikonE8400

NikonE8700

NikonE8800

NikonCoolpixP6000

NikonCoolpixS6

NokiaN95

OlympusC3030Z

OlympusC5050Z

OlympusC5060WZ

OlympusC7070WZ

Olympus

Page 88: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CanonPowerShotA530

CanonPowerShotA570

CanonPowerShotA590

CanonPowerShotA610

CanonPowerShotA620

CanonPowerShotA630

CanonPowerShotA640

CanonPowerShotA650

CanonPowerShotA710IS

CanonPowerShotA720IS

CanonPowerShotPro70

CanonPowerShotPro90IS

CanonPowerShotPro1

CanonPowerShotG1

CanonPowerShotG2

CanonPowerShotG3

CanonPowerShotG5

CanonPowerShotG6

CanonPowerShotG7

CanonPowerShotG9

CanonPowerShotG10

KodakDCS420

KodakDCS460

KodakDCS460A

KodakDCS520C

KodakDCS560C

KodakDCS620C

KodakDCS620X

KodakDCS660C

KodakDCS660M

KodakDCS720X

KodakDCS760C

KodakDCS760M

KodakEOSDCS1

KodakEOSDCS3B

KodakNC2000F

KodakProBack

KodakPB645C

KodakPB645H

KodakPB645M

KodakDCSPro14n

KodakDCSPro14nx

C70Z,C7000Z

OlympusC740UZ

OlympusC770UZ

OlympusC8080WZ

OlympusX200,D560Z,C350Z

OlympusE-1

OlympusE-3

OlympusE-10

OlympusE-20

OlympusE-30

OlympusE-300

OlympusE-330

OlympusE-400

OlympusE-410

OlympusE-420

OlympusE-500

OlympusE-510

OlympusE-520

OlympusE-620

OlympusSP310

Page 89: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CanonPowerShotS2IS

CanonPowerShotS3IS

CanonPowerShotS5IS

CanonPowerShotSD300

CanonPowerShotS30

CanonPowerShotS40

CanonPowerShotS45

CanonPowerShotS50

CanonPowerShotS60

CanonPowerShotS70

CanonPowerShotSX1IS

CanonPowerShotSX110IS

CanonEOSD30

CanonEOSD60

CanonEOS5D

CanonEOS5DMarkII

CanonEOS10D

CanonEOS20D

CanonEOS30D

CanonEOS40D

CanonEOS50D

KodakDCSProSLR/c

KodakDCSProSLR/n

KodakC330

KodakC603

KodakP850

KodakP880

KodakZ980

KodakZ1015

KodakKAI-0340

KonicaKD-400Z

KonicaKD-510Z

LeafAFi7

LeafAptus17

LeafAptus22

LeafAptus54S

LeafAptus65

LeafAptus75

LeafAptus75S

LeafCantare

LeafCatchLight

LeafCMost

OlympusSP320

OlympusSP350

OlympusSP500UZ

OlympusSP510UZ

OlympusSP550UZ

OlympusSP560UZ

OlympusSP570UZ

PanasonicDMC-FZ8

PanasonicDMC-FZ18

PanasonicDMC-FZ28

PanasonicDMC-FZ30

PanasonicDMC-FZ50

PanasonicDMC-FX150

PanasonicDMC-G1

PanasonicDMC-GH1

PanasonicDMC-L1

PanasonicDMC-L10

PanasonicDMC-LC1

PanasonicDMC-LX1

PanasonicDMC-LX2

Page 90: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CanonEOS300D/DigitalRebel/KissDigital

CanonEOS350D/DigitalRebelXT/KissDigitalN

CanonEOS400D/DigitalRebelXTi/KissDigitalX

CanonEOS450D/DigitalRebelXSi/KissDigitalX2

CanonEOS500D/DigitalRebelT1i/KissDigitalX3

CanonEOS1000D/DigitalRebelXS/KissDigitalF

CanonEOSD2000C

CanonEOS-1D

CanonEOS-1DS

CanonEOS-1DMarkII

CanonEOS-1DMarkIII

CanonEOS-1DMarkIIN

CanonEOS-1DsMarkII

CanonEOS-1DsMarkIII

CasioQV-2000UX

CasioQV-3000EX

CasioQV-3500EX

CasioQV-4000

LeafDCB2

LeafValeo6

LeafValeo11

LeafValeo17

LeafValeo22

LeafVolare

LeicaDigilux2

LeicaDigilux3

LeicaD-LUX2

LeicaD-LUX3

LeicaD-LUX4

LeicaV-LUX1

LogitechFotomanPixtura

MamiyaZD

Micron2010

MinoltaRD175

MinoltaDiMAGE5

MinoltaDiMAGE7

MinoltaDiMAGE7i

MinoltaDiMAGE7Hi

MinoltaDiMAGEA1

PanasonicDMC-LX3

Pentax*istD

Pentax*istDL

Pentax*istDL2

Pentax*istDS

Pentax*istDS2

PentaxK10D

PentaxK20D

PentaxK100D

PentaxK100DSuper

PentaxK200D

PentaxK2000/K-m

PentaxK-7

PentaxOptioS

PentaxOptioS4

PentaxOptio33WR

PentaxOptio750Z

PhaseOneLightPhase

PhaseOneH10

PhaseOneH20

PhaseOneH25

Page 91: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CasioQV-5700

CasioQV-R41

CasioQV-R51

CasioQV-R61

CasioEX-S20

CasioEX-S100

CasioEX-Z4

CasioEX-Z50

CasioEX-Z55

CasioEX-Z60

CasioEX-Z75

CasioExlimPro505

CasioExlimPro600

CasioExlimPro700

ContaxNDigital

CreativePC-CAM600

EpsonR-D1

Foculus531C

FujiFinePixE550

FujiFinePixE900

FujiFinePixF700

MinoltaDiMAGEA2

MinoltaDiMAGEA200

MinoltaDiMAGEG400

MinoltaDiMAGEG500

MinoltaDiMAGEG530

MinoltaDiMAGEG600

MinoltaDiMAGEZ2

MinoltaAlpha/Dynax/Maxxum5D

MinoltaAlpha/Dynax/Maxxum7D

MotorolaPIXL

NikonD1

NikonD1H

NikonD1X

NikonD2H

NikonD2Hs

NikonD2X

NikonD2Xs

NikonD3

NikonD3X

NikonD40

PhaseOneP20

PhaseOneP25

PhaseOneP30

PhaseOneP45

PhaseOneP45+

PixelinkA782

Polaroidx530

Rolleid530flex

RoverShot3320af

SamsungGX-1S

SamsungGX-10

SamsungS85

SamsungS850

Sarnoff4096x5440

SigmaSD9

SigmaSD10

SigmaSD14

Sinar3072x2048

Sinar4080x4080

Sinar4080x5440

SinarSTIformat

Page 92: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

FujiFinePixF710

FujiFinePixF800

FujiFinePixF810

FujiFinePixS2Pro

FujiFinePixS3Pro

FujiFinePixS5Pro

FujiFinePixS20Pro

FujiFinePixS100FS

FujiFinePixS5000

FujiFinePixS5100/S5500

FujiFinePixS5200/S5600

FujiFinePixS6000fd

FujiFinePixS7000

FujiFinePixS9000/S9500

FujiFinePixS9100/S9600

FujiIS-1

HasselbladCFV

HasselbladH3D

NikonD40X

NikonD50

NikonD60

NikonD70

NikonD70s

NikonD80

NikonD90

NikonD100

NikonD200

NikonD300

NikonD700

NikonD5000

NikonE700

NikonE800

NikonE880

NikonE900

NikonE950

NikonE990

NikonE995

NikonE2100

NikonE2500

SMaLUltra-Pocket3

SMaLUltra-Pocket4

SMaLUltra-Pocket5

SonyDSC-F828

SonyDSC-R1

SonyDSC-V3

SonyDSLR-A100

SonyDSLR-A200

SonyDSLR-A300

SonyDSLR-A330

SonyDSLR-A350

SonyDSLR-A700

SonyDSLR-A900

SonyXCD-SX910CR

STV680VGA

Page 93: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

NikonE3200

NikonE3700

NikonE4300

Page 94: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Definitions

Apointsourceoflight,suchastarilluminatesanumberofpixels

surroundingthecenterofthestar.Thecenterpixelisusuallythebrightest,withtheintensityofthepixelsfallingoffratherrapidlythefurtherawayonelooksfromthecenterpixel.Thefasterthelightfalls,thebetterthequalityandsharpnessofthestar.Thesloweritfalls,themorepixelsthestar

occupies,themorebloateditis,andthereforelessfocused.Tocomeupwithastandardizedwaytomeasurestarquality,independentofthebrightnessandmagnitudeofthestar,theFWHMmeasureisused.FWHMstandsforFull-WidthatHalf-Maximumandissimplythewidth(orthediameter)ofthecirclesurroundingthestarwheretheintensityhasfallenoffby50%fromthepeakvalue

(half-maximum).

FWHMcanbemeasuredinpixels,orinarcseconds.Pixelsisthe

defaultinCCDInspectorifthefocallengthandthepixelsizeofthecameracannotbedetermined.IftheseareknownandspecifiedinCCDSoft,CCDInspectorcanbeusedtoautomaticallyconvertpixelstoarcseconds.Thevalueinpixelsisdependentonboth,focallengthandpixelsize,andsocannotbeusedtodirectlycomparetwoimagesfromdifferentcameras,orfromdifferent

telescopes.Ontheotherhand,measurementinarcsecondsisindependentfromtelescopefocallengthorthecamerapixelsize,andcanbeusedfordirectcomparisonbetweendifferentinstruments.

LowerFWHMvaluesarebetter--meansthestarbrightnessfallsofffaster.

TherearemanyfactorsthatlimitjusthowlowanFWHMvalueonecanget.Someoftheseare:

1.Focus:telescopemustbewellfocusedtoproducedlowestpossibleFWHM.2..Collimation:poorcollimationwillleadtomorebloatedstarswith

higherFWHM

Page 95: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

3.Seeingconditions:atmosphereisoneofthemajorlimitingfactorseven

forprofessionalastronomers.Onagoodday,anaverageamateurwith

excellentopticsandcollimationcanhopeforFWHMof2"-2.5".Onrareoccasionsoratreallygreatlocations,theseeingcandiptoaslowas1.6"butnotmuchbelow.Moreoftenthannot,you'relikelytoseeFWHMinthe3"to4"range.

Anythingmuchabove4"isusuallyasignaltogoinsideandwatchsomeTV--theseeingisreallypoor.4.Trackingandguiding:FWHMofastarinalongexposurecanbemuchgreaterthanFWHMofthesamestarinareallyshortexposure.Thishappensbecausetheairmasseskeepmovingcausingseeingfluctuationsduringlongexposures,andguidersandmountsusuallyhavesmallerrorsthataddupoveralongperiodtosmearthestarabitmore.

AspectRatio:Aspectratiorepresentshowmuchout-of-roundthestarimageis.Itistheratioofthelongestaxistotheshortestaxisofthestarprofile,expressedinpercent.Anumberbelow20-30%representsaprettyroundstar.Anumberof0%representsperfectlyroundstar,butyouwillmostlikelynotseethisinrealimagesduetonoiseandmeasurementuncertainty.

Page 96: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

ImageHeaderKeywordsUsedbyCCDInspector

Keyword UsedIn UsedFor

FOCALLENCCDInspector,FWHMMonitor

Imagescaledetermination

XPIXSZYPIXSZ

CCDInspector,FWHMMonitor

Imagescaledetermination

PEDESTALCCDInspector,FWHMMonitor

Toremovefixedpedestalfromtheimage

EGAINE-GAINE_GAIN

CCDInspector,FWHMMonitor Forreportingpurposes

DATE-OBS CCDInspector Dateandtimeoftheexposure

CENTALTOBJCTALT

CCDInspector Altitudeoftheexposure

CCD-TEMPTEMPERAT

TEMPERATURECCDInspector Temperatureofthesensor

EXPTIMEEXPOSURE CCDInspector Imageexposurelength

Page 97: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

XBINNINGCCDXBIN

CCDInspector Imagebinningmode

Page 98: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

FAQ

FrequentlyAskedQuestion(FAQ):

1.Question:Mynon-USkeyboarddoesnotallowmetoselectmultipleitemsintheCCDInspectorimagelist.WhatshouldIdo?

Answer:ThisisaknownissuewithsomeinternationalconfigurationsofWindows.Toworkaroundthis,gototheCCDInspectorFile/SettingsmenuandclickontheUseCheckboxesoptionnearthebottomofthemenu.

Youshouldnowseecheckboxesappearnexttoallitemsintheimagelist.Toselectmultipleimagessimplyplaceacheckmarknexttoeachbyclickingonthecorrespondingcheckbox:

TherestoftheCCDInspectorfunctionalitywillremainthesame.

2.Question:SomeoftheimagesarereportingFWHMvaluesthataretoolow,orAspectRatiovaluesthataretoohigh.What'swrong?

Answer:ImageswithalotofnoisemayfoolthenoiserejectionfilterinCCDInspectorandforceittomeasuresomehotpixelsasstars.Toreducethechanceofthishappening,measureimagesthathavealreadybeenreducedwithadark-framesubtraction,orletCCDInspectorsubtractadarkframeasdescribedinstepQuickStarttopic..

3.Question:Iselect"InArcseconds"option,buttheFWHMisstillshowninpixels.What'swrong?

Page 99: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

Answer:Imagesarenormallysavedwithheaderscontaininginformationaboutpixelsizeandfocallengthofthetelescope.Iftheimageyouaremeasuringdoesnotcontainthisinformation,CCDInspectorwillbeunabletodeterminetheconversionfactorfrompixelstoarcseconds,andwilldefaulttodisplayinpixels.Checkyourimageacquisitionsoftwaretomakesurethatthefocallengthisproperlyspecifiedforallnewimages.

4.Question:"CCDInspectorlooksverymuchlikeanotherproductIsawrecently"

Answer:Yes!CCDInspectoristhenextgenerationoftwoproductsreleasedearlierthisyear:StarSieveandCFWHM.BothproductsarefullycontainedinCCDInspector,butCCDInspectorisamajorstepforwardinfunctionality,providingthree-dimensionalcurvatureplots,comparisoncharts,backgroundandcontrastmeasurement,supportforMaxImDL,configurablecolumns,real-timecollimation,andmuch,muchmore!

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FileMenu

Open

Selectimagesforanalysisandcharting.UsetheFilesTypedrop-downtoselectthetypeofimagesyouarelookingfor.SBIG,FITS,andTIFFformatfilesaresupportedbyCCDInspector.Multipleimagescanbeselectedatonce.

Ifyou'dliketopickimagesfrommultiplefolders,selectimagesfromfirstfolderfirstandclickOpen.Then,clickonOpen...menuagain,changedirectory,andpickmorefilestoadd.

AutoOpen

Selectafolderofimagestobemeasuredandmonitoredinreal-time.CCDInspectorwillloadandmeasureallexistingimagesinthefolder.What'smore,itwillcontinuallymonitorthefolderforanynewimages.Assoonasnewimage(s)areaddedtothefolder,thesewillautomaticallybeaddedtothelistandmeasuredaswell.Thisallowsonetomonitoralldownloadsfromacamera,andhavethemautomaticallymeasuredassoonastheyaresavedbytheimagecapturesoftware.TheimagescanbeinanyoftheformatssupportedbyCCDI,includingRAW.Tostoptheautomaticmonitoring,clickonAutoOpenagaintouncheckit.Topickadifferentfolder,uncheckAutoOpenfirst,thencheckitagain.Whenprompted,pickthenewfolder.

CopyReporttoClipboard

Measurestheimages,iftheyarenotmeasured,andcopiestheresultintoatabulatedformatontoWindowsClipboard.Thisreportcan

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thenbepastedintoadocument,spreadsheet,oratextfile.

Exit QuitCCDInspector

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ImagesMenu

View DisplaysoneormoreselectedimagesintheirownViewerwindows.

ViewStars

Displaysoneormoreselectedimages,placingcirclesaroundallthestarsthatwerepickedforFWHMmeasurementandcurvatureanalysis.Thesemaynotbeallthestarsintheimage,asCCDInspectorrejectsstarsbasedonmultiplecriteria:saturation,aspectratiodistortion,S/N,etc.

ViewImageHeader

Displaysaviewerwiththelistofallthekeywordsandvaluesfromtheimageheader.

RemoveRemoveselectedimagesfromCCDInspectorwindow.Theactualimagefilesarenotaffectedbythisoperation.

MovetoFolder

Allowsselectedimagestobemovedtoanotherfolder.Imagefileswillbephysicallymovedfromonefoldertotheonespecified.

CopytoFolder

Allowsselectedimagestobecopiedtoanotherfolder.Imagefileswillremainintheoriginalfolder,andtheircopieswillbecreatedintheonespecified.

CheckAll

Selectallimagefiles

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UncheckAll

Unselectallimagefiles

CheckAllItemsWithinLimits

SelectallimagesthatarewithinthespecifiedlimitsettingsunderLimitAlerts(imagesdisplayedinblack).ThisoptiononlyworksifLimitAlertcheckboxischeckedonthemainCCDInspectorwindow.Aftertheimageareselected,theycanbeoperatedonbyanyofthecommandsabove,suchasRemove,Move,Copy,etc.

InvertCheckedItems

Unselectallselectedimages,andselectallunselectedimagesinthelist(invertselection)

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AnalysisMenu

MeasureAll

CCDInspectorattemptstomeasureeveryimageinthelist.FWHM,Aspectratio,andmanyothervaluesarecomputed.Ifanyofthefollowingcolumnsareselectedinthedisplay,additionalcomputationwillbeperformedtodetermineimagecurvature:

Collimation

Curvature

TiltinX

TiltinY

Ifnoneofthesecolumnsareselected,thecurvaturecomputationwillnotbeperformed,resultinginfastermeasurementofallimages.

CurvatureMap

Computeanddisplaycurvaturemapfortheselectedimages.Ifmorethanoneimageisselected,allwillbeusedinthecurvaturecomputation,resultinginanaveragecurvaturemap.Inordertogetbestresults,theimagesmustbeofsimilarFWHMandsimilarexposurelength,andofthesame(orverynear-by)portionofthesky.

Forapropercurvaturemap,theimage(s)mustcontainsufficientnumberofwell-exposed,butnotsaturatedstarstomeasure.Thestarsshouldbereasonablyevenlyspreadoutthroughthefieldofview.Forbestresults,avoidanyreallybrightobjectsinthefieldofview,suchasgalaxies,brightnebulae,orglobularclusters.

ShowthesameinformationaspresentedintheCurvatureMap,butina3dimensionaldisplay.The3-DViewershowsthecurvatureinperspective,andprovidescontrolstorotate,tilt,and

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3-DPlot

zoominandout.

Usingthemouse,clickdownontheleftbuttonand:

Movemouseupanddowntotiltbackandforward

Movemouseleftandrighttorotateimage

Usethemousetrack-wheeltozoominandout,orholddowntheCtrlkeyonthekeyboardandmovemouseupordowntozoominorout.

AspectMap

AspectMapisaheat-map,similartotheCurvatureMap.But,insteadofassigningdifferentcolorstostarFWHMvaluesacrossthefield,AspectMapassignsdifferentcolorstoaspectratiosofthestarsacrossthefield.Blue,darkcolorsindicatelowAspectMapvalues,whilebrighter,reddercolorsindicatehigheraspectratios.Aspectratioofastarisanindicationofhowelongatedthestaris.Therefore,AspectMapcaneasilyshowcoma(aspectratioincreasesoutwardsfromthecenter).

Providesananalyticaltootomeasureimagequalitybasedonalargenumberofmeasuredvalues.Chartswindowusesallimagesinthelistasdatapointstoplot.YouhavefullcontrolovertheXandYaxisofthechart.Thefollowingvariablescanbeselectedforeitheraxis:

FWHM

AspectRatio

AirMassIndex

BackgroundBrightness

ImageScale

FocalLength

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Charts

PixelSize

CameraGain

ContrasttoNoiseRatio

Totalstarsusedinanalysis

Altitudeoftheimage

Dateandtimeoftheimage

Curvatureamount

Collimationerror

TiltinX

TiltinY

Chartwindowcanberesizedtoseemoredetails.Eachpointplottedonthecharthasasmallrectanglesurroundit.Ifamouseispositionedovertherectangle,atooltipwilldisplaywithboth,theXandYvaluesforthedatapoint,andtheimagefilenameassociatedwithit.

Morethanonechartviewercanbedisplayedatthesametime,ifdesired..

SensorExtrapolation

SensorExtrapolationoptionestimatescurvature,vignetting,andstaraspectratiosastheywouldappearonadifferentsizesensor.Theestimationisdonebyanalyzinganimageusingaknownsensorsize,andthenprojectingtheresulttoadifferentsensor.YoucanquicklyestimatewhetherthecurvaturewillbetoomuchonthatlargerDSLRchip,orifthelightfall-offwillbetooextremebeforebeforespendingthemoney.Thechoicesare:

FWHMAspectRatio

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Vignetting

FlatFrameAnalysis

FlatFrameAnalysiscreatesacontourdisplaywithlinesdelineatingpercentagechangesinlightfalloff.Thisallowsforaquickdeterminationofhowmuchvignettingispresentinthesystem,andhowmuchispresentatdifferentdistancesfromtheimagecenter.OpticalIlluminationcenterisalsomarkedtodemonstrateanoffset,ifany,thatmayexistbetweenthechipcenter,andtheilluminationcenter.

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Real-TimeMenu

CurvatureMap

Createsareal-timeviewerwindowtomeasureanddisplaythecurvatureofeveryimageasitisacquiredfromthecamera.Tostartreal-timemeasurement,followthesesteps:

ChoosethecorrectcameraacquisitionsoftwareforyousetupundertheSettingsmenu(CCDSoftorMaxImDL)

Ifthecameracontrolsoftwareisnotalreadystarted,startitasusual

Startacquiringimagesusingthemainimagerchip.

Aseachimageisdownloadedfromthecamera,CCDInspectorwillautomaticallymeasureitanddisplaythecurvaturemapbasedonitscontent.

Withthecross-hairshowingthedifferencebetweentheopticalcenterandphysicalcenteroftheimage,Real-TimeCurvatureMapmakesiteasyandprecisetocollimateatelescope,withoutaneyepiece.

Ifthestarfieldbeingimageddoesnotcontainenoughstars,CCDInspectorwilldisplayawarningmessagethatthecurvaturemapmaynotbeaccurate.

3-DCurvatureMap

Createsareal-timeviewerwindowtomeasureanddisplay3-Dplotofthecurvatureofeveryimageasitisacquiredfromthecamera.Followthesamestepstostarttheacquisitionprocessasin

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theCurvatureMapdescriptionabove.

Collimation

Multi-StarCollimationViewer

DisplaystheCollimationViewerwindowforreal-timecollimation.FollowthesamedirectionstostartcollimatingasinthesectiononCurvatureMapabove.

DefocusedStarCollimationViewer

DisplaystheSingleStarCollimationViewerwindowforreal-timecollimation.

ImageViewer

DisplaysImageViewer.Updatestoshowthelatestimagecapturedbythecamera.DarksubtractionandDebayering(ifconfiguredinDefaultImageProperies)willbeautomaticallyapplied.

ImagestoAverage

Selecthowmanyreal-timeimageswillbeusedtocreateeachcurvatureor3-Dmap.CCDInspectorwillwaitforthisnumberofimagestobecapturedbeforecomputinganddisplayingthecurvaturemap.If1isselected,thennoaveragingwillbedone.Averagingprocessallowsamoreaccurateassessmentofcurvatureandcollimationtobemadebyincludingstarsfrommultipleexposures.Starsdonothavetobealignedbetweenframes:someshiftisevendesirablebetweenframes,asitwillyieldmoreinformationaboutthecurvatureoftheentireimage.

DisplaystheFWHMMonitortool.ThistoolcanalsobeinvokeddirectlyfromtheDesktopicon,orfromtheCCDInspectorStartmenu.FWHMMonitorprovidesreal-timemeasurementofthefollowing:

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FWHMInspector

ImageFWHM

ImageAspectratio

Half-FluxDiameter(HFD)

PeakValue

StarCentroidError

FWHMerrorduetoseeingfluctuations

Inaddition,anumberofreal-timerunningchartsareprovidedfordisplayofallofthesevaluesinreal-timeorasamovingaverage.

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Settings

DefaultImageProperties

Setthedefaultimagescale,saturationlevelandmonochrome/coloroptionsforallimageswhereitcannotbedetermined.

Theimagescalewillbeusedinallcaseswherethearcsecondsunitsareusedfordisplay,andtheimageheaderdoesnotcontaineitherthefocallengthorpixelsizekeywords.

Saturationlevelsetsthecut-offlevel,inADU,beyondwhichastarwillbeconsideredsaturated.Saturatedstarshavedistortedshapes,andtheirFWHMandstarprofilescannotbeaccuratelydetermined.Formostrawimagesfrom16-bitCCDsensors,thedefaultvalueof45000isareasonablecut-offlevelandshouldnotneedtobechanged.

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SensorTypedefaultstoMonochrome.Ifyouareusingasingle-shotcolorsensorwithaBayermatrix,selectBayerMatrixinstead.ThiswillhelpCCDInspectortoremovetheeffectsoftheBayerfiltermatrixtomoreaccuratelycomputestarprofiles.

PixelSizecanbespecified,forexample,forDSLRorwebcamsensors,wherethisinformationisnotavailablefromtheFITSheader.Non-squarepixelsizecanbespecifiedbyenteringdifferentwidthandheight.

ChosethecolumnsdisplayedinthemainwindowofCCDInspector.Onceselected,anyofthedisplayedcolumnscanbeusedtosorttheimagelistinascendingordescendingorderofvaluesforthatcolumn.Theavailablechoicesareshownbelow.

Toselectcolumnsfordisplay,highlightoneormorecolumnnamesinthelistontheleft(AllAvailableColumns)andclickthe>>button.Tounselectacolumn,highlightitinthelistontheright,andclick<<button.Torearrangetheorderofcolumns,

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highlightacolumnintheDisplayedColumnslist,anduseMoveUporMoveDnbuttonstorepositionit.TorestorethecolumnstodefaultCCDInspectorsettings,clicktheDefaultbutton.

(FITSKeyword...)allowstheselectionofanyvaluesavailableintheFITSimageheaderfordisplayandsorting.Whenselected,thefollowingdialogwillbedisplayed:

Chosethedesiredkeywordfromthedrop-down,ortypeacustomkeywordin,selectDatatype(textornumeric)andthecaptiontouseforthecolumndisplay.Ifpresent,thevalueofthiskeywordwillbeautomaticallydisplayedinCCDInspectormaindisplayforeachimage.

AirMassindex:specifiestheamountofairtheshotwasmadethrough,ascomparedtotheamountofairwhenshootingstarlightatzenith.Atzenith,thevalueforAirMassis1.0,andatAltitude0itis40.GreatervalueofAirMassindexindicatesgreateratmosphericdistortionduetoscatter,refraction,andseeingeffects.

Altitude:thisistheAltcoordinateofwheretheimagewasacquired,indegrees.Thisvalueisderivedfromtheimageheader

BinMode:binningmodeofthedetectorthatwasusedfor

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DisplayColumns

thisimage

AspectRatio(%):theaspectratioofanaveragestarintheimage.Aspectrationumberisagoodindicationofhowfaroutofroundthestarsare,possiblyduetotrackingerrorsorotherdistortions

Background(adu):Backgroundbrightness,inaduunits.Thisrepresentsanaveragebackgroundoftheimage.Thiscanbeagoodindicationofhowbrighttheskywasduringtheexposure

Collimation:errorincollimation,expressedinarcsecondsorpixels.Distancebetweenopticalandphysicalcentersattheimageplane.

ContrastRatio:actually,Contrast-to-Noiseratio.Thisisagoodindicatorofsignalqualityintheimagesbeingcompared.Forexample,amountofsignalcanbedirectlycomparedbetweenimagesacquiredthroughdifferentcolorfilters.ThehighertheCNR,themoresignal,andlessnoiseandthedarkerthebackgroundintheimage.

Curvature:expressedin%:theamountofdefocusbetweencenterandedgeoftheimage,normalizedtoavaluethatisindependentoftheactualFWHMvaluesintheimage.Agoodindicationofhowdefocusedthestarsareattheedgeofthefieldcomparedtothecenterduetocoma,sphericalaberration,etc.

Date&Time:dateandtimeoftheexposure,asreportedintheheaderoftheimage.Thisvalueisconvertedtothelocal

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timezoneconfiguredonthecomputer.

Exposure:exposurelength,inseconds

FocalLength(mm):focallengthoftheinstrumentusedtoacquiretheimage.Thisisderivedfromtheimageheader.

Folder:folderwheretheimagefileresides

FullPath:fullpathtotheimage,includingthefilename

FWHM:expressedinarcsecondsorpixels.AverageFWHMvaluederivedfromtheimage.

Gain(e-/adu):gainofthecamera.Derivedfromimageheader.

ImageFile:nameoftheimagefile,withoutthefolder

PixelSize(um):pixelsizeofthecamera,inmicrons.Derivedfromimageheader.

Scale("/pix):imagescaleinarcsecondsperpixel.Derivedfromimageheaderfocallengthandpixelsizeparameters,or,ifnotpresent,fromthedefaultimagescalesettingforCCDInspector.

StarsUsed:numberofstarsCCDInspectorusedinmeasuringFWHM,AspectRatio,Curvature,etc.Thisisnottheactualnumberofstarsintheimage,asCCDInspectorcanrejectstarsasunsuitableformeasurementduetosaturation,lowsignal-to-noiseratio,orotherdistortions.

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Temperature:sensortemperatureusedforthisimage

TiltinX:theamountofdefocus,inarcsecondsorpixels,fromlefttorightsideoftheimage.

TiltinY:theamountofdefocus,inarcsecondsorpixels,fromtoptobottomoftheimage.

CameraControlSoftware

ChosethecameraacquisitionsoftwarethatCCDInspectorwillusewithalltheReal-Timemonitors.Thesupportedsoftwarepackagesare:

CCDSoftfromSoftwareBisque

MaxImDLfromDiffractionLimited

Genericimageacquisitionsoftware

Ifyouarenotgoingtousereal-timefeaturesofCCDInspector,usethedefaultsettingofCCDSoft.

Genericsupportprovidesreal-timesupportforanycameraandacquisitionsoftwarethatallowsFITS,SBIG,orTIFFformattedimagestobeautomaticallywrittentoaspecifiedfolderontheharddisk.Assoonasanimageiscaptured,andsavedtotheselectedfolder,CCDInspectorwillautomaticallyretrieveandanalyzethisimage.You'llhaveachoiceofselectingwhetherthemeasuredimageiskeptinthefolder,ordeletedaftermeasurement.

UseCheckboxes

ChangesthemainCCDInspectorwindowlisttodisplaycheckboxesnexttoeachoftheimages.Toselectimagesforanyoperationwillthenrequireplacingacheckmarknexttothedesiredimage(s).ThisisnecessaryinsomeinternationalversionsofWindows,wherethelistcontrolusedinCCDInspectordoesnot

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allowmultipleselection.

CollimationScrewDirection

Setsthedirectionthatthecollimationscrewsmovethemirrorsurface.UsedbyCollimationViewer.Theoptionsare:

Clock-Wise=Pull(Default)

Clock-Wise=Push

ThedefaultsettingisappropriateformostcommercialSCT's,RC'sandNewtoniantelescopeswhencollimatingtheprimaryorthesecondarymirrors.ChangingthisselectionreversestherecommendeddirectiontoturnthecollimationscrewintheCollimationViewer.

NoiseThreshold

Setsthenoisethresholdtousewhenselectingstarsformeasurement.Theoptionsare:

Low(default)

Medium

High

Thissettingallowsforbetterstarselectioninsomenoisysensors,suchasCMOS-based,uncooleddetectors.Toallowbetterdiscriminationbetweennoiseandstarsforsuchsensors,settheNoiseThresholdtoMedium.Ifnoiseisstillselectedasstars,increasethethresholdtoHigh.

FormostCCD-basedcooledsensors,thesettingshouldbeleftatthedefaultLow.

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HelpMenu

CCDInspectorHelp

Displaysthishelpfile

CheckforUpdates

Setupautomaticcheckfornewsoftwareupdates,orcheckfornewupdatesrightnow.Whenanewupdateisavailable,CCDInspectorwillinformyouofthisfact,andallowyoutodownloadandinstallthenewversion.NotethatifCCDInspectorisalreadyrunning,itwillbeclosedbeforeinstallationwillbegin:

Now!--checkifnewupdatesareavailablerightnow.Iftheyare,you'llbepromptedtoseeifyouwanttodownloadandinstallthem

Never--disableautomaticchecksfornewsoftwarereleases

EveryTime--automaticallycheckfornewsoftwarereleaseseverytimeCCDInspectorisstarted

OnceaDay--automaticallycheckfornewsoftwarereleasesonlythefirsttimeeachdaythatCCDInspectorisstarted

Every5Days--automaticallycheckfornewsoftwarereleaseseveryfivedays

Every10Days--automaticallycheckfornewsoftwarereleaseseverytendays

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Every30Days--automaticallycheckfornewsoftwarereleaseseverythirtydays

AboutCCDInspector

DisplaytheAboutbox,withsoftwareversionnumberandcopyrightnotice.

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FWHMMonitorforCCDInspector

MeasureandPlotInReal-TimeAnyStar,AnySub-Frame,AnyImage:

FWHM,HFD,ASPECTRATIO,FLUX,CENTROID,PEAKVALUEandMORE!

FWHMMonitorisdesignedtoworkseamlesslywithCCDSoftandMaxImDLtoprovidethesefunctions,alongwithanumberofotherusefultoolstoestimateseeing,imagequality,andtracking,andguidingperformance.

FWHMMonitorcanhelpperformthefollowingfunctions:

1.Real-timefocusingusingFull-Width-at-Half-Maximum(FWHM),PeakValue,Half-FluxDiameter(HFD),andotherdisplaystatistics2.SeeingconditionsestimationbymeasuringFWHMorHFDofastar3.Focusqualitymonitoringduringalongexposurebymeasuringthequalityofthestarimageontheautoguiderchip4.Fastandeasywaytoevaluatethequalityofalongexposurecontainingmultiplestarsandextendedobjects5.MeasureFWHMoranumberofotherstatisticsofaspecificstarintheimagebyselectingitinCCDSoft6.Aneasyandobjectivewaytosortanumberofexposuresbysharpness.

Therearemanyotheruses.Forexample,theeccentricitymeasurementallowsonetoevaluatethecomadistortionofastarneartheedgeofthechipcomparedtotheoneinthecenter.Thestarprofileplotallowsonetoseeataglancewhetherthestarissaturated,orhasreachedthenon-linearregionoftheCCDchip,orhasbeendistortedinsomewaybypoorguidingorpoorlyadjustedoptics.

FWHMMonitorcontainssomeverysophisticatedalgorithmstoprovidethemostaccuratemeasurementpossible,whileignoringspuriousdata,noise,andartifacts.

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UsingFWHMMonitor

FWHMMonitorapplicationcanbestartedorclosedasneeded.Youdon'thavetoshutdownandrestartCCDSoftorMaxImDL--FWHMMonitorwillautomaticallyconnecttotherunninginstanceoftheconfiguredapplication.Thepanelposition,sizeandselectedoptionsarerememberedbetweensessions.IftwoinstancesofthePanelarestarted,onlyonewillreceivereal-timeupdatesfromthecamera.

Double-clickontheFWHMMonitoricononthedesktoptolaunch:

FWHMMonitor

Thepanelwillfloatontopofyourimageacquisitionsoftware.Ifyouwillbefocusingandstandingfarawayfromthemonitor,simplydragthebottomrightcornerofthepanelwindowtoincreaseitssize.Thetextsizewillincreaseinproportiontothesizeofthewindow.Ifdesired,thepanelcanbestretchedtooccupythesizeofthefullscreen.

Thedisplaypanelisdesignedtobeassimpletouseaspossible,andaseasytoseeinthedarkandfromadistance.Ifyouwouldliketoseetheprofileplotofthestarorarunningreal-timechart,clicktheexpandbutton">>"attheright:

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Therearesomeadditionalstatisticsshownbelowtheprofileplot:FWHMvalue,Aspectratio,Peakvalue,andcentroidcoordinates.Aspectratioindicateshowfarout-of-roundthestarimageis.Forexample,astarthat'selongatedduetotrackingerror,orcoma,willexhibitmuchhigheraspectratio.Theratioisexpressedin%.A9%outofroundmeansthatthelongeraxisofthestaris1.09timeslongerthantheshortaxis.Usuallyavaluebelow30%orsoisnearlyinvisible,buttheelongationbecomesmoreobviousastheratioincreases.

Theverticallineinthemiddleoftheplotpointstothelocationofthecentroid.Thecoordinatesofthecenterofthestar,expressedinCCDpixels,areshowninparenthesisattherightas(x,y).

YouhaveachoiceofdisplayunitinFWHMMonitor:thevaluescanbedisplayedinarcsecondsorpixels.SimplyplaceacheckmarknexttoInArcsecsoptionifyou'dliketoseethedisplayinarcseconds,anduncheckittoseeitinpixels:

Clickonthelabelnexttothesecondnumber(theoneshowingAvg(3)intheabovephoto)toseeadditionalchoicesofvaluesthatcanbedisplayedinadditiontoFWHM:

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Oncethechartwindowisopenedwiththe">>"button,clickinganywhereonthechartwilldisplayamenuwithanumberofdifferentoptions.Theseallowtheselectionofwhatvaluestodisplay,whethertoaveragethemornot,andhowmanyvaluestokeeponarunningchart:

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SelectingCameraControlSoftware

FWHMMonitorworkswithCCDSoftversion5andMaxImDLversions3,and4.Tosettheacquisitionsoftwareyouuse,clickonthecontrolmenuatthetopleftoftheFWHMmonitorwindow:

ClickonFWHMMonitorSettings...,andpickthedesiredcontrolsoftwarefromthedrop-downlist::

GenericCaptureSoftware

CCDInspectorworksdirectlywithCCDSoftandMaxImDLtoacquireand

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processimagesinreal-time.Itcanalsobeusedwithallothersoftwareacquisitionpackages,aslongastheyareabletoautomaticallysavecapturedimagesintoaspecificfolderinFITS,SBIG,orTIFFformats.

TouseGenericcamerasupport,selectGeneric...CameraControlSoftwarefromthedrop-downlist..Youwillbepromptedtochosethedestinationfolderwheretheacquisitionsoftwarewillwriteoutcapturedimages.Pickanexistingemptyfolderorcreateanewone.Next,youwillbepromptedwhetherimagesaretobeautomaticallydeletedafterbeingprocessed.IfyouchoseYestodeletetheimages,theimagewillberemovedfromtheselectedfolderafteritsmeasurementsaredisplayedbyFWHMMontior,otherwise,allimagescapturedbythecamerawillremaininthisfolder.

Now,setupyouracquisitionsoftwaretoautomaticallywriteoutFITS,TIFF,orSBIGformatfilesintothesamefolderyouselectedinFWHMMonitor.Theimagescanbefull-frame,orsub-frameforfasterfocusingpurposes.

Sub-secondexposuremayresultinnotenoughtimeforFWHMMontiortoprocesstheimagebeforethenextimageisdownloaded.Asaresult,someimagesmaybeskipped.Afewsecondssecondsexposureshouldbelongenough,butmaydependonthespeedofyourcomputer.IfyoufindthattheimagesarebeingwrittenfasterthantheyarebeingprocessedbyFWHMMonitor,simplyincreasetheexposuretime,oraddasmalldelaybetweentheexposuresinyourcapturesoftware.

.

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SelectingDefaultImageScale

TosetthedefaultimagescaletobeusedbyFWHMmonitorifthescaleisnotprovdedbythecameraacquisitionsoftware,clickontheFWHMcontrolmenuatthetopleftofthewindow:

ClickonFWHMMonitorSettings...,andentertheactualimagescaleformainimagerand/orautoguiderforyourconfiguration:

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DisplaySettings

FWHMMonitorhasanautomaticdisplaymodethatwillmeasurethestarimmediatelyfromanimagecapturedbythecamera.Youcanchoosetomonitorimagescapturedbyeitherthemaincamerachip,orbytheautoguiderchip.Tomonitortheautoguiderchip,placeacheckmarknexttotheAutoguideroption.Tomonitorthemainimager,uncheckthisoption.

FWHMMonitorwillautomaticallyrefreshitsdisplayandrecalculatethevalueswhenanewimageiscaptured.Ifyou'dliketomeasureastarfromaspecificimageafterit'salreadybeencaptured(orloadedfromdisk),simplymakethisimageactiveinthecameracontrolsoftware,andclickontheGetFWHMbutton.ThiswillmeasurethecurrentlyactiveimageinCCDSoftorMaxImDL.

Iftheimagecontainsonlyonestar,thenFWHMMonitorwilldisplayitsmeasurements.Thisworksgreatfortheautoguiderwindow,orinrapidfocusmodewiththesub-framesettodisplayonestar.FWHMMonitorissmart,andwillmakeeveryattempttoignorehotpixels,noise,airplanetracks,andotherartifactsthatarenotstellarinnature.

Incaseofanimagethatistoonoisy,orcontainsnovalidstardata,FWHMMonitormaydisplayN/AorNotAvailable.Thiscanalsohappenifthestarisveryunfocusedorextremelysaturated,causingtheFWHMvaluetoexceed30pixels.

Whenanimagecontainsmanystars,andpossiblyotherobjects,suchasnebulae,galaxies,etc.,FWHMMonitorwillpickasinglestartomeasure,basedonanumberofattributes.Itwillfirstisolateupto1000starsfromtheimage.Fromthesestars,itwilldiscardstarsthataresaturated,orveryclosetothebackground.ItwillthensorttheremainingstarsbytheirFWHMvalueandwillpickthemedian(middle)starfromthelist.Thisstarwillbemostrepresentativeofthequalityoftheimage.Inthisway,FWHMMonitorallowsaveryeasyandautomaticmeasurementofthequalityofanyimage.Youcanjudgetheguidingperformanceofyourmount,thechangingseeingorfocusconditions,andalsosortyourexposuresbasedonsharpness.

Inaddition,youcanselectanareaoftheimage,orevenasinglestarthatyou'd

liketomeasureusingCCDSoft'sorMaxImDL'srectangularselectiontool:

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Onceselected(theselectedareacanincludeoneormanystars,orevenextendedobjects),pressGetFWHMbuttononthedisplaypanel,andthebestrepresentativestarfromtheselectedrectanglewillbemeasuredanddisplayed.

Notethatyoucanloadasavedimageatanytimeafterit'sbeencaptured,andmeasureitsqualityusingFWHMMonitorbyclickingontheGetFWHMbutton.

TheFWHMMonitordisplaypanelshowstwovalues:FWHMandHFDbydefault.ThetopvaluewillalwaysshowFWHM,butyouhaveachoiceofwhatmetrictodisplayinthebottomvalue.ClickyourmousedirectlyonthelabelnexttothelowernumberdisplaythatcontainsthewordHFD.Youwillseeapop-upmenuwiththefollowingchoices:

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Clickonthevalueyou'dliketoseedisplayedbelowtheFWHM.SeetheDefinitionsectionforexplanationofwhateachoneofthesevaluesmeasure.Forexample,hereisadisplaywithpeakvalueoptionselected:

NotethatthePeakValuedisplayinFWHMMonitorisnotexactlythesameastheimagemaximumvalue:thepeakvalueisthemaximumvalueoftheselectedstar,notthewholeimage.

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ChartSettings

FWHMMonitorprovidesanumberofchartdisplaysthatcanbeusefulinboth,monitoringfocusandimagequalityinreal-time,andinmeasuringanexistingimage.Toviewthechart,expandFWHMMonitorbyclickingonthe>>button.TheChartdisplaywillappear,showingthedefaultselectedchart.

Chartsettingscanbechangedbyclickingtheleftmousebuttonanywhereontopofthechartarea:

Thefollowingchartoptionsareavailable:

1.StarX-YProfilechart(default)showscurrentlymeasuredstar'sprofileinhorizontalandverticaldirections.NotethatMovingAveragesettingisnot

Page 131: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

applicabletothischarttype.

2.FWHM-areal-timerunningdisplayshowinganumberoflatestFWHMvaluemeasurementsinpixelsorarcseconds.Real-time,orMovingAverageorbothcanbedisplayedatthesametime.

3.HFD-areal-timerunningdisplayofanumberoflatestHFDmeasurements.Showninpixelsorarcseconds.

4.Peak-runningdisplayofanumberoflatestpeakvaluesofastar.ShowninADU.

5.AspectRatio-arunningdisplayofanumberoflatestaspectratiomeasurements,in%.

6.Centroid-arunningdisplayofthedistance,inpixelsorarcseconds,fromtheinitialstarpositioncentroid.Canbeusedtoevaluateseeing,andtrackingproblems.

7.Seeing-isanRMSvalueoftheFWHMvariation.Iftakingreallyshortexposures,thisapproximatestheblurringeffectofseeing,andcanbeusedtojudgehowgoodorbadthecurrentatmosphericconditionsare.Notethatthisdoesnotmeasurethecentroidwanderresultingfrombadseeing,andsowillusuallyunderestimatethetrueFWHMvalueofseeing.

AllchartsexceptfortheX-YProfilecanbeusedtodisplayReal-timemeasurement,aMovingAverage,orbothbyplacingacheckmarknexttotheappropriatemenuselections.

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Formovingaverageselection,youhaveachoiceof2points,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,or20pointsmovingaverage.

Thechartcanalsobesettodisplaymoreorlesspoints,asdesired.Topickthenumberofpointstokeeponthechart,selectPointsontheChartmenu,andpickthedesirednumber(50,100,200,500,or1000).

Torestartthechart,andtoresetthechartscalechooseClearChartoption.Thiswilleraseallhistoricaldataandwillstartmeasurementsfromscratch.

Ifyou'dliketopausetheautomaticchartrefresh,clickonthePauseChartUpdatesoption.ThechartwillnotbeupdateduntilthechecknexttothePauseChartUpdatesoptionisremoved.

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FWHMMonitorwillalwaysshowunitsnexttothevalue.Thefollowingabbreviationsareused:

"(doublequotationmark)standsforarcseconds

pix standsforpixels

a standsforADUoranalogtodigitalunits

a/p

standsforADU/pixelandisusedfortheaverageflux

display

% isusedfortheaspectratiodisplay

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FWHMMonitorFAQ

Herearesomecommonquestionsandanswers:

1."IselecteddisplayInArcsecondsoption,butthedisplaystillshowsvaluesinpixels?"

Solution:MakesureyousetthefocallengthinCCDSoftCameraFileDefaultsdialogorMaxImDLMainTelescopeOpticalSettingsdialog.

2."TheFWHMorHFDdisplayinarcsecondsappearstobeincorrect?"

Solution:Makesuretosetthecorrectfocallength(see#2above).Ifyouaretryingtomeasureanexistingimage,thenyoumayneedtoeditimageheaderinCCDSoftorMaxImDL,andverifythattheFOCALLENkeywordissettothecorrectfocallengthinmm.Todisplayimageheaderinformation,selectView\FileInformation...menuandclickontheEditHeadertabinCCDSoft,orView\FitsHeaderWindowinMaxImDL.

3."IttakestoolongtodisplayFWHMforanewimage"

Solution:Thismayhappenwhentryingtomeasurealargeimagewithalotofstars,oralotofhotpixels.Youcaneitherusethecameracontrolsoftwaretoselectasmallportionoftheimagewithsomerepresentativestarstomeasure,useasub-frametoreduceimagesize,and/oruseauto-darkframesubtractiontoreducenoise.

4."Thedisplaydoesnotupdatewhenanewimageisdownloadedfromthecamera"

Solution#1:Checkthatthe"Autoguider"optionissetappropriately.Ifit'schecked,andthecameraisexposingimagesusingthemainimager,noupdateswillbecalculatedsinceFWHMMonitoriswaitingforanimagefromtheautoguider.

Solution#2:IfusingCCDSoft,verifythatthepluginisproperlyinstalledandenabledinCCDSoft.FromtheCameraSetupscreen,pressEventsPlugInsbutton.Ifyoudon'tseethe"CCDMonitorRelay"eventplugin,thenitwasn'tinstalledproperly.TryuninstallingFWHMMonitorfromtheWindowscontrol

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panelAdd/Removesoftwarescreen.Then,re-installFWHMMonitor,makingsuretoprovidethecorrectpathtotheCCDSoftfolder.

5.Ididaplatesolvetogettheexactimagescale,butIdon'tknowmyeffectivefocallength.WhatdoIdo?

FWHMMonitorwilluseimagescaleascomputedbyaplatesolution,ifavailable.Focallengthdoesn'tneedtobesetinthiscase.But,ifyouwanttocomputethefocallengthfroma"solved"imagescale,hereistheformulayoucanuse:

FocalLength=pixelsize*206.2648/imagescale

whereFocalLengthistheeffectivefocallengthexpressedinmillimeters,pixelsizeisthesizeoftheCCDpixelinmicrons,andimagescaleistheimagescaleascomputedbytheastrometricsolution,inarcseconds/pixel.

7.Whataretheupperandlowerlimitsonstarsizeandimagescale?

FWHMMonitorusesadvancedinterpolationandcurvefittingtechniquestomeasurestarFWHM,evenforverytinystars.Thereisalimit,though,tohowsmallastarimagecanbebeforeitbecomesimpossibletomeasure.ForFWHMMonitorthatlimitis1.3pixelsFWHM.Inotherwords,ifthestarsizeisatorbelow1.3pixels,FWHMMonitorwillbeunabletomeasureit.Thisisbecausethestarspansaradiusoflessthantwopixels,andtherefore,thereisjustnotenoughinformationintheimagetoproperlymeasureitssize.

Attheotherextreme,ifFWHMvalueofanobjectexceeds30pixels,FWHMMonitorwillgiveupontryingtomeasureit.Thisisanarbitrarychoice,mademostlytohelpFWHMMonitornotgetboggeddownintryingtomeasurelargeobjectsthatarenotstellarinnature(suchasthecoreofagalaxy,forexample,oranextremelybloatedandsaturatedstar).

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InstallingCCDISPlug-inona64-bitWindows

CCDISplug-inrequiresanadditionalinstallationwhenusedwithCCDStackrunningona64-bitversionofWindows:

WindowsXP-64WindowsVista-64Windows2003x64

Tocompletetheinstallationona64-bitWindows,pleasedouble-clickontheCCDIS64.msifileincludedinyourCCDInspectorpackage.

Page 137: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

NewDSLR

RAWimageformatssupportedinCCDInspector2.2

ClickheretoseethelistofallthenewandoldRAW

formats

AgfaPhotoDC-833m

CanonPowerShotA570CanonPowerShotA590CanonPowerShotPro1

CanonPowerShotG10

CanonPowerShotSD300CanonPowerShotSX1IS

CasioEX-Z60

CasioEX-Z75

HasselbladV96C

KodakC603

KodakZ980

KodakZ1015

LeafAFi7

LeicaD-LUX4

OlympusE-620OlympusSP570UZ

PanasonicDMC-FZ50

PanasonicDMC-FX150PanasonicDMC-G1

PanasonicDMC-GH1

PanasonicDMC-LX3

Pentax

Page 138: CCD Inspector, FWHM Monitor and CCDIS Plug-in · evaluation of images to determine collimation, image tilt, focus, etc. CCDInspector can also be used independently of any capturing

CanonPowerShotSX110ISCanonEOS5DMarkII

CanonEOS50D

CanonEOS500DDigitalRebelT1iKissDigitalX3

CanonEOS1000DDigitalRebelXSKissDigitalF

CasioEX-S20

MotorolaPIXL

NikonD3X

NikonD90

NikonD700

NikonD5000

NikonCoolpixP6000

OlympusX200,D560Z,C350ZOlympusE-30

OlympusE-520

K200D

PentaxK2000/K-m

PentaxK-7

PhaseOneP45+

SamsungS85SamsungS850SonyDSLR-A300

SonyDSLR-A330

SonyDSLR-A900


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