Questions tagged [software]
Questions about computer programs that assist modeling and observing the dynamics of astronomy.
46
questions
5
votes
1answer
178 views
How (the heck) does Astrometry.net work?
What magic is this?
This answer to my question Astronomy detective question: what part of the sky are these photos of? What are a few of the stars? nails it, and the output (linked there) contains ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
On the consistency of different well-polished astronomy software
I have purchased a custom wedding band from a seller that claims the ring will show the constellations visible at the horizon on a specific date at a certain date and time.
However, I have fired up ...
2
votes
0answers
43 views
Is there any free stacking program that stack images which are not aligned?
I liked to photo deep-sky-objects and planets with my camera Canon sx130. But I have never stacked images because they were too much apart. I was looking for some free astronomy stacking program for ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views
How do I calculate Allan Variance (maybe for pulsars)?
I am studying pulsar timing this summer and have come across many Allan Deviation plots that include several popular clocks alongside pulsar measurements, like this one by N. Ashby and D.A. Howe:
I ...
2
votes
1answer
53 views
How do I download PSRCHIVE and Tempo2 for pulsar timing on Mac Mojave?
I am fairly new to pulsar astronomy, and I need to download PSRCHIVE and then Tempo2. I have followed the instructions online here:
PulsarAstronomy.net
I'm also pretty new to linux commands/Mac ...
2
votes
0answers
44 views
Covariance matrix not calculated when fitting gaussians?
So I am using Astropy's basic models.Gaussian1D model and a fitter = fitting.LevMarLSQfitter() to fit 3 Gaussian pulses with some added random noise. The fit is good, but when I type
fitter.fit_info, ...
1
vote
0answers
19 views
Stellarium script for sunrise times affected by topography
I customised my own landscape with stellarium, created my own horizon with the polyline setting like horizon_Geneve.txt file.
Manually, I can increase/decrease time to see when the sun's upper limb ...
6
votes
1answer
66 views
Is there any star recognition framework/library available?
Being a daytime software engineer and a sparetime photographer, I was looking for a nice DIY project for the next weeks. I finally decided to build a star tracker with a camera mount, so that I can ...
2
votes
1answer
204 views
Comparing accuracy in Starry Night and Alcyone Software
From what I understand,
Starry night (https://starrynight.com/starry-night-7-professional-astronomy-telescope-control-software.html) is more focussed on simulating the night sky whereas
Alcyone (...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
Measure an angle in the sky from a photo?
Let's say I have an picture of the sky or of an landscape and I want to measure an angle in the celestial sphere. Is there any software for that? In real life I would use the empirical hand gestures ...
5
votes
4answers
256 views
Measurement uncertainty of the computed center of gravity from pixel image
Establishing the position of celestial bodies (stars, and other objects) is based on imaging technology. Depending on the resolution of the imaging sensor used, an object is identified by a group of ...
2
votes
2answers
100 views
Stuck with SDSS data [closed]
I want to do project on astronomical dataset. Regarding that project, I try SDSS who give public dataset but it is quite complicated for me. I gone through public dataset and downloaded some .FITS ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Graphics packages for publishing [closed]
What are the most popular packages used to create graphs for astronomy journal papers?
Looking at various journals, the styles of the graphs appear to be quite uniform but I can't identify the package(...
2
votes
1answer
211 views
Instead of using flexible mirrors, could software be used for adaptive optics?
Telescopes that use adaptive optics now use flexible mirrors to adjust for distortions in the atmosphere. The mirrors are flexed in real time to account for the distortions. I am wondering if it ...
0
votes
2answers
834 views
Astronomy as a profession for moderately good software engineer [closed]
I'm a software engineer (a moderately good one). I like programming, mathematics and I love everything about astronomy.
What would be best way to go ahead?
2
votes
2answers
317 views
Why is the moon phase not in sync with the moon's illuminated fraction?
I am using the following R script to plot the moon phase and the moon's illuminated fraction:
...
0
votes
4answers
452 views
Obtaining deltaT for use in software
I'm currently developing a javascript application in which I want to calculate the approximate position of the sun. This works quite fine but requires the value for deltaT (TT-UT) to be set depending ...
1
vote
2answers
154 views
Is there a MATLAB equivalent of PyEphem?
Many people on the Astronomy stack exchange use the PyEphem package for the Python programmimg language to perform astronomical computations. Are the underlying numerical routines (from XEphem) ...
3
votes
1answer
205 views
How to correctly create planetary orbits from kepler elements
I would like to build a gravity model (with 3D graphics) that would build the orbit of the planets based on orbital elements input and the gravity calculation for each element.
My initial code is ...
4
votes
0answers
112 views
Observatory control software
I'm setting up an observatory and I'm wondering what user-facing software would be best to use in terms of hardware control. There is a German mount, dome, focuser, filter wheel, various switches etc. ...
2
votes
0answers
56 views
What information will SETI have access to from the SKA (Square kilometer array)
I read on on the website of the SKA (https://www.skatelescope.org/) that SETI will sort of have "passive" access to the data that they capture on the array, sort of like a "pigyback" concept and ...
1
vote
1answer
258 views
What programming languages does SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligences) most commonly use for signal processing?
Please give preference to those most widely used in the field, if possible.
1
vote
4answers
900 views
Data reduction and photometry without IRAF?
The IRAF package is old.
I've been looking around for a more modern software to replace it in the processes of CCD data reduction and photometry, but haven't been able to find any.
The closest I've ...
2
votes
2answers
227 views
How to find which part of the sky a photo contains?
I was taking some photo stacks yesterday, and I also took a plenty of random ones (pointed not at a specific object) too at 200mm.
However, I've ended with a shot but I have no idea where I pointed ...
1
vote
1answer
658 views
Open source alternative for RegiStar (align, rotate, and combine images into single frame)
I'm looking for a free, open-source and Linux compatible alternative to the RegiStar software.
I need it to automatically combine several images into a single frame, where each individual image shows ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Notifier about visible ISS passes and/or Iridium flares for Ubuntu PC
I am trying to find application that would be capable of notifying me about
visible ISS pases for specified location and/or visible Iridium flares for specified location.
This software must be ...
6
votes
1answer
370 views
How to configure Celestia to work with a spherical mirror projection on a dome
I find hints around the web, e.g. http://www.cosmodome.net/mirrordome.php that Celestia can be projected on a dome using a spherical mirror projection configuration.
The problem is that I can't find ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
Divide a star catalogue to optimize star search
I'm continue working on my Planetarium software and I have a doubt.
At this moment my star catalogue is very small, but I'm planning to use a bigger one. To optimize the search inside this catalogue ...
3
votes
1answer
294 views
Math for calculating the terrestrial longitude directly under the sun with time
I'm trying to calculate the longitude on the earth where it's noon at some time. (That is, the longitude which is coplanar with the plane defined by the sun and the earth's axis.)
Here is my python ...
3
votes
1answer
201 views
I can't find Rigel on Tycho 2 catalogue
I'm trying to develop a planetarium using Tycho 2 catalogue.
To read it I use the WCSTools. But I have a problem.
On Wikipedia I have found that Rigel star has RA: 05h 14min 32,3s and Dec: -08º 12’ ...
2
votes
0answers
120 views
Uncertainty in the FWHM (IRAF)
I measured the FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum) of several emission lines using SPLOT in IRAF, and now need to calculate the uncertainty. How can I do that?
1
vote
2answers
242 views
Stellarium 0.10.4: planet orbits change over time?
If I draw the orbit of Mars in stellarium 0.10.4 for 23 Sep 2015, it passes south of Chi Leonis:
If I advance the date to 17 Oct 2015, however, the orbit of Mars correctly goes right through Chi ...
2
votes
1answer
433 views
How to specify SM libraries for MOOG
I am running MOOG on OS X Yosemite and with $MOOG running the abfind driver I can force fit elemental abundances with an appropriate input line list and model ...
2
votes
1answer
249 views
How to run MOOG on OS X Yosemite
By what process can a user running the latest version of OS X Yosemite execute MOOG with $MOOG in bash?
Due to the removal of 32bit libraries in OS X 10.7+, the ...
4
votes
1answer
342 views
Which is the shape of the sky?
I'm a software developer and I'm developing a planetarium and the first thing that I don't know is: What is the shape of the sky?
First, I though that it is a semi-sphere, but searching on Internet I ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
What are the most popular computer programming languages in observational astronomy?
I would like to work in the field of observational astronomy (not so much theoretical astronomy).
I currently know two computer programming languages: C# and MATLAB.
I have read that computer ...
0
votes
1answer
205 views
How to convert horizontal coordinates using NOVAS?
I'm using NOVAS 3.1. I know that I can convert equatorial coordinates to horizontal coordinates using the equ2hor function.
Is it possible to make NOVAS do the ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
Calculating 2004 BL86 position using software
Is it possible to view asteroid 2004 BL86 using Stellarium or the iOS Star Walk app?
5
votes
1answer
462 views
How can I make Stellarium match the magnitude of stars visible in London, UK?
Can someone recommend some Stellarium settings to mimic the amount of light pollution, and magnitude of stars that should be visible on a clear night in London, UK?
3
votes
4answers
421 views
What is a possible software for simulating binary star systems?
I would like to define both initial velocities and masses of components so that orbits may be either elliptical of hyperbolic. Is there any software to make such simulation?
Unfortunately, Binary ...
5
votes
1answer
49 views
Tools for creating a multiwavelength view of the sky
Not sure that this is the correct place to ask this question, but here goes.
I am trying to find tools to accumulate image data (preferably in FITS format) on a given (RA, Dec)-coordinate of sky. ...
4
votes
1answer
188 views
Save current state in ds9?
After fooling around with a FITS file(s) (e.g. setting scale, changing color) is it possible to save the session such that there is a file associated with all those tweaks the next time I open it up?
...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Where can I find a set of data of the initial conditions of our solar system?
As title suggests I'm in need of a set of data of our solar system. Similar to this http://bima.astro.umd.edu/nemo/archive/#iau25, specifically dubinsky milky way-andromeda data.
I'm creating a n-...
7
votes
1answer
391 views
SPH simulations
Are there any simulations that can be obtained that use smooth particle hydrodynamics and can be configured to include different initial conditions? I wish to simulate planetary collisions and their ...
6
votes
0answers
873 views
What skills would a software developer need to get a job in space research or exploration organization? [closed]
I am in the field of software programming. What skills should I brush up and gear up to get a job in space exploration and the observatory industry? What are various job profiles in terms of software ...
2
votes
0answers
136 views
How can I create tracks of the planet's orbits on my computer? [closed]
I'm wondering if there's any good computer software for tracking the orbits of planets over time. I like to see the orbit's trails against the sky background.
I'd prefer something that's free and of ...
