Astrometrica Changelog

What's new in Astrometrica 4.5.1.377

Nov 11, 2009

Fixed problem with photometry of faint targets in crowded fields.

New in Astrometrica 4.5.0.372 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.4.2.366 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.4.1.364 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.4.0.363 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.3.3.352 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.3.2.346 (Nov 11, 2009)

Corrected problem with orbital elements for 2003 WT42, where no semimajor axis is given in the MPCOrb database. (Astrometrica will calculate the semimajor axis from the mean daily motion, which is listed in the MPCOrb - though it's given to three significant digits only. So don't expect the position for 2003 WT42 to be enormously overwhelmingly...)
Corrected Cos(De) term in calculation of the object residuals in the LOG file.
Avoid the "List Index out of Bound" error after multiple calls of the "Known Objects Overlay" function.
In the previous release, the RA and Dec in the Dilog box for stacked images was not calculated for the mid-exposure time, but for 30 minutes before that time. This is now fixed.
The keyword XBINNING and YBINNING are now recognized by Astrometrica. If the FITS header of your images contain that keyword and associated data (binning factor), the software will automatically multiply the pixel size specified in the program settings with the binning factor. Please note: If your FITS files contain the XBINNING and YBINNING keywords, and you have currently specified the "logical" size of the binned pixels in the program settings, you need to change this settings to give the unbinned (physical) pixel size.
If the dark frame and/or flat field image do not match the size of the image that is loaded, the user can now choose to continue (without calibration) or to abort the operation.
When pressing the [Shift] key while clicking on some image and moving the mouse, differential coordinates (pixel coordinates, Right Ascension and Declination, as well as Distance and Position Angle) will be shown in the status line (instead of the pixel coordinates, RightAscension, Declination, and Magnitude). One may use this feature to measure the length and PA of a comet's tail, to measure the offset of a supernova from the galaxy's nucleus, and the like.
The order of the fit that was actually used for the astrometric solution is now displayed (together with the number and mean residuals of the reference stars) in the Results Window that appears in the lower-right corner of the main frame after processing images. Note that, if not enough reference stars are available, the software will use a lower fit order than specified in the program settings (and shown in the status bar).
There is a new the option for a graphic display the reference stars residuals. Use the 'Select Markings" command in the 'Image' menu to activate this option.
The new 'Image Catalog' command in the 'Image' menu displays a list of all objects detected in the current image. For each object, the type ('S' for stars, 'R' for reference stars, 'M' for moving objects, 'H' for manually measured objects, and '?' for unidentified objects), the sky coordinates (Right Ascension and Declination), the Magnitude, the Pixel Coordinates (x/y), the total Flux (in ADUs), the FWHM (in arc seconds), the peak SNR, and the RMS of the PSF-Fit is listed. For reference stars, the residuals in Right Ascension, Delcination and Magnitude ars shown. For moving objects, the residuals are shown if an orbit for the object was found in the MPCOrb database. Use the 'Save Text File' command in the 'File' menu to save this list, if you want to process it with some other software.
The program settings now have a checkbox "Include Contact Details in MPCReport", where the user can choose whether to include the contact details (Name, Postal Address, E-Mail-Adress) in the header of the MPCReport file or not. Note that the MPC says that you need not to repeat that information with each submission (unless the contact details have changed).
The program settings also allow to set a password for the mail-server trough which Astrometrica sends e-mails. Usually, for sending mails trough SMTP, no password is required. In that case, leave this field blank.

New in Astrometrica 4.3.1.334 (Nov 11, 2009)

Build 334 corrects the porblem with the error message "No Internet connection available" that was displayed in build 333 in some cases even when the computer was connected to the internet.
Automated USNO-B download: If you select the USNO-B1.0 star catalogue, the software will now automatically connect to the VizieR server to download the reference star data. Note that the VizieR query is limited to 9999 stars (corresponding to a data volume of abou 1.7 MB) by default. It is therefore recommended to set the magnitude limit for reference stars in the program settings to a reasonable value (for example, 18mag or so) to limit the size of the data to download. If a faint magnitude limit is set, the query will possibly abort due to the limitation to 9999 stars, resulting in reference star data covering only part of the field.
When using the UCAC 2 catalogue, the software asks the user to download USNO-B reference star data if the region of the image is not covered by the UCAC catalogue.
Positions in the MPCReport file are now grouped by the reference star catalogue used. The NET keyword specifies the catalogue that was used for each group.
The 'Roving Observer Format' for observations made at non-permanent observing sites is now supported: In that format, a second line specifies the longitude, latitude and altitude of the observing site (taken from the program settings) for each observation listed in the MPCReport file. Set Observatory code 247 to use this format.
The status bar now displays the reference star catalogue and the fit order selected in the program settings.
A button for the 'Known Object Overlay' has been added to the toolbar.
The Verification Window now displays the date and time (as a fraction of a day, and as hours, minutes and seconds).
The LOG-file now includes the FWHM (in arc seconds) for the reference stars and for each object measured. It also lists the time stamp for individual images, and the calculated mid-exposure time for stacked images.
The dialog used to enter the position and motion for objects when using 'Track and Stack' now also shows the calculated mid-exposure time (to the nearest minute): Use this time if you enter the motion from an ephemeris.

New in Astrometrica 4.2.0.325 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.2.0.317 (Nov 11, 2009)

Users of the USNO web interface (nofs.navy.mil/data/FchPix/) can now select which columns should be included in USNO-B star lists. The routine in Astrometrica reading these lists has therefore been changed so that it no longer relies on a fixed format, but rather aqnalyzes the table header to find the relevant information. Thus, it is able to read all kinds of USNO-B star lists, as long as the coordinates (RA, Dec), proper motion, and magnitudes are included. However, if the users appends more than one star list to the 'USNO-B.dat' file, all lists must have the same layout (i.e., listing the same columns).
As suggested by the MPC, the MPCReport file written by Astrometrica does no longer include the contact details, unless it is a file generated for a 'new' observatory (with observatory code 'XXX'). In that case, the file lists the full contact details, as well as the coordinates (longitude, latitude and altitude) of the observatory, as this information is required for the assignment of an observatory code.
The header of the MPCReport file now includes the 'AC2' keyword followed by the e-mail address specified in the contact details of the program settings. This means that the acknowledgements by the MPC upon receiving the observations will be sent to that e-mail address.
The manual measurement (i.e., clicking in the image to measure the coordinates of some object) has been improved: If one holds down the [Ctrl] while clicking on the image, the software will calculate a simple centroid (no PSF-fit) centered exactly on the pixel you clicked on: This might be useful if you try to measure an object that is close to a star, or an object in a dense star field. As another option, you can press both the [Shift] and [Ctrl] key, and the software will just take the coordinate of the pixel over which the cursor is located, whithout any centroiding. Also note that you can move the cursor over the image using the arrow keys on the keyboard, and use the [Enter] key instead of the mouse button for 'clicking'.
The software will write the time for the observations to a precision of six deimal digits to the MPCReport file if a value of less than 1 second is specified in the 'Precision' for the 'Time in File Header' in the program settings. By default, the time should be reported to the MPC with a precision of five decimal digits, so usually, a value of 1 second is set in this field. An additional digit may be justified for observations of very fast moving objects.
The 'Download MPCOrb' command has been changed, so that the software now download the compressed (zipped) version of the MPCOrb database. After the download has been completed, the software will unzip the file and reload the MPCOrb file.
The new 'Update MPCOrb' command in the 'Internet' menu allows the user top select the 'Daily Orbital Update', the elements for Comets, NEAs, distant minor planets, or the updated elements of other unusual minor planets. After the download has completed, the software will merge the updated files into the existing MPCOrb database and reload the updated MPCOrb file.
The new 'Known Object Overlay' command in the 'Tools' menu will mark the nominal position of all known minor planets and comets on the currently loaded CCD images. Besides the packed designation of these objects, the predicted magnitude is also displayed. Please note that the nominal position is calculated from the orbital elements in the MPCOrb database, without taking account for planetary perurbations. Ideally, this overlay would also indicat the uncertainty in the nominal position, and I hope to add that in one of the next updates.
The 'Background and Range' command in the 'Image' menu now allows to use logarithmic scaling. This might be useful for locating the pseudonucleus within the coma of a bright comet, or when measuring a supernova in a galaxy. However, faint objects close to the background level will be less visible with logarithmic scaling.
Corrected display of coordinates in Status Line for stacked Images.
Program execution is no longer stopped if the solution for Kepler's equation does not converge for near-parabolic orbits at large heliocentric distances.

New in Astrometrica 4.1.2.310 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.1.2.307 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.1.1.301 (Nov 11, 2009)

Support of WCS (World Coordinate System) for FITS files: When saving FITS files after astrometric data reduction, WCS will be added to the FITS header, enabling software that can read WCS keywords to display (approximate) sky coordinates for any pixel in the image without finding the complete astrometric solution first.
When loading FITS files where WCS information is present, the center coordinates are calculated from the WCS data, and are displayed as default when a data reduction is started. (Also, for a second data reduction run, the center coordinates calculated from the previous data reduction will be displayed as default.)
Furthermore, Right Ascension and Declination will be displayed in the status line when moving the cursor over an image with WCS information, even before data reduction with Astrometrica has been performed.
New checkbox 'Auto-Save FITS with WCS' in the 'Scale and Orientation' group of the CCD settings: If this option is checked, FITS images will automatically be saved with WCS information immediately after data reduction. Note, however, that all files will be saved as 16bit Integer FITS files, even if the original image was a 8bit or 32bit file. In case of 32bit images, saving the image with 16bits per pixel will possibly loose some information present in the original image!
New checkbox 'Skip checking of Time after Loading' in the 'Time in File Header' group of the CCD settings: Selecting this option will skip the manual checking of date and time after loading each image. Please set this option with great care, and skip the check only if all your images have a precise time stamp from a reliable source (e.g., radio controlled PC clock) in the file header.
Using the 'Environment' tab sheet of the program settings, the user can now select the colors used to mark objects in the images after the data reduction process, as well as the color in which the reference star overlay is drawn during the manual reference star match.
Improved browser for the object designation in the Verification Window (the form displayed at the end of the Moving Object Detection or when the user manually measures an object): A list of all objects within 1° of the measured position will be displayed (rather than a list of all designations in the MPCOrb database, as in previous versions). Besides the designation, the offest in Right Ascension and Declination, the magnitude, as well as the speed and direction of the motion is displayed for these objects.
Autmoatic reload of MPCReport.txt and Astrometrica.log when these files are displayed and new data is added to the files.
Fixed problem in display of Right Ascension that sometimes displayed 60 seconds.

New in Astrometrica 4.1.0.294 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.0.11.291 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.0.11.288 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.0.10.281 (Nov 11, 2009)

Online-Help for commands and client windows. The documentation is still preliminary, and was not proof-read. Furthermore, a detailed description of the data reducion process is still pending.
New commando 'Save Text File' allows to save text files that were loaded and edited by the user.
Menu-Items and hotkeys für magnifying glass commands
Continue reading FITS files when an error occured while decoding the value associated with a non-mandatory keyword.
The number of images added to the original image is now shown in the caption of the Window displaying a stacked image. (For example, 'Test.fits + 3' means that three images have been stacked on the original image named 'Test.fits'. The total number of images stacked is therefor four.)
New command 'Step backward' for blinking. The command 'Single Step' has been renamed to 'Step foreward'.
A small cross will now indicate the location of the centroid in the Verification Window (which appears after the Moving Object Detection, and after manual measurements) if a zoom of 3x or more is used.
Impoved routine to calculate the flux (brightness) of objects.
In previous versions, the central column/row has not been flipped when using the flip horizontal/vertical commands. This has now been fixed. (Thanks to Stefano Sposetti for bringing my attention to this bug, and for the excellent documentation regarding that matter!)
Overlay for manual reference star match did not work when properly on zoomed images. (Thanks to Arno Gnädig for pointing this out!)
Enabled menu items and hotkeys for blink-commands.
While blinking, images are sorted by date/time. In previous versioins, the images were sorted by their file name.
Reading a FITS file freezed the program when a carraige return and/or linefeed character was found within the FITS header. This is now fixed.
The Verification Window showed a false position when clicking in the blink window, and the zoom levels of the original window and the blink window were not identical. This is also fixed.

New in Astrometrica 4.0.9.265 (Nov 11, 2009)

New in Astrometrica 4.0.8.250 (Nov 11, 2009)

Using the 'Zoom Window' option in the 'Windows' menu (or the appropiate toolbar button), it is now possible to open a small window that displays a zoomed section of the image, centered on the current position of the crosshairs cursor on the image. This also works with the blink window, though the zoom window will only be updated if the blink window is the active child window.
After data reduction, a popup-window opens in the lower right corner of the main window, which gives the user a short overview over the most important data: Besides the file names of the images, the number of stars and the number of reference stars found in each image are given. Further columns list the number of reference stars used for the astrometric data reduction, the mean residuals (in arc seconds) for these reference stars, as well as the number of reference stars used for photomery and their mean residual (in magnitudes).
After data reduction has been performed on a set of images, it is now also possible to measure the position of any object by clicking on it, not only in the individual CCD frames, but also in the blink window. Doing this, it's probably a good idea to stop blinking, measure one position, and then proceed to the next image in the sequence, using the respective buttons in the toolbar.
The uncertainties for position and magnitude, which have been replaced by the residuals in the previous version 4.0.7, are now displayed in the Log-file in an additional line.
The software will now automatically zoom out images that are larger than the screen resolution. This safes system ressources and gives a better overview over the whole image. Of course, the user can still zoom into the image on which he or she works, or use the zoom window to magnify only a small part of the image.
The zoom level (if other than 100%) will be displayed besides the image file name in the caption of the image window.
After redrawing images, previous versions set the size of the image window to some default size and reset the position of the scrollbars (if any) to the top left corner. This version will now resetore the window size and the position of the scrollbars.
The problem with corrupted image palettes (magenta colors) has probably been traced back to certain Video Drivers that do not support the Windows API call BitBlt (Bit Block Transfer) for Device Independent Bitmaps. The software now tries to detect these drivers and uses 24 bit Device Dependent Bitmaps on these machines (which need more memory, of course, than the 8bit Device Independent Bitmaps).
Detection of stars sometimes failed if blinking has been started before data reduction, causing the reference star match to fail. Even manual alignment did not work in these cases, because the software was not aware of any stars in the image. This porblem has been fixed.
The PSF-fit sometimes failed with a "Division by Zero" message on satured stars, if the value for the saturation level has not been set correctly in the Program Settings. This situation is now hendeled by the software, so it does not run into an error. Still, it is highly recommended that the user specifies the correct value for the saturation level. (For details, see the description of the Program Settings in the Astrometrica Online Help.)
The moving object detection routine failed to detect fast moving objects. It should now detect moving objects with a speed up to the limit where the object will appear trailed in the images.
Closing individual images sometimes caused an Access Violation. This is now fixed.

New in Astrometrica 4.0.7.195 (Nov 11, 2009)

It is now possible to save different program settings (e.g., for several different telescope/CCD combinations) and reload them when necessary, using the 'Save As' and 'Load' buttons in the Program Settings dialog. It is recommended, however, that the current INI file is replaced by the new INI and CFG file included with this version, and that the users re-enters and eventuelly saves his or her settings with the new version, then.
The 'Minimum Flux' parameter for the object detection has been replaced by the 'Minimum FWHM' setting. In most cases, false detetion due to image noise or cosmic ray strikes have a much smaller FWHM than real objects. A value of 1.0 will effectively reject hot pixels and most cosmic ray strikes from being detected. Depending on the scale of your images, you may want to raise that limit to exclude further noise sources, such as pairs of hot pixels or multi-pixel cosmic ray strikes. For example, if real objects in your images typically have a FWHM of 4", and the pixel size of your CCD corresponds to 1.5", you may want to set the minimum FWHM to 2.0 pixels (or 3"). The maximum FWHM allowed, by the way, is assumed by the software to be the diameter of the aperture, as specified by the aperture radius described above.
In the 'MPC Report' group on the 'Settings' page of the Program Settings dialog, you can set two options for the MPCReport file created by the software: By checking 'Include Magnitude', you set the software to include the magnitude for each object in the file. By checking 'Include extra Digit', the software will write an extra for the coordinates (i.e., the RIght Ascension will be given to 0.001 seconds, and the Declination will be given to 0.01".) Please note that the absolute positions derived by the software would, in almost any case, not justify to include these extra digits! However, if you are interested in relative positions (for example, during last minute astrometry for stellar occultations), this information might be of some use.
In addition to the number of stars used for the alignment of images, the user can now define the maximum shift between the images.
Two new prgram settings ('Telescope Idnetifier' on the 'Observing Site' page, and 'Precision' for the 'Time in File Header' on the 'CCD' page) were added. They will be used with the new, proposed format for the MPCReport file. At this time, the fields have no meaning.
There is now a Popup-Menu available for child Windows (Images and Text). When right-clicking in the window, the Popup-Menu with the appropiate commands will appear.
The new command 'Images - Display Header' will display the SBIG or FITS-Image File Header in a Text Window. The information in the file header, however, can not be edited.
Manually measured objects will now be marked by a magenta circle and the packed designation in the Images and during Blinking, similar to the object found by the automatic moving objects detection. Note that the markings for all typed of objects can be turned on or off using the 'Images - Select Markings' command.
Instead of the estimated uncertainty, the LOG file now reports the residuals (observed-calculated) in the position and magnitude for each object. In contrast to the residuals given for the reference stars, this value is not the "true" residual. (You usually measure the position of the object to refine it's orbit, and thus the position of the object can't be calculated precisely. Furthermore, the position is calculated without taking account for planetary perturbations). So keep in mind that the consistency, not the size of the residuals given for the object should be checked!
If no residuals are listed for an object, no orbital elements matching the designation of the object were found in the MPCOrb database.
The software documentation has been changed to refelct the features listed above. Furthermore, the Glossary has been completed.
When the software was trying to fit a PSF to a isolated noise pixel on completely dark background, the FWHM converged towards zero and the software eventually reported a "division by zero" error. This problem has been fixed.

New in Astrometrica 4.0.6.162 (Nov 11, 2009)

Improved moving object identification: In previous versions, the identity of a moving object was suggested whenever the measured position and the calculated position matched reasonaby well (i.e., within 1'). In this version, the software also checks the motion of the object: The object identity is suggested when the PA of the apparent motion agrees within ±15° of the calculated value, the speed within ±30%, and the position within 15'.
After the Moving Object Detection, the moving objects found by the software are now labeled with their packed designation.
Using the 'Images - Markings' command, the software can now be set to mark the moving objects found by the Moving Object Detection routine during blinking.
The Verification Dialog, which is displayed when the Moving Object Detection finds any moving objects, now allows the user to select the zoom level and the location of the image section displayed. The zoom level can be set to 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x, and the image location can be set to "stare" on the position of the moving object candidate on any of the images, or to "track" the object.
Using the 'Images - Zoom' command, the software can be set to display the images (including the blink window) at 25%, 50%, 100%, 200% and 400% of the original size. Note that a bitmap that stores the zoomed image(s) is created, so zooming in on large images will need a considerable amount of memory and system ressources. On the other hand, zooming out will make it difficult to see faint obects.
The Log-File now gives the estimated uncertainties of the measured position and magnitude. The error estimate for the position includes both the centroiding error and the (non-systematic) catalog errors (as derived form the reference star residuals), while the error estimate for the magnitude is calculated from the SNR and does not include any systematic or catalog errors.
The new 'Display Toolbar' allows quick access to the most important image display commands.
The documantation now includes a short description of all available commands. Many links in the Tutorials now refer to a glossary, which is, however, not finished yet.
A error in the calculation of the parallax for the topocentric ephemeris (used for the calculation the position after the used has specified the object designation and for the object identification) has been corrected.

New in Astrometrica 4.0.5.118 (Nov 11, 2009)

In previous versions of Astrometrica, an object was considered to be a star when it was found at similar brightness at the same location on each image. Very faint stars were sometimes detected in two of three images, for example, and thus were not considered as stars. Consequently, the moving object detection sometimes found false moving objects were one of the images was, in fact, a very faint star. As it is a reasonably certain assumption that an object that is found at similar brightness at the same location is on at least two images is in fact a star, Astrometrica will now consider these objects as stars.
New command 'Fit Image Size' in the 'Windows' menu set the size of all client windows so that it fits the size of the image that is displayed in the respective window (even if the image is larger than the client area of the main window).
New command 'Invert Display' in the 'Images' menu toggles negative / positive image display.
The 'Flip' commands in the 'Images' menu now apply to all currently loaded images.
The 'Background and Range' command in the 'Images' menu can now optionally set the display parameters for all images currently loaded as.
The 'Blink' toolbar has been moved from the blink window to the main window of the application. It will therefore not mask a part of the image during blinking.
The dialog for manual reference star alignment did not appear when a text-window (for example, the LOG-file) was open. The program has gone idle and did not respond to any user action. This problem has been solved.
If the CCD images were shifted by more than a few pixels against each other, the procedure that finds the stars in the images did not work properly, which caused the reference star identification to fail. This should work as usual now.
If the 'Comet.dat' file was not present, the 'MPCOrb.dat' was not loaded. Now the software will read MPCOrb.dat even if it can't find Comet.dat, or vice versa.
Some stars in the USNO catalogue were flagged with magitudes of 99.9. In previous versions of Astrometrica, these stars were also included in the photometric data reduction, which lead to incorrect magitudes. These stars will now be rejected from the photometric data reduction.
The text display in the status line did not work on some systems. This has apparently been fixed now.