AstroMate
=========
Copyright 2010-2011 Antti Kuntsi <mickut@gmail.com>
The AstroMate project aims to automate repetitive tasks during a modern day
astrophotography session using plate-solving software to speed up the mount
alignment and GoTo error corrections.
The initial version is targeting to have Python [1] interfaces for ASCOM [2]
compatible mounts and cameras, astrometry.net [3] plate solving application and
Nebulosity2 [4] astrophometry application by Stark Labs. Contributions for
integrating with other applications are welcome.
This project is licensed under GPL, see the file LICENSE for details. This
software is delivered as-is, with no expressed or implied guarantees of being
fit for any purpose.
Version history
---------------
v0.1.0 First test release packaged as an executable
v0.1.1 Binning setting comparison fix in camera implementations
v0.1.2 Nebulosity2 scripting support improved, bugfixes for image capture
Support for drift-shot added, moves mount in RA during exposure (>=30s)
v0.1.3 MaximDL support, Astrometry.net web-interface solver, bug-fixes, Nebulosity 2.4 support
v0.2.0 Refactored the main functionality into separate module
Using AstroMate
---------------
To be written in more detail later on.
Intent of AstroMate is to enable using the imaging camera for determining the
need for slew corrections. Using the imaging camera ensures that the GoTo is
slewed dead-on on the camera view.
The images obtained from a camera are evaluated by a plate solving application,
and initially a wrapper for astrometry.net is implemented. The code for
astrometry.net is freely available, but the astrometric indexes are available
upon request only. For details see the GETTING-INDICES file in the
astrometry.net source package or on the http://astrometry.net/ website.
All copyrights and trademarks are recognized and respected.
Python
------
The application AstroTortilla and the astromate library are written in Python
2.6, using WxPython [5] , Python win32all extension [6] and Python Imaging
Library 1.1.7 [7].
Running astrometry.net
----------------------
The astrometry.net is not originally inteded to run on Windows, but it can be
compiled and run under Cygwin [8]. Before compiling the astrometry.net code,
make sure you have the required packages installed and at least with version
0.34 the utils/Makefile updated to compile correctly. See the file
AstrometryNetPackages.txt for list of known packages. To ensure speedy
execution, make sure to disable the bash autocomplete package in Cygwin.
ASCOM
-----
The AstroMate is tested on the latest available ASCOM platform available on
the release date. ASCOM support requires the Python win32all extensions [5].
Nebulosity2
-----------
If you are using Nebulosity 2.4, you might want to use it with AstroMate to make
sure your imaging camera is pointing to the correct location. AstroMate
depends on the new TCP/IP based scripting feature, win32 extensions and
SendKeys package for automating the interactions.
Note: Nebulosity 2.3 is no longer supported.
References
----------
[1] http://www.python.org/
[2] http://ascom-standards.org/
[3] http://astrometry.net
[4] http://www.stark-labs.com/nebulosity.html
[5] http://wxpython.org/
[6] http://python.net/crew/skippy/win32/Downloads.html
[7] http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/
[8] http://www.cygwin.com/
