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Links to Variable Star sources.

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#1 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 11 February 2006 - 10:09 AM

To All

Here are a couple of links to sources of Variable Star Observing. My hope is to expand this list and would welcome any other related links you would like to have posted.

Thanks to All.
Rich (RLTYS)

American Association of Variable Star Observers
AAVSO

AAVSO Light Curve Generator
Light Curve Generator

You can now plot your own charts:
AAVSO VSP Chart Plotter

The Astronomical League's Variable Star Club:
Variable Star Club

 

The Astronomical League's Binocular Variable Star Club:

http://www.astroleag...le-star-program

Here is a list posted by Starmandan of photometry software.
Thanks Starman.

Here's a list we came up with at our club for our research groups:

Below is a list of some ideas for software that can be used to extract science data from CCD images.

This is a partial list. Some of it is free, some is not very expensive, some is rather expensive. Some is old, some is still being updated/developed.

AIP4WIN: http://www.willbell.com/aip/index.htm Not just good science software - a very good textbook covering basics of CCD imaging and science.

MPO Canopus/Photored http://www.minorplan...MPOSoftware.htm Written especially for asteroid photometry...where the moving object forces you to use different comparison stars every night, and perhaps every few hours.

IRAF: http://iraf.noao.edu/ Long learning curve, but very powerful.

MAXIM: http://www.cyanogen.com/maxim_main.php Very powerful

CCDSoft: http://www.bisque.co...oducts/CCDSoft/ OK, we don't need the camera control aspect of it, but it can do photometry and astrometry. (May need to use TheSky for astrometry)

Astrometrica: http://www.astrometrica.at/ want to measure positions of objects? This is a good place to start. Shareware. 25 Euro.

Sextractor (Source Extractor) Want to analyze *every* star in your images? http://sextractor.sourceforge.net/ Useful for searching for new variables.

MuniWin: http://c-munipack.sourceforge.net/ - good for time series, and searching entire image series for new variables
http://munipack.astronomy.cz/

GCX is linux based, has a GUI interface and command line options.
This means you can write scripts to automate tasks.
http://linux.softped.../gcx-1221.shtml
http://astro.corlan.net/gcx/index.html
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gcx/

Starlink, similar to IRAF. It's a GAIA program for data visualisation, photometry and astrometry is widely used. It is described
here: http://www.starlink....n214.html#xref_ GAIA can be used for aperture (classic or optimal) photometry and a command line program autophotom is good for scripting. Of course, Starlink is much more than that but it was GAIA (plus the integrity of the whole package) that convinced me to choose it 10 years ago instead of IRAF. Starlink is distributed under GPL.

http://starlink.jach...ii.edu/starlink STARLINK software for processing images from the UKIRT on Mauna Kea

Mira software: http://www.mirametri...ra_products.htm

Sky Image Processor - a web-based astronomical image reduction and analysis system! (Virginia Tech) http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIP/

IRIS: http://www.astrosurf...s/iris/iris.htm

Astroart: http://www.msb-astroart.com/ - good for snapshot observations, not suited for time-series work.

Teleauto: http://teleauto.org/indexEn.php

CADET: http://www.terra.es/...cj/introeng.htm CADET is basically a program for calibration and deconvolution of astronomical images in FITS, BMP and JPEG formats.

LAIA: http://www.astrogea....t/laia/laia.htm - need to know Spanish, and it's not been updated in quite some time. But it's free and can do some image measurement/analysis.

DAOPHOT - Stellar Photometry Package designed to deal with crowded fields. http://www.star.bris...k/~mbt/daophot/ (Linux/Unix)

Audela - http://www.audela.or...lish_audela.php Windows and Linux, in various languages, freeware, and at sourceforge http://sourceforge.net/projects/audela Audela is a free and open source astronomy software intended for digital observations (CCD cameras, Webcams, etc.). Its concept is entirely new, because whilst it features advanced image processing and acquisition functions like existing software, its originality lies in the fact that it is entirely reprogrammable using simple scripts. It has been written for both Windows and Linux platforms and can control many telescope mounts and cameras or DSLRs.

Foto-Dif: http://www.astrosurf...dif/fotodif.htm freeware in Spanish, and includes some practice images in a .zip file.

ESO-MIDAS
http://www.eso.org/s...ware/esomidas// Unix/Linux, free.
_________________

Another one to add! (Thanks go out to Paul Rybski!)

http://www.astro.uni...scha/theli.html

THELI is a software package for the reduction of astronomical imaging data.
Some of its key features are:

* handling of optical, near-infrared and mid-infrared data
* single- and multichip (mosaic) cameras are handled, including even the largest systems
* automatic astrometric and photometric calibration using scamp or astrometrix
* stand-alone tools in C/C++, no black boxes
* fast (fully parallelised for multi-core and cluster architectures)
* comes with a graphical user interface
* in its current version, THELI supports more than 35 professional cameras, and the user can add more
* runs under UNIX, Linux and MacOS
* also suitable for amateur astronomers who want to use the tools from the pros

Anyway, this is a start. Some folks may like the free stuff. Others may like the way-powerful stuff that takes lots of time to master. There are many ways to skin the science cat.

This list is not meant to scare folks off. Find one or two software tools that work for you and start doing science.

(Maybe we'll write this list up properly into a document/cheat sheet for future reference.)
_________________
Cloudcroft, New Mexico. 9440FT

http://cbastro.org/
http://www.aavso.org/


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#2 SaberScorpX

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Posted 11 February 2006 - 11:55 AM

More VS resources:

RASC Variable Star Section

SEDS Variable Star Info

ATOE Variable Star Links



Stephen Saber
PAC/Astronomical League
http://www.geocities...corpx/home.html
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#3 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 12 February 2006 - 08:00 AM

saberscorpx

Thanks for the info.

Rich (RLTYS)

#4 Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*

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Posted 21 February 2006 - 04:45 AM

Some more links:
http://sabbe.fragzon.../KPO/lankar.htm


http://sabbe.fragzon...KPO/program.htm

http://sabbe.fragzon.../KPO/VARIMA.htm



h-g

#5 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 21 February 2006 - 06:06 AM

h-g

Thanks for the info.

Clear Skies
Rich (RLTYS)

#6 SaberScorpX

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Posted 01 March 2006 - 01:50 AM

Related VS thread:

Resources to Get Us Started



Stephen Saber
PAC/Astronomical League
http://www.geocities...corpx/home.html
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#7 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 01 March 2006 - 05:54 AM

sabsrscorpx

Thanks for the info. We can always use more.

Clear Skies
Rich (RLTYS)

#8 Hubert

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Posted 25 February 2007 - 03:33 AM

link to the Belgium Section variable stars :

http://www.vvs.be/wg/wvs/index_en.php

clear skies, Hubert
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#9 WatsonVSX

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Posted 30 May 2007 - 04:00 PM

The AAVSO International Variable Star Index (VSX)

http://vsx.aavso.org
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#10 lubos

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Posted 01 April 2009 - 03:36 PM

Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of Czech Astronomical Society with many on-line tools and applications:

http://var2.astro.cz/EN

Lubos
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#11 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 02 April 2009 - 05:19 AM

lubos

Cool :cool:. Thanks for posting.

Rich (RLTYS)

#12 jmarc

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Posted 02 May 2010 - 11:55 AM

link to the French Variable Star Observers Association :
"ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE DES OBSERVATEURS D'ETOILES VARIABLES" abbreviated in AFOEV.
http://cdsarc.u-stra...afoev/index.htx
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#13 Rich (RLTYS)

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Posted 03 May 2010 - 04:51 AM

Jmarc

Welcome to Cloudy Nights and thanks for the info.

Rich (RLTYS)

#14 DmitriNet

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Posted 07 September 2017 - 11:26 PM

THELI link update

https://www.astro.un.../gui/index.html



#15 Xilman

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Posted 26 February 2018 - 03:51 PM

British Astronomical Association - Variable Star Section http://www.britastro.org/vss/



#16 Guido

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Posted 31 March 2021 - 11:11 PM

Hi, 

 

the german observers of variable stars: https://www.bav-astro.de/.

 

cs Guido 



#17 blackhaz

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Posted 01 July 2023 - 06:16 PM

MetroPSF: https://github.com/blackhaz/MetroPSF - fully open source differential photometry application with GUI, written in Python. Performs automatic astrometric calibration and creates AAVSO and BAA compatible reports. Capable of batch processing. Works on FreeBSD, Linux, Windows and macOS.

 

Maxim


Edited by blackhaz, 01 July 2023 - 06:19 PM.

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#18 italic

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Posted 24 August 2024 - 07:19 PM

I'm surprised to not find it, so I'll link here. AstroImageJ (AIJ) is a tool for image calibration, solving, reduction with tools for light curve generation and calibration.



#19 Xilman

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Posted 01 September 2024 - 08:28 AM

I'm surprised to not find it, so I'll link here. AstroImageJ (AIJ) is a tool for image calibration, solving, reduction with tools for light curve generation and calibration.

See also Russ Laher's Aperture Photometry Tool, APT. https://aperturephotometry.org/

 

It is used for all my VS work.



#20 Xilman

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Posted 02 September 2024 - 09:28 AM

MetroPSF: https://github.com/blackhaz/MetroPSF - fully open source differential photometry application with GUI, written in Python. Performs automatic astrometric calibration and creates AAVSO and BAA compatible reports. Capable of batch processing. Works on FreeBSD, Linux, Windows and macOS.

 

Maxim

Unfortunately it does not build or run correctly in a venv on my Ubuntu 24.04 LTS system. Already mailed you a partial fix and bug report.




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