164 replies to this topic

[easybob95]

Hello,

i have developed for my personal needs and use a software which is supposed to improve quality of deep sky live videos using ZWO camera and large field lens.

 

This software was first written for NVIDIA single board computer (Jetson Nano, Xavier, AGX Orin) and I have also made a classical Windows 10/11 version for Desktop or Laptop.

 

My software is Python software, using classical libraries like OpenCV, Numpy, Pillow, etc. I also use CUDA functions to speed up the treatments (using pycuda) but this means you will need a NVIDIA GPU to run the software.

 

You can find a summary of my work here :

 

https://forums.devel...tson-nano/76861

 

You can also see the results I get with my software here :

 

https://www.youtube....Mj7FKsKlXFJD4pg

 

 

My software was not supposed to be shared because it was mainly for my personal needs. It still gets bugs and it is not really user friendly.

 

But today, this software brings good results (considering my needs) and I have decided to share it.

 

You will find Nvidia Jetson version and Windows versions here (with small explanations) here :

 

https://github.com/A...illou/JETSONSKY

 

You will also find in this Github link a version of the software (Linux & Windows) which only perform live treatments (no camera needed) for those who don’t have a ZWO camera.

 

You can find some test videos here if you want to test the “treatment only” version :

 

https://drive.google...CUS?usp=sharing

 

 

Important points :

 

About ZWO cameras : I want to say I don’t support ZWO in any way. I am not a big ZWO fan since I bought a ASI485MC. I used ZWO camera because I have one. I won’t develop a version of my software for other cameras because I don’t want to buy them (useless for me).

 

This software is free of use for personal use only. This software and parts of this software ARE NOT FREE OF USE for any kind of professional or commercial use.

 

As I don’t make money with this software, I won’t respond to any modification demand. I will provide some new versions of the software (debug and maybe new functions),  depending of my free time and my needs.

 

 

I hope you will find this software useful.

 

Alain

Edited by easybob95, 03 August 2022 - 08:56 AM.

[easybob95]

A little exercise with my software : the colours of the Moon's soils :

 

For sure, you will need first a colour camera.

 

It's better to make this test on a near full Moon, to get very bright parts on the moon on the sensor (avoid terminator).

 

Use Dn Adaptative Absorber filter to remove noise

You must adjust white balance to get a "grey" Moon. Use CRed CBlue and/or R G B adjust (activate histogram Hst on the left side on the main window).

Apply Contrast Clahe

Activate saturation enhancement (SAT and the slider on le left part of the main program window).

Adjust the settings as you want.

 

You should get something like this :

 

https://youtu.be/gW7CA1bpNp0

 

 

With DSO, with an ASI178MC BIN1, a C9.25 F/D6.3 and a 0.5x reducer in front of the camera, here is the result i get :

 

https://youtu.be/BwPF4nCrZXM

 

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Dn Adaptative absorber noise removal filter can also be used to manage atmospheric distortion (if it is not to high) :
An example on the Moon :

 

https://youtu.be/BrWWgmz_k3s

 

Or Jupiter :

 

https://youtu.be/t-oRGc33Y4A

 

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Well, it seems my software is useless.

 

Anyway. I made tests last night.

 

If someone is interested in, the results of my tests :

 

https://youtu.be/rASbxiwVSdM

https://youtu.be/CLoHfAXewZ8

https://youtu.be/sU_baLS3Y04

 

I must be clear : my purpose is to make live videos, not to make photos. That's why i push the camera gain very high.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Colours of the stars :

 

https://youtu.be/N_qZvOZz9Qs

 

Alain

[decep]

This is really amazing.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  This feels like the next generation of EAA.

 

You should consider reposting this to the EAA forum or request the mods to move this post there.

[easybob95]

Many thanks decep.

 

The mods want me to stay here. Maybe I could create a topic in the EAA forum and link to this topic but I am not sure the mods will be ok for that !

 

Alain

[mklosterman1]

Just saw this from the EAA section! I’m looking forward to trying it. On my windows 10 PC I have an NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti graphics card with 6Gb of video RAM. Is that card supported by your software? 

[easybob95]

Just saw this from the EAA section! I’m looking forward to trying it. On my windows 10 PC I have an NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti graphics card with 6Gb of video RAM. Is that card supported by your software? 

Hello,

 

yes, this graphic card is supported. I guess there is no problem with 10X0 GTS serie and 20X0 RTX / 30X0 RTX series. I have a 1060 GTX card and the software works fine with it.

 

Alain

[dcweaver]

Nice work.  I am not a wide field person, but you could clearly see the North American Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy in what looked like very high frame rate video.  Keep pushing the state of the art.  GPU have tremendous potential.

[easybob95]

Hello dcweaver,

 

Yes, GPU gets huge potential. For now, they are most of time useless and majority of treatments are post treatment. With GPU, it could be live treatment and i do believe this could be useful.

 

My tests were made with bad sky. I will still work on my software and i hope much better results with a good sky. Just have to wait for it.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Hello,

 

i have uploaded a new version of JetsonSky (both Linux & Windows system). The new version is 14.05.

 

I have solved many bugs for monochrome video treatments.

 

Everything is here :

 

https://github.com/A...illou/JETSONSKY

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Hello,

 

i have uploaded a new version of JetsonSky (both Linux & Windows system). The new version is 14.06

 

I have solved a major bug for monochrome video treatments.

 

Everything is still here :

 

https://github.com/A...illou/JETSONSKY

 

Alain

Edited by easybob95, 17 August 2022 - 11:28 AM.

[easybob95]

Version is now 14.07. Some bugs fixed.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

I have uploaded a new version of JetsonSky (V14_09) for Linux & Windows.

 

Some bugs fixed and some code optimization to speed up live treatments performances.

 

For windows version only : V14_10 released with control of the ZWO EFWmini 5 position (electrical filter wheel). Still have issue to solve for Linux version.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Hello,

 

I have just realized i did not give you some tips to set properly the filters in order see many things in the deep sky.

 

Before talking about JetsonSky settings, the hardware :

 

The camera must be as good as possible. This means the sensitivity must be high, read noise must be low and photosites size must be high (at least 2,4µm, higher is better).

 

You can use monochrome or colour camera. I prefer colour camera to get colours but monochrome camera will bring you more signal.

 

The lens must have a focal / diameter ratio as small as possible (I should say 1,4 is maximum F/D; lower is better).

 

The focal lens should be greater than 8mm. With smaller focal lens, you will miss many targets and only see brightest objects. 50 mm focal length F/D 1,4 or lower will bring you many many stars and objects.

 

Higher focal lens with small F/D is really rare and expensive.

 

Now, JetsonSky settings :

 

First, I recommend to set BIN2 in order to get quite reasonable resolution (not to high) and catch more signal than we would have with BIN1. I also recommend to use an Infra Red Cut filter on the lens.

 

Don’t forget to get very precise focus with the lens.

 

With classical astronomy photography, we use very low gain for the camera. As we do videos, we will have to use (very) high gain for the camera, in order to get small exposure time.

 

High gain means heavy noise. That’s why I wrote JetsonSky.

 

We could use low gain with long exposure time but in that case, this will only work with static light (time needed to collect enough light in the photosite). With a moving target (satellite), this won’t work and you will miss it.

 

So, first, just set high gain (I should say ¾ of the maximum gain of the camera, depending of the camera) and exposure time should be set between 100 and 500ms.

 

This will bring you interesting signal but will generate heavy noise.

 

Now, we have to manage noise. To do this, I recommend to use Dn Adaptative Absorber with high dynamic setting. The noise will be dramatically lower and details are preserved. You could use Low dynamic but you will get more ghosts with the moving objects.

 

Now, the video is much cleaner than RAW video (without treatments).

 

It is now possible to amplify small signal. To do this, I use Amplif Soft and I select Stars in the selection box. This filter will only amplify small dots, not the rest if the image.

 

Just raise amplification slider (set between 3 and 5) and adjust µX to select the part of the signal you want to amplify. Check TrGS checkbox (on the left part of the main window) to see the Gaussian curve of the amplification filter (it shows you the part of the signal which will be amplified). Concerning Stars amplification, Ro slider will also modify the Gaussian.

 

Adjust mainly µX to amplify small stars and satellites without amplifying background noise.

 

You can also use Histo Eq to raise signal. Histo stretch can also be useful.

 

Now, you can adjust the video as you want, the main objective is to get maximum signal with the lower possible noise.

 

If you want to detect moving objects, you will have to get very low noise.

 

You will also have to set the good white balance in order to get something quite acceptable for colours (first use Cred and Cblue sliders which control the camera and second R G B sliders which are software control of the colours).

 

I guess you have now the most important informations to start with JetsonSky.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Well,

 

it seems there are few people interested with JetsonSky.

 

For the courageous people, i think it would really be interesting to test this software, even if the installation procedure is not that easy (with Jetson SBC, it is a bit more difficult than with Windows PC with Nvidia GPU).

 

For large field live video with wide open lens, JetsonSky will allow you to see things you never saw with classical observation. This software has been made to manage camera very high gain and i think it brings something really new.

 

I will be on holidays in the coming weeks so i won't be able to answer any questions as i should but i will try to come here to try to give information if needed.

 

Clear Sky.

 

Alain

[decep]

While it is a niche software, I think your primary problem is the complexity in setup and lack of documentation.

 

You need a one click installer or install script that can setup most of the dependencies even if it is not a complete setup.

[easybob95]

Hello decep,

 

You are right. The installation is a bit complicated for sure. That's the problem with Python programs and pycuda raise the complexity.

 

I have no solution as this time and I will think about a more simple installation.

 

For me, it is not a problem because this software was mainly for my personal needs and use. I was not supposed sharing it and I will earn 0$ with it. It is mainly for those who would like to see what there camera + lens system can do with an appropriate treatment. The few people who tested JetsonSky are amazed with the results so I guess others could be interested with a new kind of live observing despite the complex install process.

 

Alain

[Skywatchr]

Hello decep,

 

You are right. The installation is a bit complicated for sure. That's the problem with Python programs and pycuda raise the complexity.

 

I have no solution as this time and I will think about a more simple installation.

 

For me, it is not a problem because this software was mainly for my personal needs and use. I was not supposed sharing it and I will earn 0$ with it. It is mainly for those who would like to see what there camera + lens system can do with an appropriate treatment. The few people who tested JetsonSky are amazed with the results so I guess others could be interested with a new kind of live observing despite the complex install process.

 

Alain

How about a zip file complete with directory tree?  That way Windoze users could unzip it in it's own directory (folder), have all the subdirectories, then complete the dependencies installations from there.

[easybob95]

How about a zip file complete with directory tree?  That way Windoze users could unzip it in it's own directory (folder), have all the subdirectories, then complete the dependencies installations from there.

Hello Skywatchr,

 

very good idea. I will make some zip files with directory tree for both linux and Windows versions.

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Hello,

 

I have made small changes in Github.

 

Now, there is a directory for Linux ArmV8 Jetson version and a directory for Windows version.

 

In each directory, i also added a zip files with all the files (and directories) needed to get easier download.

 

https://github.com/A...illou/JETSONSKY

 

Alain

[easybob95]

Hello,

 

even with full Moon, very large filed deep sky survey can give some results. But for sure, it is not the best result we can expect.

 

https://youtu.be/ZkHtyh5ILfM

 

Alain

[Mark9473]

Looks great. I hope someday this can be incorporated in a simple plug-and-play device that would be easy to operate for non-imagers like myself.

[easybob95]

Still working on algorithms to get the trajectory and direction (& speed) of satellites.

 

Here are 2 examples of what can be done (in the same video) :

 

https://youtu.be/yMorL29o6a8

 

Still some work to do but things are going an interesting way.

 

When i will get something stable, i will share it on GitHub.

 

Alain