The functions provided by DSOProcesser are as follows.
DSOP Shooter
Equipment and shooting location combination (profile) management
You can save settings as profiles for each combination of equipment and shooting location and use them accordingly.
The shooting location information (latitude, longitude, altitude) will be automatically linked to the mount if the mount supports it.
* Settings for features available only in the Pro Edition cannot be changed in the Free Edition.
Register the celestial object(target) you want to shot and check the available shooting times
You can register the right ascension, declination, and name of the target you want to shot, as well as the number of images you want to take for each filter.
The available shooting time slots for the current day or the specified date are also displayed, which can be useful when creating a shot plan.
By registering the moon's altitude and distance to target in your profile, you can display possible shooting times based on the moon's position and moon age.
By registering the shooting settings (gain, exposure time, binning) for each filter in a profile, you can reduce mistakes caused by incorrect shooting settings.
It is also possible to obtain the right ascension, declination, and name of target you want to shot from the planetarium software.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
Creating and saving the shot plan (sequence list)
By selecting the registered targets you want to shot, you can easily create a shot plan (sequence list) that includes the pre-processing and post-processing necessary for automatic shooting.
Pre-processing and post-processing can be customized, and you can also create a shot plan manually.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
automatic shooting
Using the created shot plan (sequence list), you can perform automatic shooting by controlling devices and external software in an integrated manner.
Captured images are saved in FITS format.
Available functions differ between Free Edition and Pro Edition.
[Available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition]
Auto meridian flip
The meridian flip is automatically done based on the direction of the telescope and the position of the target in shot.
Coordination with DSOP Stacker
You can save the guide log of Auto Guider (PHD2) and automatically exclude it from the processing target when processing images with many guide errors with DSOP Stacker.
In addition, by creating an appropriate shot plan, you can adjust the type of image (light frame, dark frame, bias frame, flat frame) into the image.
It can be embedded, reducing the effort of searching for images to be processed with DSOP Stacker.
* The type of captured image is saved as a FITS header (FRAMETYP header).
Automatic standby for shooting start
If the target has not risen to the altitude specified in the profile, or if astronomical twilight has not ended, the camera will automatically wait until it can be shot.
Automatic determination of shooting end and skip
If the target falls below the altitude specified in the profile, or if astronomical twilight begins, the target shotting and some preparation processing of shot (positioning, auto guider adjustment and start) will be completed when there are running.
If the above condition exists before shooting starts, shooting and the corresponding shooting preparation process will be skipped.
Forced stop or pause of shot plan (sequence list)
If you want to modify the sequence list after automatic shooting has started, you can forcibly stop the running sequence list.
In addition, if you find a problem with your equipment (such as not being able to focus) while shooting, you can pause the sequence in progress, correct the problem, and then resume shooting.
Coordination with dome and safety monitor
When using an ASCOM-compatible dome or safety monitor, automatic shooting will be canceled if the dome closes or the safety monitor becomes unobservable.
You can also wait for automatic shooting until the dome is open and the safety monitor is observable.
(You can use this function if you have either a dome or a safety monitor.)
This can be useful for automatic shooting control during remote operation.
[Available only in Pro Edition]
The Pro Edition allows you to use the following functions to make automatic shooting less likely to be canceled if the camera temporarily becomes cloudy during automatic shooting.
It is possible to perform automatic shooting, which is less likely to fail due to weather changes, without creating a complicated shot plan.
Automatic retry of shot plan (sequence list)
When the shot plan (sequence list) is finished, automatic shooting will be re-executed the set number of times.
In the case of the Free Edition, automatic shooting ends without restarting, so you need to check the equipment, weather, etc. and then manually restart.
Auto guide auto retry
If there is a guide error when adjusting (calibrating) the auto guider (PHD2) or starting the guide, the adjustment will be made the set number of times and the guide start process will be re-executed.
In the case of Free Edition, automatic shooting will end.
Automatic retry of alignment (plate solve)
If alignment fails during alignment (plate solve), alignment will be re-executed the set number of times.
In the case of Free Edition, automatic shooting will end.
Correction of positional deviation using autoguider
When it is cloudy, the autoguider (PHD2) may not be able to fully track the guide star, which may cause unintentional positional deviation and result in failure in shot.
In this case, Pro Edition automatically performs positioning (plate solve) and re-images the subject.
In the case of Free Edition, shooting will continue without alignment.
Simulation of automatic shooting
You can simulate the start/end time of a shot plan (sequence list) by taking into account the altitude of target and the start and end of astronomical twilight.
You can check targets that can be shot before starting automatic shot.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
Manual shooting, device operation
You can manually take pictures with the connected camera and operate other connected devices.
It can be used to check the captured image before automatic shooting, and to operate the device (focusing, etc.) after stopping automatic shooting.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
* Slewing mount to target must be done separately using planetarium software, etc. Positioning (plate solve) after slewing can be performed from this software.
DSOP Stacker
Automatic loading and management of taken astrophotography
Reads the names of shot target, equipment and camera information from the headers of all images (FITS files) in the specified folder,
Automatically sorts and creates a list of shot targets to be processed.
Even if the shooting dates are different, if the information necessary for sorting is the same (name of target, name of the telescope or camera, exposure time, etc.), it will be automatically sorted.
Since they are sorted as the same target, you can reduce the hassle of selecting the FITS files you want to process for each target.
If you register the bias, dark, and flat library in advance as described below, you can automatically assign bias, dark, and flat.
(It is also possible to manually allocate each processing target.)
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
Bias, dark, flat library registration
Automatically creates bias, dark, and flat libraries by reading the headers of all FITS files in the specified folder.
You can reduce the hassle of assigning bias, dark, and flat for each astrophotogram you take.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
Stack processing of astrophotography
By performing bias correction, dark correction, and flat correction to shot images (FITS files), aligning them based on the positions of the stars, and compositing (stacking) them, you can create high-quality images with less noise and in which the details of the celestial bodies stand out.
It is also possible to erase the light trails of artificial satellites with the Sigma Clip.
You can choose whether or not to stack each image.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.
Automatic identification of defective images
Images with defects can be automatically identified and removed from stacking.
Available functions differ between Free Edition and Pro Edition.
[Available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition]
Exclude images with large displacement
Excludes images whose positional deviation is larger than a certain value from stacking.
Exclusion criteria can be adjusted through settings.
Exclude images with high autoguide errors
For images taken with DSOP Shooter, images with auto guide errors exceeding a certain amount will be excluded from stacking.
You can freely choose whether or not to use this feature, and the criteria for exclusion can be adjusted through settings.
[Available only in Pro Edition]
Excluding images with bad star images
We use deep learning to determine star images in captured images, and find out if they are blurry due to thin clouds passing through, are out of focus, or have auto-guide failures.
Exclude possible images from stacking.
You can freely choose whether or not to use this feature.
* Depending on the captured image, incorrect judgment may be made. Additionally, as the criteria for judgment are currently strict, images that can be stacked may be excluded.
Please select the stack target manually if necessary.
* Using this feature requires a CPU equipped with Intel AVX.
Batch processing of multiple objects
Multiple processing targets that have been read and sorted can be processed at once.
This feature is available only in Pro Edition. In the Free Edition, you can only process one object at a time.
DSOP FitsViewer
Display and check FITS file
This is software for displaying captured astronomical images (FITS files).
You can display a list of FITS files in a folder, enlarge or reduce images, adjust brightness automatically/manually, and check header information of FITS files.
This feature is available in both Free Edition and Pro Edition.