Software
ImageJ
All of our research projects require that you have the public domain Java image-processing program ImageJ installed. It runs on Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X and Linux. If you already have ImageJ 1.39s or greater, you can upgrade to the latest version by going to Plugins > Utilities > Update ImageJ... within ImageJ.
Polaris Plug-in
You must also install our Polaris Plug-in for ImageJ, which performs all of the necessary astronomical image analysis. Once installed, it will be available under the Plugins > Polaris menu in ImageJ. To install, simply place the contents of the following ZIP file into the ImageJ/plugins directory.
- Download the current version, dated 2009-Mar-9.
- Download the "Prepare for Animated Gif" macro (included above; see example gif).
- Check out the version history.
Graphical Analysis
Our spectroscopy projects (Stellar, Variable Star, and AGN) require the Graphical Analysis 3 software. This is commercial software, but a demo version is available.
- Download the Graphical Analysis 3 Demo.
- Runs on both Windows and Mac.
Planetarium Software and Find_Orb
Our Killer Asteroids project requires that both orbit-fitting software and a planetarium program be installed. The former currently limits this project to be run only under Windows.
Step 1 - Install one of these commercial planetarium programs:
- Guide 8
- You'll need to update to the Sep 2008 version.
- Runs only under Windows, but has better positional accuracy for Solar System objects.
- Check out the Guide 8 User's Manual online.
- Starry Night
- Tested with Pro Plus 6.
- May also work with Pro and Enthusiast.
- Runs on both Windows and Mac.
- Download the 32-bit version of Find_Orb. It can be unzipped straight into Guide's directory, if installed. To run Find_Orb, double-click on find_o32.exe.
- In order to increase speed and accuracy, you'll need to download a planetary ephemeris file. Pick one of the following options, depending on your needs:
- unxp2000.405
from this FTP site at JPL
- (4.5 MB; 2000-2050 A.D.)
- sub_de.406 from the Guide 8 CD (in JPL_EPH/)
- (12.7 MB; 1800-2200 A.D.)
- unxp1600-2200_intel_mac_ifort.405
- (53.3 MB; 1600-2200 A.D.)
- More info is available here and there.
- unxp2000.405
from this FTP site at JPL
- Place this file in Find_Orb's directory, and add a line to its environment.dat file similar to the final line here. (Use this file if Find_Orb hasn't created one yet, changing the filename to match your choice above.)
Unzipping Software
Our Killer Asteroids project also requires the ability to unzip image files archived in the GZIP format. If you don't already have one, we recommend 7-Zip for Windows. It's open-source and free to install.
Photoshop and FITS Liberator
Our Image-Making Project requires the following commercial software, which run on both Windows and Mac (OS 9 and OS X):
- One of the following:
- Photoshop (version 7.0 or later), or
- Photoshop Elements (version 2.0 or later), or
- Photoshop CS3.
- The free FITS Liberator plug-in for Photoshop.