Software

Useful Links

Name	Description
Software	Observatory Drivers
Drivers: ASCOM Standards	This is the home of the ASCOM Initiative, a loosely-knit group of astronomy software developers and astronomy device manufacturers devoted to vendor-independent plug-and-play control. ASCOM is a many-to-many and language-independent architecture, supported by most astronomy devices which connect to Windows computers.
Drivers: EQMOD Project	The EQMOD project consists of a suite of open source applications that can provide an alternative to the hand controller on supported German Equatorial Mounts.
	Observatory Control
Observatory, Telescope & Camera Control: MaximDL	MaxIm DL is the complete integrated solution for all of your astronomical imaging needs. Whether you are collecting and analyzing science data or making beautiful portraits of the night sky, MaxIm DL includes all the tools you need.
Telescope & Camera Control: SGPro	Sequence Generator Pro – Manage your imaging run using equipment profiles. Stay in focus. Control of meridian flip during imaging. Target framing, plate solving, complex mosaic sequences & much more. Plus a free 45 day evaluation period & free “lite” version.
	Planetaria
Planetarium: Stellarium (Free s/w)	Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
Planetarium: Cartes du Ciel (Libre s/w)	Logiciel libre de dessin de cartes du ciel. Ce programme permet de dessiner des cartes du ciel d’après les données de nombreux catalogues d’étoiles et de nébuleuses, ainsi que la position des planètes, astéroïdes et comètes.
Planetarium: The Sky, Bisque Inc	Professional standard planetarium software with telescope control. A very comprehensive package with various levels of features and expense.
	Guiding & Focusing
Guiding: PHD2 (Free s/w)	PHD2 is telescope guiding software that simplifies the process of tracking a guide star, letting you concentrate on other aspects of deep-sky imaging or spectroscopy.
Focusing: Focus Max	FocusMax was designed to aid astronomers in the difficult task of focusing CCD-based telescopes. FocusMax is routinely used worldwide with unattended, all-night robotic-telescope operations including, asteroid and supernova searches, astrometry, photometry, astro- imaging, and more. With the availability of motorized focusing hardware, astronomers now have the opportunity to fully automate their focusing operation.
	DSLR / CCD Image Aquisition
Backyard EOS & Nikon	DSLR camera control for Canon & Nikon brands – Backyard EOS & Backyard Nikon. Free trial available, from Guylain Rochon in Ottawa, Canada
Astro Photography Tool. Control software	Camera control software. From DSLR to CCD. Plus ASCOM telescope & filter wheel control. With free trial
	Image Processing
Autostakkert	Free software to stack images captured via webcam type CCDs (AVI, MOV etc)
Image Processing: RegiStax (Free s/w)	Registax software for alignment/stacking & processing of images.
Image Processing: Deep Sky Stacker (Free s/w)	DeepSkyStacker is a freeware for astrophotographers that simplifies all the pre-processing steps of deep sky pictures. Registering, stacking, & simple post-stacking processes to quickly view the final result. Saving the resulting image to a TIFF or FITS file (16 or 32 bit). (Now (2018) Open source & being rewritten for 32 & 64 OS see download page)After a shooting night you give all your pictures (light frames, darks frames, offset/bias frames, flat frames) to DeepSkyStacker and you go to bed. The next morning (or is it afternoon?) you can see the result and start post-processing.
Image Processing: Adobe Photoshop	Photoshop is a sophisticated image processing package that is widely used. It is also used for astronomical image processing with great effect, there are plugins specifically for astro imaging.
Image Processing: PixInsight	PixInsight is an advanced image processing software platform. It has been designed specifically for astrophotography and other technical imaging fields. PixInsight is a modular, open-architecture system where the entire processing and file handling capabilities are implemented as external installable modules.
AstroArt Camera control & processing software	Complete software package for astrophotography: image processing, astrometry, photometry, camera and telescope control. Limited free trial available.
Astro Pixel Processor. – processing software	A new (2017) software package for astrophotography image processing. Very comprehensive preprocessing including registration, normalization, integration, calibration & mosaicing of images. Video tutorials on the website from the author & Sara Wager. 30 day free trial available.
CCD Ware. – Control & Processing software	A modular software suite that will navigate to target & automate imaging. Allow correction of mount periodic error. Control focusers, check images for sharpness & tilt defects. Plus image processing. 30 & 60 day free trial available.