CCD Commander. Automation of CCD Imaging. ...a User s Perspective. by Mike Sherick

Transcription

1 CCD Commander Automation of CCD Imaging...a User s Perspective by Mike Sherick 1

2 Presentation Overview: - Imaging Experience & Equipment Used - Projects and Current Setup - Remote Robotic Observatories - Automation using CCD Commander. Overview. Setup. Actions. Other Useful Features. Real-Time Demo 2

3 Time flies when you re having fun... 3

4 Film AstroPhotography at Mt. Pinos 1986 C-14 Hypered 35mm Film, Off-Axis Hand Guided 4

5 Automated Dobsonian

6 LX200 Imaging Setup 6

7 LX200 Imaging Setup 7

8 Cabrillo Mesa Observatory Camarillo, California 8

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10 10

11 Flight Testing

12 24 f8 RC Telescope & Fork Mount Project 12

13 Robotic Observatory Projects 13

14 JMSM Observatory Mayhill, New Mexico 14

15 JMSM Observatory Elevation: 7,200 ft. 15

16 16

17 JMSM Observatory All-Sky Camera 17

18 JMSM Observatory - Monitoring Systems 18

19 Sagrada Observatory Las Cruces, New Mexico 19

20 Sagrada Observatory 20

21 Requirement: Automation Tool for CCD Imaging 21

22 CCD Commander 22

23 What is CCD Commander? Windows based application tool for Multi-target CCD Imaging Automation. Controls all aspects of the imaging system Camera (Imaging and Guiding); Mount (Fork or GEM) Dome/Roll-of-roof; Focuser; Rotator; Weather Monitor Simple, yet powerful Graphical User Interface Provides ease-of-use for beginning automation. Extremely flexible with endless possibilities for extreme multi-target imaging. 23

24 General Overview 24

25 CCD Commander - General Overview Setup is based on Actions Most Actions are similar to what you would do manually while imaging. Some examples of Actions are: Move the telescope Focus Take Images CCD Commander contains a list of Actions that get executed one at a time. Execution progresses through the list from top to bottom. 25

26 CCD Commander - General Overview Action List is fully editable even while executing. Running or completed actions cannot be changed. CCD Commander can be imaging one target, while additional targets are still being setup. Check boxes used to selectively enable or disable actions. Execution can be paused and resumed at any time. Allows for manual intervention when required. Clipboard aware Actions can be copied, cut, and pasted Greatly simplifies setup especially when repeating similar actions. 26

27 CCD Commander - Main Window 27

28 CCD Commander Setup 28

29 CCD Commander Setup Overview 29

30 CCD Commander Setup Control/Device Tab Sets all hardware control programs. CCD Commander must know filter assignments. Can get from both CCDSoft and MaxIm/DL. Not all are required Only Camera and Mount must be set. 30

31 CCD Commander Setup Mount Parameters Tab GEM Setup is most important selection for automation. Eastern and Western Limits determine where mount flips. Slew Scripts allow additional functionality whenever the mount slews. 31

32 CCD Commander Setup Auto Guide Star Tab Parameters specify guide star search algorithm. Guide Box Size must be set based on Camera Control program settings. Continuous Autoguiding keeps the guider running all of the time. Disable Guide Star Recovery New star search is done with every Take Image action. 32

33 CCD Commander Setup File Options Tab Global Image Save Location Can be used in any action to save all files to the same location. MaxIm DL FITS Compression Reduces image sizes, but FITS file can only be read by MaxIm/DL. 33

34 Plate Solve Tab 34

35 CCD Commander Setup Plate Solve Tab Select and setup Plate Solve program. Most parameters are PinPoint specific. Dark subtract all plate solve images. Reduces noise and improves plate solve performance. MaxIm/DL must have calibration group setup. 35

36 CCD Commander Setup Focuser Options Tab Filter Offset setup Each filter can have an offset amount. Whenever a filter change occurs, the focuser will move by the amount set here. No need to enact the filter offset during the action list. 36

37 Rotator Tab 37

38 CCD Commander Setup Rotator Tab Home Rotation Angle and Guider Calibrated at Extremely important for proper rotator/guider operation. Best to set these values using the FOVI in TheSky. During Move To that flip Some rotators are very slow. Maintain Rotator Angle can speed up slews especially when rotation will be changing after slew. 38

39 CCD Commander Setup Dome Tab 39

40 CCD Commander Setup Alerts Tab Can send when problems/events occur. can be sent to /text messaging capable cell phones. Can select for what events will be sent. 40

41 Weather Monitor Tab 41

42 CCD Commander Setup Weather Monitor Tab Pause Action When Selects conditions to pause. Close Roof/Dome When Selects conditions to close Emergency Contact Closure will close dome in most cases - this is why nothing selected here. Conditions for good reading Good reading can be any combination. 42

43 CCD Commander Setup Weather Monitor Tab Park Mount when Pausing Important when mount can possibly collide while the action list is paused. Repeat last action after resuming When conditions are clear, the action that was interrupted by weather will be repeated. Otherwise the next action in the list will run 43

44 Typical Imaging Session Creating an Action List 44

45 Typical Imaging Session Imaging Tasks - Connect with Dome and Open the Shutter - Cool Camera CCD Sensor - Move to a Focus Star - Focus Telescope - Move to Target Object - Plate Solve Target - Rotate Camera - Start AutoGuiding and take Image Exposures - Take Flat Exposures - Close Dome and Warm Camera CCD Sensor - Park Telescope Mount... all done! 45

46 CCD Commander Action List - Dome Control Action - Weather Monitor Control Action - Temperature Control Action - Move To RA&Dec Action - Focus Action - Move To RA&Dec Action - Plate Solve Action - Rotate Camera Action - Take Images Action - Automatic Flats Action - Dome Control Action - Temperature Control Action - Park Mount Action 46

47 CCD Commander Action List 47

48 Dome Control 48

49 Dome Control Action Any function operating the dome will use the Dome Control Action. Simply select the function desired. 49

50 Intelligent Temperature Control 50

51 Intelligent Temperature Control Action Enable Cooler enables the Use Intelligent Cooling checkbox. Disable Cooler will slowly warm up the camera. Fan On to turn fan on or off. Use Intelligent Cooling selects between Simple Cooling and Intelligent Cooling. Simple Cooling just sets the camera temperature and moves on to the next action. 51

52 Intelligent Temperature Control Action Intelligent Cooling gives more control over the temperatures. Desired Temperatures is a list of all the acceptable temperatures. CCD Commander goes through the temperature list one at a time attempting to set the camera to the coldest possible temperature. 52

53 Intelligent Temperature Control Action Maximum cooler power is the acceptable power level of the final temperature. Maximum time for temperature to stabilize sets how long CCD Commander will wait at each power level. Temperature and cooler deviations set what is stable power. When power is stable, next temperature is attempted until there are no more to try, or a temperature cannot be reached. 53

54 Move to Action 54

55 Move To Action RA & Declination coordinates for any target JNow/J2000 Coordinates Either can be used. J2000 is best for stationary targets. Allows for reuse of same coordinates over days/years. JNow coordinates only valid for the moment they are created. Works okay for stationary targets, with the coordinates becoming less accurate over time. 55

56 Move To Action Get RA/Dec from TheSky Pulls coordinates from any selected object in TheSky6. Can get either JNow or J2000 coordinates Get RA/Dec from Current Telescope Position Queries the telescope position JNow coordinates Object Name Can be any text either real name or just reference 56

57 Move To Action Find Object in TheSky Uses text in Object Name to search the database in TheSky. Gets either JNow or J2000 coordinates. Recompute Object Coordinates before Slew Only available with JNow coordinates. Very useful for rapidly moving targets (minor planets) Object Name must exist in TheSky. 57

58 Focus Action 58

59 Focus Action Focus using any filter Focus Offsets are available Offsets don t use the Focus Action. Exposure Time can be settable computes exposure time automatically. With FocusMax possible to specify the star location. 59

60 Plate Solve Action 60

61 Plate Solve Action What is a Plate Solve? Start with an image. The stars in the image are matched to a star catalog. Using the stars in catalog, the exact center of the image is determined. Why Plate Solve? Even high end mounts may not exactly center the target Inaccurate centering may result in Difficulty getting the desired guide star (self guided/oag) Poor target framing. Plate Solve does take time, but results in better images 61

62 Exposure Information Plate Solve Action Exposure Time should be long enough to get plenty of stars in the image. Bin can be high (3x3) without major impacts to plate solve accuracy. Wide field images may not want to bin. Sub-frames may be necessary when using CCDSoft for plate solves. 62

63 Plate Solve Action Sync Selection 63

64 Plate Solve Action Sync Selection Sync Mount will send a sync command to the mount using the coordinates from the plate solve. Sync command is not always desirable Offset Position will compute the difference between the telescope coordinates and the plate solve result. Future slews will go to a position offset from the requested coordinates. 64

65 Plate Solve Action Slew to Original Location after Solve Not always necessary to re-center the target. Abort if Solve Fails Normally if the Plate Solve fails, execution continues. With this option, execution will abort. More on Sub-Lists later. 65

66 Plate Solve Action Retry - 2 nd try may help. - Slew Mount can avoid obstruction (clouds). - Skip to Next Target also useful for cloud avoidance. Can save Plate Solve exposures with images (or elsewhere) for later evaluation. 66

67 Rotate Camera Action 67

68 Rotate Camera Action Simple action to rotate the camera. Can use TheSky6 Field-of-View Indicator to determine the desired Position Angle. Use button to automatically retrieve the PA. 68

69 Take Image Action 69

70 Take Images Action Imager Information Typical Imaging parameters These no different than what seen in CCDSoft or MaxIm/DL Calibrate Images Will automatically calibrate images Both Raw and Calibrated images are saved 70

71 Autoguider Enabled Take Images Action Exposure Time, Guide Star X pos, and Guide Star Y pos entries are only active when the Automatic Guide Mode is disabled In SetupTab. Max Error to Start Error is checked before starting exposure. Max Guide Cycles to Wait Upper limit on guide cycles Guider Init Delay Specifies number of seconds to wait before checking guider error. 71

72 Dithering 72

73 Take Images Action Dithering Moves the guide star or mount (Unguided Dither) between exposures. Dither Frequency How often to Dither Dither Step How much to Dither Maximum Dither How far to move from start Maintain Dither Position with Filter Change Useful for RGBRGBRGB imaging 73

74 Dithering Plot Example: Dither Step = 1 Maximum Dither = 2 74

75 Take Images Action Center AO When Complete Important to ensure correct image alignment. Rotate 180 degrees after Meridian Flip Usually always necessary. May be unchecked if not desired. 75

76 Take Images Action Use Global Image Save Location When enabled, files all go to the same location. When disabled, can put images from each Take Image Action into a different folder Autosave Exposure File name can be any text File Name Builder 76

77 File Name Builder 77

78 File Name Builder Can select any number of parameters. Each parameter is represented by a token in the filename box. Tokens will be evaluated at run time and replaced by the appropriate value. Allows unique file naming without having to manually edit the file name. Example text always shows the same values <ObjectName> <Exposure Time> <Filter> <Bin> <Date> 78

79 Take Images Action Plate Solve and Sync after Meridian Flip Necessary unless mount pointing is extremely accurate 79

80 Automatic Flats Action 80

81 Automatic Flat Action 81

82 Automatic Flat Action Flat Information Exposure Setup When setting up the flat exposure, especially for twilight flats, large CCDs with slow download can make it impossible to keep up with the sun. Frame Size Changing this to half or quarter will speed up the download and better allow the exposure setup to keep up with the sky brightness. Flat Frame Size This is the frame size for the actual flats. Filename Prefix Can use File Name Builder to auto name files. 82

83 Automatic Flat Action Flat Information Take Matching Darks CCD Commander will keep track of all the flat exposure times. After all the flats are complete, matching darks will be exposed. Continually adjust exposure time to match ADU target While exposing the flats, the exposure time will remain fixed if this is unchecked. Otherwise the exposure time is adjusted to match changing brightness levels. 83

84 Automatic Flat Action Mount Information Sets where the mount will be while the flats are exposing. Park Mount, Slew to, Do not connect. Dusk Sky Flat and Dawn Sky Flat are special. CCD Commander will automatically compute the time to start taking flats based on the Sun altitude entered. At the computed time, the Automatic Flats Action will act like a Skip At Time action, jumping ahead in the action list to the Automatic Flats Action. 84

85 Automatic Flat Action Rotations Defines all the rotation angles flats should be taken at. Flats for all rotations are taken at one filter before the next filter is selected. Flats are taken at the rotations in the order listed. Filters Defines all the filters flats should be taken at. Flats are taken with the filters in the order listed. For Dawn/Dusk flats it is important to put the filters in order of increasing/decreasing throughput. 85

86 Park Mount 86

87 Park Mount Real Park Sends a Park command to the telescope driver. Simulated Park Repeatedly slews the mount to the same Alt/Az coordinate. Alt/Az coordinates must be entered. Simulates a park by keeping the mount in the same position until mount can be shutdown. 87

88 CCD Commander Action List DEMO 88

89 A C T I O L I S T N 89

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91 Action List Enhancements 91

92 Repeat Focus 92

93 Filter Sequence 93

94 Back-to-Back Targets 94

95 Sub-Action Lists 95

96 Sub-Action List Like the Main Action List, but Sub-Action List can: - Run Once - Run until Aborted - Run Multiple Times - Run for a Period of Time Allows the Main Action List to be much cleaner and adds considerable flexibiliy. 96

97 Sub-Action List Link to File 97

98 Sub-Action List Link to File Sub-Action List can be a separate action list. Linked sub-actions will be loaded from the file immediately before they are executed. Useful for action lists that never change. Startup/Shutdown action lists Also useful for remote edition of sub-action lists, since the sub-action list is not loaded until execution. 98

99 Sub-Action List Examples 99

100 Useful Sub-Action List Examples Similar to previous Action List examples, but much cleaner. Repeat Focus Filter Sequences Back-to-back Targets Plate Solve Failure 100

101 Wait Actions 101

102 Wait for Altitude Action Pauses execution until the coordinates reach the altitude. Similar to Move To action, TheSky6 can be used to get the coordinates. Includes Sun and Moon object types. Rising/Setting selects what exact event is desired. Rising means to stop waiting when target is above the requested altitude. When object crosses meridian, wait always finishes Setting means to stop waiting when target is below the request altitude. 102

103 Wait for Time Action Pauses execution until the requested time is reached. Absolute indicates the entered time is Local Time (24 hour format). Relative indicates the entered time is a number of hours and minutes to wait. 103

104 Wait Actions - Considerations Neither Wait Action does anything other than wait. If the mount is tracking, it will continue to track during the wait. If you have a long Wait Action, always Park the mount using the Park Mount action prior to the Wait Action. 104

105 Skip Ahead Actions 105

106 Skip Ahead at Time Actions Skip actions are a powerful tool in scheduling your targets. Skip Ahead at Time will cause the action list to jump forward to the Skip action at the requested time. All actions between the current executing action and the Skip action are skipped. 106

107 Skip Ahead at Altitude Action Similar to the Wait for Altitude Action. Extremely useful to: Stop imaging when target gets too low. Start imaging when target becomes high enough. 107

108 Action Lists - Scheduling Example 108

109 Action Lists - Scheduling Examples - Wait to start - Skip to 2 nd target - Skip at dawn - Wait/Skip combinations 109

110 Weather Monitor Action 110

111 Weather Monitor Action A Simple, but important Action. When enabled, the weather monitor hardware is queried on a periodic basis. Once bad weather is detected, the action list is immediately paused. Dome can also be closed. Once paused, no other action is executed until the weather turns good. One exception Skip Ahead at Time and Altitude actions will still execute. Also a Skip Ahead Action will always execute a Weather Monitor Action. The Skip Action will never skip a Weather Monitor Action. 111

112 Run Program Action 112

113 Run Program Action Provides extensibility with scripts or other programs. CCD Commander can wait for the script or executable to finish, or continue concurrently. 113

114 Graphs 114

115 CCD Temperature Graph 115

116 Autoguider Error Graph 116

117 Import Target List 117

118 Import Target List Advanced tool typically for survey work. Target List containing RA/Dec for multiple targets can be imported. For each target, any number of actions can be setup to execute. At a minimum, Move To and Take Images actions Move To action coordinates will automatically be filled in from the target list. 118

119 Thank You! For more information on CCD Commander Visit: 119