SkyTools Imaging replaces guesswork with accurate calculations. It can accurately estimate the signal to noise ratio under any conditions, allowing for much higher quality planning. Currently, imagers use experience, rules of thumb and generalizations to decide what to image, when to image, how long to expose in total, and what sub exposure times to use. In the end it is all guesswork.
How much time is wasted on targets that are beyond the capabilities of the imaging
system? Or wasted by imaging the same objects that have already been imaged a million
times? Imagine a tool that could search every
known object for the ones that are suitable for your imaging
system.
New in SkyTools 4.1 -
Available Now!
Support for the
N.I.N.A. astrophotography suite - from the Scheduler, write your schedule directly to the N.I.N.A. Advanced Sequencer for use at the telescope. N.I.N.A. is a free open-source software that automates nighttime imaging and telescope operation.
Smart Project Builder
- will make creating Imaging Projects much more straightforward.
Exposure Tables
- an analytical tool that calculates the required exposure time to achieve your target SNR for each filter used in your imaging system. It also provides an analysis of SNR loss for different sub exposure duration.
Weekly Preview - for a given target object, this tool displays a graphical preview each night for a week.
CMOS Gain Selections
- support has been added for cameras with variable read modes and gain selections. The optimum combination can be determined automatically without saturation/clipping of the brightest parts of the target object.
Export Schedule to a
file - export your SkyTools schedule to a file that can potentially be read into scheduling software
Find
interesting and unusual objects that are within reach of your
telescope & camera
Optimize
your images with the optimum filter order and sub exposure
times for your current conditions
Make
the most efficient use of your imaging time
Organize
your projects, track your goals, and archive your observations
Smart
Planning
Imagers have no real way to know how long they need to expose to reach the result that they want, and they basically guess at the conditions needed to obtain the best results for a given filter. SkyTools
4 replaces that guesswork with accurate calculations.
Any filter, any camera, any telescope
The
most advanced imaging scheduler available, even including
professional observatories
Advanced
Target Selection Tool - only objects that will make good
images
Interactive
composition and mosaic tool
Automatically
generates ACP Plans
Submits
projects directly to ACP Scheduler and calculates the optimum
constraints to use
SkyTools Imaging connects a new and highly accurate imaging model to the most highly-corrected and complete astronomical databases available, via an innovative user interface. It can be used to pick suitable target objects, predict how many exposures will be required to obtain the desired result, keep track of each project’s progress, and guide observations so that SNR is always maximized.
The developer of
SkyTools, Greg Crinklaw, was recently a guest at The Astro Imaging
Channel, where he talked about the science behind SkyTools Imaging.