ImageJ is a graphical user interface (GUI) driven, public domain,
Java-based, software package for general image processing
traditionally used mainly in life sciences fields. The image processing
capabilities of ImageJ are useful and extendable to other scientific
fields. Here we present AstroImageJ (AIJ), which provides an astronomy
specific image display environment and tools for astronomy specific
image calibration and data reduction. Although AIJ maintains the
general purpose image processing capabilities of ImageJ, AIJ is
streamlined for time-series differential photometry, light curve
detrending and fitting, and light curve plotting, especially for
applications requiring ultra-precise light curves (e.g., exoplanet
transits). AIJ reads and
writes standard FITS files, as well as other common image formats,
provides FITS header viewing and editing, and is World Coordinate
System (WCS) aware, including an automated interface to the
astrometry.net web portal for plate solving images. AIJ provides
research grade image calibration and analysis tools with a GUI driven
approach, and easily installed cross-platform compatibility. It
enables new users, even at the level of undergraduate student, high
school student, or amateur astronomer, to quickly start processing,
modeling, and plotting astronomical image data with one tightly
integrated software package.
Rather than building from source, this package just copies a binary
into the system. It is recommended that post-installation, the user
changes the permissions of the install directory so that the user can
update the software:
# chown -R myname.users /usr/lib64/AstroImageJ
It is further recommend to update to the latest daily build - in
particular, the WCS-finding routine is broken on earlier versions.
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