A comprehensive astronomical photometry pipeline built with Streamlit, featuring local astrometric plate solving, multi-catalog cross-matching, and advanced photometric analysis capabilities.
- Multi-aperture photometry: Automatic aperture photometry with multiple radii (1.5×, 2.0×, 2.5×, 3.0× FWHM)
- PSF photometry: Effective Point Spread Function (ePSF) modeling and fitting
- Background estimation: Advanced 2D background modeling with SExtractor algorithm
- Source detection: DAOStarFinder with configurable detection thresholds
- FWHM estimation: Automatic seeing measurement with Gaussian profile fitting
- Local plate solving: Integration with Astrometry.net via stdpipe for blind astrometric solving
- WCS refinement: Advanced astrometric refinement using SCAMP and GAIA DR3 catalog
- Header validation: Automatic WCS header fixing and validation
- Coordinate systems: Support for multiple coordinate reference frames
- GAIA DR3 integration: Automatic cross-matching with GAIA Data Release 3
- Zero-point calculation: Robust photometric calibration with outlier rejection
- Extinction correction: Atmospheric extinction correction using airmass
- Multiple filter bands: Support for GAIA G, BP, RP and synthetic photometry bands
- GAIA DR3: Stellar parameters, proper motions, and photometry
- SIMBAD: Object identifications and classifications
- Astro-Colibri: Transient and variable source alerts
- SkyBoT: Solar system object identification
- AAVSO VSX: Variable star catalog
- Milliquas: Quasar and AGN catalog
- Cosmic ray removal: L.A.Cosmic algorithm implementation via astroscrappy
- Image enhancement: Multiple visualization modes (ZScale, histogram equalization)
- Quality filtering: Automated source quality assessment
- Error propagation: Comprehensive photometric error calculation
- Interactive web interface: Streamlit-based GUI with real-time processing
- Parameter configuration: Adjustable detection and photometry parameters
- Progress tracking: Real-time status updates and logging
- Results visualization: Interactive plots and Aladin sky viewer integration
- Python 3.10+
- Astrometry.net installation with solve-field binary
- SCAMP installation (for astrometric refinement)
pip install streamlit astropy photutils astroquery matplotlib pandas numpy
pip install astroscrappy stdpipe requests scikit-image-
Astrometry.net: For local plate solving
# Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt-get install astrometry.net # macOS with Homebrew brew install astrometry-net
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SCAMP: For astrometric refinement
# Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt-get install scamp # macOS with Homebrew brew install scamp
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Start the application:
streamlit run frontend.py
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Login: Create an account or login with existing credentials
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Configure observatory: Set your observatory location and parameters
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Upload FITS file: Upload your astronomical image
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Run photometry: Click "Photometric Calibration" to start the pipeline
- Name: Observatory identifier
- Latitude/Longitude: Geographic coordinates (decimal degrees)
- Elevation: Height above sea level (meters)
- Seeing (FWHM): Initial estimate in arcseconds
- Detection Threshold: Source detection sigma threshold
- Border Mask: Pixel border exclusion size
- Filter Band: GAIA magnitude band for calibration
- Max Calibration Mag: Faintest magnitude for calibration stars
- Refine Astrometry: Enable SCAMP-based WCS refinement
- Remove Cosmic Rays: Apply L.A.Cosmic algorithm
- Force Re-solve: Override existing WCS solution
The pipeline uses stdpipe as a Python wrapper around Astrometry.net for robust astrometric solutions:
- Source Detection: Automated star detection using photutils
- Blind Matching: stdpipe.astrometry.blind_match_objects for initial WCS
- Parameter Optimization: Automatic scale and position hint extraction
- Solution Validation: Coordinate range and transformation validation
For images with existing WCS, the pipeline can refine the solution:
- Source Extraction: SEP-based source detection via stdpipe
- Catalog Matching: Cross-match with GAIA DR3 reference catalog
- SCAMP Fitting: High-order polynomial distortion correction
- Quality Assessment: Astrometric residual analysis
The pipeline generates comprehensive output files:
- Photometry Catalog (CSV): Complete source catalog with multi-aperture photometry
- Log File: Detailed processing log with timestamps
- Background Model (FITS): 2D background and RMS maps
- PSF Model (FITS): Empirical PSF for the field
- Plots: FWHM analysis, magnitude distributions, zero-point calibration
- WCS Header (TXT): Updated astrometric solution
Real-time transient alerts and multi-messenger astronomy events:
- Requires API key from https://www.astro-colibri.science
- Configurable time windows around observation date
- Automatic coordinate-based event matching
Direct integration with ESA GAIA DR3:
- Cone search around field center
- Quality filtering (variability, astrometry, photometry)
- Synthetic photometry for non-standard bands
- Background: photutils.Background2D with SExtractorBackground
- Detection: photutils.DAOStarFinder with configurable parameters
- PSF Modeling: photutils.EPSFBuilder with iterative improvement
- Photometry: Circular apertures with local background subtraction
- Astrometry: Astrometry.net via stdpipe with SCAMP refinement
- Image Formats: FITS with support for multi-extension and compressed files
- Coordinate Systems: Full WCS support with SIP distortion corrections
- Error Propagation: Poisson noise plus read noise modeling
- Quality Control: Automated outlier rejection and validation
- Caching: Streamlit caching for improved performance
- Memory Management: Efficient handling of large FITS files
- Processing Time: Typical 2-5 minutes for 2K×2K images
Firefox Autocomplete Problems: Firefox may not properly handle autocomplete with Streamlit's login form. Try these solutions:
-
Clear Browser Data:
- Go to
Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data - Click "Clear Data" and select both cookies and cached web content
- Alternatively, press
Ctrl+Shift+Deleteand clear data for localhost
- Go to
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Disable Enhanced Tracking Protection (for localhost):
- Click the shield icon in the address bar when on the login page
- Toggle off "Enhanced Tracking Protection" for this site
-
Check Autocomplete Settings:
- Go to
Settings > Privacy & Security > Forms and Autofill - Ensure "Autofill logins and passwords" is enabled
- Check that localhost is not in the exceptions list
- Go to
-
Alternative Solutions:
- Use the "🔄 Refresh Fields" button if autocomplete doesn't populate fields
- Try manually typing credentials instead of using autocomplete
- Consider using Chrome or Edge as alternative browsers
Streamlit Connection Issues:
- Default port
localhost:8501may conflict with other services - Try running on different port:
streamlit run frontend.py --server.port 8502 - Check Windows Firewall settings for localhost connections
Plate Solving Fails:
- Ensure solve-field is in PATH
- Check astrometry.net index files are installed
- Verify sufficient stars in field (>10 recommended)
WCS Refinement Fails:
- Ensure SCAMP is installed and accessible
- Check GAIA catalog connectivity
- Verify initial WCS is reasonable
No Catalog Matches:
- Check internet connectivity for catalog queries
- Verify coordinate system and field center
- Ensure reasonable search radius
- Use SSD storage for temporary files
- Ensure adequate RAM (8GB+ recommended)
- Close other applications during processing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.
This project is open source. Please check the license file for details.
If you use this pipeline, please cites it.
For support and questions:
- Create an issue on the project repository
- Review the detailed log files for error diagnosis
- WCS Problems: Automatic header fixing and plate solving fallback
- Network Timeouts: Retry mechanisms for catalog queries
- File Permissions: Secure temporary file handling
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE for details. The MIT License allows you to use, modify, and distribute this software, provided you include the original copyright notice and disclaimer.
- Astropy - Core astronomical functionality
- Photutils - Photometry algorithms
- Astroquery - Astronomical database access
- Streamlit - Web interface framework
- stdpipe - Astrometric calibration
- astroscrappy - Cosmic ray removal
- RAPAS - Project support and feedback
- Astro-Colibri - Transient event data API
- Gaia DR3 - Stellar catalog
- SIMBAD - Astronomical database
- VizieR - Catalog service
- SkyBoT - Solar system objects
- AAVSO VSX - Variable star catalog
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests to improve the pipeline.
For questions, issues, or feature requests, please contact the development team or create an issue in the project repository.
Firefox Aladin Lite Issues: Firefox may have compatibility issues with Aladin Lite v3 due to WebAssembly loading problems:
- Refresh the page: Sometimes a simple refresh resolves the issue
- Clear Firefox cache:
- Go to
Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data - Select both cookies and cached web content
- Go to
- Check WebAssembly support:
- Type
about:configin Firefox address bar - Search for
javascript.options.wasmand ensure it's set totrue
- Type
- Disable Enhanced Tracking Protection for localhost:
- Click the shield icon in address bar → Toggle off protection
- Alternative browsers: Use Chrome, Edge, or Safari for best Aladin Lite compatibility
- Check browser console: Press F12 and look for specific error messages