AstroVideo

AstroVideo uses any Windows-compatible video Capture device tocreate an effect similar to long Exposure photography, byautomatically integrating a large number of video frames.Astrovideo captures and superimposes hundreds of video frames toacheive Far greater sensitivity than is normally possible with alow-cost video camera.

AstroVideo has provision for assembling an even greatereffective exposure time by co-adding a number of multi-frameimages. Astrovideo can automatically align the images, even ifthe telescope tracking is not perfect.

For planetary imaging, AstroVideo allows you to capture alarge number of individual frames, to select those with the beststability and then to Combine them, with automatic registration,to make a composite image.

If you have a camera modified for extended exposure times (eg Steve Chambers-modified web cam) AstroVideo can control the camera to achieve even better results.

AstroVideo gives you a chance to sample Astro-imaging at afraction of the cost of an astronomical CCD camera.

Low-cost surveillance, monitoring and web cameras are readilyavailable and, applied to a suitable telescope, can givesatisfying views of the brighter astronomical subjects such asplanets and the moon. Now, AstroVideo allows you to imagesubjects that are much fainter than was previously possible withsuch cameras.

Features

AstroVideo provides a number of features to make astro imagingsimpler. The following is a list of features and a history list. For comprehensive documentation, consult the context-sensitive help file.

- automatic subtraction of a dark frame
- automatic contrast adjustment for display
- automatic image alignment for co-adding
- side-by-side display of live video and integrated images
- FITS format image saving
- automatic file naming
- two capture modes for flexibility
- autoguiding via serial port to LX200(tm)-compatible mounts
- precise date-time stamp on images
- image formats up to 768 x 576
- selectable image directory
- And more