SÅ Thigpen's Astronomy Links

SÅ's Astronomy Links

Trove Lists and HOWTOs
rocketaware.com (MIB sofware) Astronomy Page
Astronomy at Sourceforge
Scientific Applications on Linux Physics & Astronomy Page
Linux Astronomy HOWTO
astrosurf.com, Bienvenue sur le portail de l'Astronomie en France. [ Home of Audine ]
DMOZ: Top: Science: Astronomy: Amateur: Astrophotography and CCD Imaging

Space Environments
Earth: Luna
Strip Mining Shatters the Moon, Time Machine (2002)
Moon Phases, screensaver with calming music and quotes
Sol: Mars
Stranger in A Strange Land, hollywood.com page, movie in development phase

Celestial Mapping Software
Planet Related
XPlanet

Star Mapping (3D Graphics, etc.)
Celestia, *features planet mapping
Celestia Add-Ons
Celestia Motherlode, Celestia resources
Selden's List of Resources for Celestia
Celestia Stars Database
XPlns: Stable Release, Uses XmTel Library
XEphem, The Serious Interactive Astronomical Software Ephemeris
Open Universe, Uses Mesa and OpenGL
Stars, Princeton
StarPlot, 3D Chart, w/names
GNU SpaceChart, Accepts Catalog Files
StarMap, Reads Gliese Star Catalog to produce 3D maps
Nightfall
Stellarium, OpenGL Based
StarChart, Produces Charts from Databases
KStars, KDE Star Catalog List
KAstrometry, from Coldstone Labs

more catalog based
XSky, YBS, RNGC, QSO Supported, also external support for SAO, VAR, BDL; CDROM Support: BSC5, SAOJ2000, WDS, GCVS, NGC2000, UGC
IRAF, Image Reduction and Analysis Facility, a general purpose software system for the reduction and analysis of astronomical data
StarCat, A Star Catalog visualization and data record retrieval tool. Support for Bright Star, Hipparcos and Tycho star catalogs.
star, star extracts selected entries of a source catalog

Star Catalogs
General Catalogue of Variable Stars, Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues
GCS II, Palomar and UK Schmidt telescope data
MISAO Project: PIXY System 2, Practical Image eXamination and Inner-objects Identification system
accuracy
GAIA

Interstellar Exploration
GURPS: Space Fourth Edition
Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration
systemic characterizing extrasolar planetary systems
Innovative Interstellar Explorer

nearby stars 250 ly<
StarMap Site, Winchell Chung
An Atlas of the Universe
Closest Stars, 3-D maps, model and list of the closest stars to Earth, using Proxima star names

Stacked OLED Holograms

Nav Software
StarTravel^TM

(for more on interstellar exploration see: Stardrive Links)

P2P & Astronomy Networking
RTML

Video Image Processing
Qastrocam
SImg

CCD and Telescope Control Software
INDI, a neutral distributed interface control protocol
KTelescope, moved to KStars
XmTel 1.0, Telescope Control Program for Meade LX200. Parallel Port Calls for Meade Telescope, Well documented C code
NOVA CCD & Telescope Control
CCD Astronomy on Linux, library of C routines for SBIG ST7/8/5C/237 series CCD cameras
Ron Wodaski's Magic CCD Calculator, online, also download in Visual Basic

Astronomy Related Libraries
AIPS, Advanced Image Processing Software
AIPS++, Advanced Image Processing Software (Object Oriented)
libAstronomy, Astronomy Libraries
libRadtran, - library for radiative transfer. libRadtran is a collection of C and Fortran functions and programs for calculation of solar and thermal radiation in the Earth's atmosphere.
Astroconst- Makes header files that define astrophysical constants

Institutional Astronomy
The Very Large Telescope Project (VLT)
South African Large Telescope (SALT)
The World's Largest Optical Telescopes
The University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy

Control Sources
A Guide to Lamps, primer on setting up incandescent lamps, neon lamps, and LEDs

Telescope Construction and Modification
S*T*A*R Astronomy
San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers
The Unofficial San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers
Amateur Telescope Making, Poor Meadow Dyke Observatory
LX200 guiding emulator, schematics, photos, and documentation on building LX200 protocol emulator boards

Lenses
Glass Lense Making, Testing, and Analysis
Griding a Large Thin Mirror
Large Thin Mirror Making
Rating Mirrors
Mirror Cells for Amateur Telescope Makers

Mylar
wpo - flux collector - Sky & Telescope :May 1979

Liquid
International Liquid Mirror Telescope Project

Inflatables, and Inflatable Lenses
Article on Inflatable Lenses Used as Concentrators for Solar Power
Aviation Week Article on Inflatable Structures (including lenses)
L'Garde: "The World Leader in Inflatable Space Structures"

Dishes
Plotting Surfaces
10.6 Surfaces in Space, paraboloid parametrics
Xah: Special Plane Curves: Parabola
3D: Dish, 3D dish models and dish generation code povdishgen.pl, perl script plots spheres on in a dish pattern in POV-Ray format (new version will include randomly generated precision)

CCDs (Charged Coupled Devices)
Hardware Details
Simon Tulloch's CCD Primer
Anatomy of a Digital Camera: Image Sensors, Extremetech article
Kodak CCD Primer, Kodak white paper
ROPER SCIENTIFIC GMBH, Digital Imaging and Spectroscopy
WebEE Tutorials on Optoelectronics
CCD University, Apogee Instruments, Inc.
The 2-D CCD Data Reduction Cookbook, Starlink
Astronomy 313 Lecture Notes, University of Virginia class with a good general overview of the CCD pixel well
Astronomy 511, University of Virginia class
CCD-world -- Optical & SWIR imager development for professional astronomy
Collected QUICKCAM data and Links on Astronomy with Binoculars.
Specification Lists
AAO Instruments
WEB-CAMERAS for Astronomy Imaging, UPDATED - Link to Linux drivers for Toucams added
Sony Hyper-HAD Astro List
Sony CCD Page

Mosaics
Sloan Digital Sky Survey CCD Camera (54 chips!)
CTIO CCD Mosaic Camera Manual
NOAO MOSAIC-1 CCD IMAGER

Pixels
CCD pixel size
Super Resolution by António J. Cidadão
Foveon X3 Technology, RGB on one pixel

Tuning for Astronomy
TMC Abbott's In situ CCD Testing, details on CCD Tuning methods (Dark count from low bias images, etc.) from the ESO La Silla, Chile observatory
Are there beginners' guides to certain types of data reduction?, List of docs from Starlink FAQ
Noise sources in a CCD
The CCD Photometric Calibration Cookbook, Starlink
Observational Mishaps, a paper from the University of Michigan, including imagery of stellar bodies they are working with.
Some notes on the matter of matching CCD camera pixel size to the capabilities of an instrument
Design and Application of a fast computerized CCD system for recording of astronomical events
Algorithms for CCD Stellar Photometry

Resources
The University of Colgate's CCD Link Page

CCD Pickup Construction and Design
This is a product development page for the models 303/313/323/333 cameras.
Pyxis camera
An analoge camera for about EUR 60,-
Cookbook Camera
Cookbook Camera Home Page
Willmann-Bell, publisher of The CCD Camera Cookbook (which is now out of print and now longer available from them) and related titles
University Optics - CCD, parts for cookbook camera
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, The CCD Project File, presents a slightly enhanced version of the Cookbook Camera

Audine
The Audine Project, Building a CCD Camera
The AudiNet Interface, ethernet for Audine
Genesis, US distributor for Audine components
Aude, en francais
Audela, software for Audine

CMOS
CCD vs. CMOS
SINGLE-CHIP CMOS-CAMERA
Beyond Logic CMOS

Cryostats
Ultraclean CCD project , How ESO achieves ultraclean cryostats

Optimization of CCD performance
GA 3D World Graphics & Data: Calibration World 1.0 ( Hardware Specification List)

more books...
Sky & Telescope Store

Webcam Mods
QCUIAG & Chamber's Pages
QCUIAG: QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group
Steve Chamber's Long Exposure Modification for Web Cams, includes details of Vesta 675 mod, as well as amp switching

Vesta Camera Mods
Willie's Modified Vesta Webcam Page, alternative circuit, based on the Chamber's mod, close up photos
S. Weiller's Vesta Mods, based on the Chamber's mod, Detailed photos on soldering tools, etc.
Long Exposure Vesta SC Modifications, Webcam in custom built housing, by Len Benschop
Dave's Astronomy Pictures Equipment: Cameras
Modification of a Philips Vesta 680 for astro-photography, Erik Bryssinck ACUIAG page

Logitech Camera Mods
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY & DIGITAL IMAGING by Gary Honis, Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 Webcam
Jakob Selbing's Quickcam Pro 4000 autoguider project, QE details
Martin Burri's Logitech Quickcam 3000 Modifications
Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000 Long Exposure Modification
Ultra-cheap astronomical CCD imagery, Modifying Logitech's Quick Cam 3000 Pro modified for long-exposure operation
Robert Pigott's Logitech Quickcam VC Modifications

weecam (these should still be had *very cheaply, at on point there were a promotional give-away)
Globo 4 - Digital camera
my weecam driver stats in progress

Other Webcam Mods
Long Exposure Modification of a Phillips Toucam Pro II (840K/20) webcam
Intel Webcam Mod, based on the Chamber's mod, with detailed close-up photos
Dr. S.J. Wainwright's Spacecam 200 CMOS mod, based on Steve Chamber's docs

1004x
John Grove's 1004x (w/Sony SuperHAD CCD "Hexagonal" Chip) Modifications

QV-300
Andrew Gregory's Inside the QV-300, based on Vladamir Rodinov's Russian pages where he opens up a QV-300 in "icy Russia"
Sony ICX252AQ Data Sheet, used by QV-300

Lense & Adapter Fabrication
Making Digital Camera Microscope Adapters
Steven's Mogg webcam adapter and focal reducer 0.6
Quickcam 4000 Telescope Adapter

CCD, IC Control Chips & Webcam Drivers
Lists
Linux.com - The Webcam HOWTO
USB Cameras, The Linux USB Sub-System
Web Cams Information: Linux
The IEEE1394 Digital Camera List
V4LWiki
qbik.ch usb webcam device list
Linux Projects, W996[87]CF, SONiX SN9C10x, SONiX SN9C10x Extended, Etoms ET61X[12]51, Z-Start/Vimicro ZC0301[P], SONiX SN9C10x Extended, Winbond W996[87]CFm ALi, USB2 M5603C, video view
Linux Projects Downloads
control chips
chip series
zr364xx for Linux
GSPCA-V1, supports linux kernel 2.6.16+, formerly Spca5xx-v4l1
SPCA50X USB Camera Linux Driver
STV0680B
NW802 kernel module, NW802 support allowing this chipset to be used in Linux as V4L devices
camera
Quickcam Web driver for Linux, USB Control IC: STV0610 Imaging Chip: VV6410.
QuickCam Third-Party Drivers
Tgnard's Trust spacec@m 120 linux driver, IC: Sonix SN9C101
Fujifilm FinePix (PC-CAM / Webcam mode)
Sonix SN9C102 based webcam driver
sn-webcam
icm532 is a V4L Linux kernel module for IC-Media Corp
pccam880
cqcam, more universal driver & program for Color Quickcam and Color Quickcam 2
qce-ga, Quickcam Express, "Generally and USB camera with VendorId 0x46d and ProductId 0x840, 0x850, or 0x870 should work"
qc-usb, modified version of qce-ga for Linux, now available via qce-ga cvs
CPiA, webcam driver for Linux, supports Creative Labs II, Spacec@m Lite, etc.
Linux OVCam Drivers
OV511/OV511+ Capture for FreeBSD/NetBSD
Linux drivers for SE401, SE402 and EP800 based USB webcams
IBM C-it USB Camera Driver for Linux
pwc
pwc, Linux support for Philips USB webcams Logitech 3000/4000 Pro Series; up to pwc-9.0.2, linux-2.6.4
support has been added for Linux 2.6.10+
Philips USB Webcam Driver for Linux, Free Philips USB Webcam driver for Linux that supports VGA resolution, newer kernels and replacing the old pwcx module.
PWC < TWiki
PWC webcam - TF, wiki