AstroImageBrowser
for MacOS X

About

AstroImageBrowser is a flexible and powerful front end to Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) internet repository of astronomical images for MacOS X 10.4 (or greater) and is distributed as shareware. Images of astronomical objects in any part of the sky can be downloaded, manipulated, overlayed (with a grid, camera/CCD geometries, object and star labels or other pictures), converted, scaled, colorized, annotated, blinked, saved, cached and printed. AstroImageBrowser is particularly useful as an astrophotography planning tool but can equally well be used to explore or browse astronomical objects. After you have planned and taken your picture you can use AstroImageBrowser to superimpose it on the DSS image. People interested in Astronomy should find AstroImageBrowser useful and fun even if they don't have a telescope.

Screenshots

Some screenshots - click each image to open full size JPEG compressed image in a new window:

1) Shows the main window, colorize image of M33, object labels and SBIG ST-2000XM TC237 camera overlay
2) The drawer on the main window from which searches and downloads are made.
3) Get Info panel for the DSS Image
4) One pane from the Preferences window showing highly customizable colors options

5) Central portion of a colorize M1 image.
6) Overlaid on Messier 16 is one of my DSO captures (shown also in the Picture Overlay window).

Current Version

Current AstroImageBrowser version: 1.1.2

Download

AstroImageBrowser is $15 USD shareware. It can be freely downloaded and tried out to see if it meets your needs. If you continue to use it and find it useful, you are kindly requested to register. If you use MacOS X 10.3 you should download 1.0. The current version is 1.1.2.

Download AstroImageBrowser 1.1.2 (4.2 MB) <<<

Past relatively robust versions can be downloaded from the following links: AstroImageBrowser 1.1.1 (4.2 MB) and AstroImageBrowser 1.0 (774 KB)

User Guide

PDF User Guide for AstroImageBrowser is now available.

Download Draft User Guide for Version 1.1 (880 KB) <<<<

Download User Guide for Version 1.0 (863 KB)

News

• [17-aug-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1.2 Re-release
  • (Finally I should have the right file uploaded.) I accidently uploaded the "Debug" version of AstroImageBrowser last night so early downloaders will need to download from the link above again to get the "Release" version. Here is my favourite but sombre color skin, Sweetgum.xml, as compensation (unzip it and drag and drop Sweetgum.xml onto the AstroImageBrowser icon in the Finder to install).
• [16-aug-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1.2 release
  • AstroImageBrowser 1.1.2 is a maintenance release. The image display engine has been improved. A bug which caused the application to quit when saving to the cache in a thread on Intel machines has been fixed. If you do get a crash at any stage then find the file called AstroImageBrowser.crash.log in the Finder and email it to the developer.
• [13-apr-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1.1 release
  • AstroImageBrowser 1.1.1 removes a no longer supported DSS survey descriptor 'POSS2/UKSTU'. AstroImageBrowser defaults to the DSS Survey 'POSS2/UKSTU Red'. The cache folder browser information display has been improved to clearly show which DSS survey was used. Previously cached 'POSS2/UKSTU' descriptor images are mapped to their equivalent 'POSS2/UKSTU Red' descriptor images.
  • A DSS Image of M33 is now built-in to make it possible to test AstroImageBrowser without any download.
  • A bug which prevented the loading of built-in Tycho-2 Star Catalog (120,000 stars) has been fixed.
  • For MacIntel machines an endian problem with the FITS headers has been fixed. This fixes the display of overlays and related weird behavior on MacIntel machines.
• [15-mar-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1 final release
  • Final release of 1.1 (out of beta)
  • Changed layer precedence so that DSOs are higher than stars. The global precedence is now: DSS bitmap image (lowest), Picture bitmap image, grid, camera overlay, stars, IC DSO, NGC DSO, Messier DSO, unregistered watermark (highest)
  • Remove image shift (recentering) when colorizing or decolorizing images
  • Controversial M102 changed to the Spindle Galaxy NGC 5866 (rather than duplicate of M101)
• [10-mar-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1b3 release
  • Fixed declination sign problem introduced in 1.1b2
• [9-mar-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1b2 release
  • Fixed non-unicode in one built-in cameras overlay
  • Modifications to built in a number of camera overlays to avoid overlapping graphics
  • Star database modification (to use visible magnitude)
  • Window title refresh on change of object now works properly
  • Added "Show/Hide Drawer and Maximize" under View menu which maximizes the window for the DSS Image display
  • More robust handling of DSS image sizes (to keep the values in the permissible range)
• [5-mar-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.1b1 release
  • Universal Binary (runs on Intel and PowerPC); Requires OS X 10.4
  • Tycho-2 Star Catalog supported (120,000 stars upgradable to 2,539,913 stars)
  • Customizable overlays (plugins) for additional cameras, eyepieces, etc.
  • Night Vision mode added
  • Get Info Panel (for DSS Image Information) added
  • Cache Folder Browser toolbar added
  • Camera angle relative to the distorted DSS Image RA/Dec grid option
  • AstroImageBrowser Creator now set for saved files
  • More robust handling of DSS Server Errors
  • Revamped/enhanced GUI
  • ~/Library/Application Support/AstroImageBrowser for non-preference support files
  • Bug Fixes
  • Fixes for overlays on images that cross RA 0h
  • Version 1.0 format files are compatible with Version 1.1 (forward compatibility)
  • Large star database requires a separate downloaded and processing
• [21-jan-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser User Guide now available.
• [17-jan-2006]
  AstroImageBrowser 1.0 receives "100% CLEAN" Softpedia award. This certifies that AstroImageBrowser has been tested by the Softpedia labs and found to be completely clean of adware/spyware components - AstroImageBrowser Softpedia Page - AstroImageBrowser VersionTracker Page
• [16-jan-2006]
  Version 1.0 release. Minor bug fixes from beta release. Slight GUI redesign. File caching system redesign for improved performance particularly during startup.

• [28-nov-2005]
  First public beta release. Version 1.0b.

User Comments

• "I am so impressed with your AstroImageBrowser, ..., it truly amazing! I have paid more for software that doesn't deliver as much satisfaction as your great software. Thanks for responding so rapidly to my purchase!"
• "Great little program you have there. I like it a lot."
• "I just downloaded AstroImageBrowser - it looks fantastic!"

Register

Paying for the software (registration) unlocks the full features of the software (for all objects). AstroImageBrowser is $15 USD shareware. After you pay, a registration code will be sent to you via email as soon as possible. Paying for AstroImageBrowser helps support further development of this software. By paying you will be entitled to free upgrades for releases in the series AstroImageBrowser 1.X.

For the object Messier 33, AstroImageBrowser is fully featured so you can see what unlocking enables. For all other objects there are restrictions on what can be saved and images are watermarked until AstroImageBrowser is registered.

Do not pay/register if AstroImageBrowser does not run on your system or it does not meet your needs. You must try AstroImageBrowser and assess its value as-is before deciding to pay/register.

To pay/register AstroImageBrowser click on the button below and you'll be redirected to the PayPal website.

Support

Please email (use "Send Email" under the AstroImageBrowser menu) if you experience any problems in the software. All emails will be read (and acknowledged for registered users).

AstroImageBrowser preferences can be found in ~/Library/Preferences/AstroImageBrowser.plist and can be searched for in the Finder. Were a problem to develop you can safely discard this file so see if that helps.

Suggestions for improvements or new features are very welcome.

Feature List

• download Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) images from one of six all-sky surveys
• continuously adjustable download image sizes up to 1 square degree
• local caching of images to save redownloading image or to use AstroImageBrowser offline
• cache images are compressed to user's preferred format (BMP, JIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF with compression and quality when available)
• cache browser window to review available cache files with hyperlinks to reveal in Finder or open
• colorization of DSS images with color schemes under user control or choose from presets such as inverse and sepia
• over 13,000 internal database objects in the NGC, IC and Messier catalogs (7840 NGC objects, 5386 IC objects and 110 Messier Objects)
• over 120,000 stars in internal database expandable to 2.5 Million stars
• database constellation, magnitude, size and coordinate information
• instantaneous search based on search text even during entry
• save favourite searches under search menu (hit return after completing search text)
• RA/Dec coordinate specification to arbitrarily position DSS images
• locates nearest deep sky object to specified RA/Dec coordinates
• objects labels overlaid on DSS images
• color and transparency control of labels
• RA/Dec grid overlay with color control and control over major and minor spacing of grid lines
• continuous mouse over RA/Dec readout
• CCD/DSLR/webcam geometry overlay with support for SBIG CCD Cameras, Canon 10D 300D 350D 20D, 1.25" eyepiece with maximum 27mm field stop, 35mm film, 2" eyepiece with maximum 46mm field stop, Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C, ToUCam Pro webcam, Meade LPI, Meade DSI Pro, etc. User expandable in Version 1.1
• color control for CCD/DSLR/webcam geometry overlay
• CCD/DSLR/webcam offset and rotation controls
• telescope system focal length control with automatic image dimensioning
• option and option-shift mouse down control of CCD/DSLR/webcam geometry overlay
• saving of overlaid image in any image format (BMP, JIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF etc) at any size
• printing/saving as PDF of image with automatic landscape/portrait orientation to maximise printed image size
• saving of overlaid image as an Astroimagebrowser XML "Snapshot" file which holds the image, camera geometry, color settings, etc
• save and open XML "Color Skin" files which hold color information for colorization and image overlay colors
• customizable toolbar
• search and control retractable drawer
• multithreaded processing especially during downloading and saving
• overlay graphics use vector graphics with no resolution limit
• picture overlay using either drag and drop image from the Finder or by entering a URL
• scale, rotate and translate picture overlay
• save and open "Picture Archive" overlay files with either image data imbedded or specified by a URL
• opacity adjustment and blinking of Picture overlay for easy registration with DSS image

Color Skin Downloads

Here are some "Color Skin" files to try out. These can be loaded through the Preferences Pane "Load Color Skin.." button or simply dragged on top of AstroImageBrowser's icon in the Finder.

>>> Download colorSkins.zip

Picture Archive Downloads

Here are some "Picture Archive" files to try out. They are all small files of approximately 4KB each (they do not contain the image data but a URL to the image data). These can be loaded through the Picture Overlay window's "Open Picture Archive.." command or simply dragged on top of AstroImageBrowser's icon in the Finder.

>>> Download fairy.xml (Messier 16)
>>> Download eagle.xml (Messier 16)