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The Minor Planet Observer
and
Palmer Divide Observatory

2007 Shoemaker Grant Recipient

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Overview
Astrometry
Photometry
Lightcurve Analysis
StarBGone
PhotoRed
Image Processing
Blinker
Moving Object Search
Variable Star Search

MPO Canopus

Supported Formats

FITS (8/16/32/64-bit)
SBIG
BMP
JPEG

General Features

High precision astrometry and photometry

Multi-image blinker

Batch image Processing

FITS<>SBIG Conversion

Update utilities for MPCORB / ASTORB

FITS/SBIG header editor

Moving object search

Variable star search

Orbits calculator

USNO A2 subset included.

UCAC-2 included on DVD version

Astrometry Features

AutoMeasure matches the image to the expected field, automatically measuring up to 75 reference stars.

MPC compatible reports

Photometry Features

Lightcurve wizard measures hundreds of images in a few minutes.

Fourier analysis period determination

Auto save and plotting of lightcurve data

Ensemble Photometry and comparison star plots

Easy data exchange with other observers

Time of Minimum deterimination and ephemeris calculator

PhotoRed utility converts to standard magnitudes

Special reduction routines for batch AAVSO submissions
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Testimonials

"This is a terrific program!" – G.F, CA

"I'm very happy with Canopus! After struggling through a couple of asteroid photometry analyses using another program and spreadsheet, the automated features in Canopus make it a dream, and I've been able to share/merge light curve data with a couple of other observers."B.B, CA

"I'm very impressed with the ability of Canopus to make astrometric measurements with just a few mouse clicks. The semi-automatic and automatic alignment methods work perfectly well with my images, the results are always reliable. To get started was a snap thanks to the well-written Users Guide and the PDF-documents. Great software indeed." – W.W., Germany

"The automatic features in the Lightcurve Wizard are just amazing time savers.   I continue to be impressed with the quality and sophistication of this software suite." - J.B., CA

About MPO Canopus

MPO Canopus is a full-featured astrometry and photometry program capable of providing high accuracy results in both fields.

With just one program you can process and measure your images, do photometric transforms, generate lightcurves, analyze periods and times of minimum, look for new asteroids or new variables, and much more.

More than 2500 astrometric positions have been submitted by Florissant/Palmer Divide Observatory to the Minor Planet Center using Canopus. Thousands more observations have been sent in by satisfied Canopus users around the world.

Canopus is rapidly gaining a reputation for its unique concentration on asteroid and variable star lightcurve work. Special features built into Canopus make measuring images and analyzing lightcurve characteristics simple and easy. In just a few minutes, you can setup, measure 150-200 images, and start analyzing the lightcurve data. You can easily combine data from several nights and even different observers. Canopus has been used at the Palmer Divide Observatory to generate and publish almost 200 asteroid lightcurves and more than 400 total by users in North America, Europe, South America, Japan, and Australia.

Canopus was the first to incorporate Alan Harris' industry standard Fourier analysis algorithm for period determination in a program for general use by the amateur community.

It has been used by observers world wide for the past six years to publish more than 400 lightcurves in juried publications. There is no substitute for a proven record of success!

PhotoRed (Photometric Reductions)

PhotoRed is a utility within MPO Canopus that that makes reducing Canopus data to standard magnitudes quick and easy. PhotoRed determines the nightly extinction, transforms, and zero points using your images of standard fields. Once you have those values, you import the Canopus data into PhotoRed, convert the magnitudes to standard values, and export the data back for Canopus to use.

PhotoRed includes provisions to convert Clear (unfiltered) observations to standard V, assuming you have at least some images in V of the target and a reference field. Higher accuracy can be achieved by having additional images in B or R.

Pricing

DVD – $65. Includes expanded MPOSC with 100M stars, UCAC-2 catalog, and sample images.

Price is for the product and does not include additional fees. Free shipping and handling are provided for North America - Priority Mail (US and possessions) or First Class (North America). Add $10 per order for Air Mail elsewhere. (1 pound limit. Additional charges may apply for heavier shipments).

Buy MPO Canopus

 

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This page was last updated on 01/16/08 09:30 -0600.
All contents copyright (c) 2005-2007, Brian D. Warner and Bdw Publishing
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