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Running StackImages

StackImages is a Python script and graphical interface for astrophotography image integration.

macOS

Paste each of the following commands into the Terminal app1 to download StackImages and prepare your device to run it.

  1. Download and extract StackImages. 
     curl -L https://vanderbei.princeton.edu/tmp/PyWin.tar -o $HOME/Downloads/StackImages.tar && if [[ ! -d $HOME/Downloads/StackImages ]]; then mkdir -p $HOME/Downloads/StackImages ; fi && tar -xvf $HOME/Downloads/StackImages.tar --directory=$HOME/Downloads/StackImages --strip-components=1 PyWin
  2. Download Miniconda. 
     curl https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-`arch`.sh -o ~/Downloads/miniconda.sh
  3. Install Miniconda. 
     chmod +x ~/Downloads/miniconda.sh ; ~/Downloads/miniconda.sh -bu
  4. Initialize Miniconda, then close and re-open the Terminal app. 
     ~/miniconda3/bin/conda init bash ; ~/miniconda3/bin/conda init zsh
  5. Configure the conda command to prioritize the Astropy channel first, the Apple channel second, and the Conda Forge channel third. 
     conda config --add channels conda-forge --add channels apple --add channels astropy
  6. Create a conda environment named BobsAstro. 
     conda create -n BobsAstro astropy astroquery scipy matplotlib wxpython opencv pyqt imageio -y

In order to use StackImages with astro images, use the included GetFit python program to download them.

  1. Activate the BobsAstro environment. 
    conda activate BobsAstro
  2. Run the GetFit program and utilize it as instructed. 
    pythonw $HOME/Downloads/StackImages/GetFit.py

Each time you wish to work with and run StackImages, open the Terminal and then run the following commands.

  1. Activate the BobsAstro environment. 
     conda activate BobsAstro
  2. Run StackImages. 
     pythonw $HOME/Downloads/StackImages/StackImages.py

Windows

  1. Download and install Miniconda.
  2. Open the Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) by finding it within the Windows (logo) Menu or by searching for it by name.
  3. Download and extract StackImages. 
    curl --noproxy "*" https://vanderbei.princeton.edu/tmp/PyWin.tar -o %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages.tar && IF NOT EXIST %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages mkdir %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages && tar -xvf %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages.tar --directory=%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages --strip-components=1 PyWin
  4. Configure the conda command to prioritize the Astropy channel first, then the Conda Forge channel. 
     conda config --add channels conda-forge --add channels astropy
  5. Create a conda environment named BobsAstro. 
     conda create -n BobsAstro astropy astroquery scipy matplotlib wxpython pyqt imageio -y
  6. Activate the BobsAstro conda environment. 
    conda activate BobsAstro
  7. Install the opencv module via the pip command.2 
    pip install opencv-contrib-python
  8. Close the Anaconda Prompt.

In order to use StackImages with astro images, use the included GetFit python program to download them.

  1. Activate the BobsAstro environment. 
    conda activate BobsAstro
  2. Run the GetFit program and utilize it as instructed. 
    pythonw %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages\GetFit.py

Each time you wish to work with and run StackImages, open the Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) app and then run the following commands.

  1. Activate the BobsAstro conda environment. 
     conda activate BobsAstro
  2. Run StackImages. 
     pythonw %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\StackImages\StackImages.py

  1. You can find the Terminal app inside the Utilities folder found within the Applications folder, or search for “Terminal”. ↩

  2. On Windows as of this writing, the opencv package will install via conda but then fails on import with an ImportError, indicating a DLL is not found. Rather than address the issue directly, we install the extra dependency via pip. ↩