Small Telescope Astronomy for Linux Users:

Abstract:

My project was to compile available Linux tools in order to make an observatory computer capable of running a telescope, capturing CCD images, data reduction, sky mapping, and other fun astronomy tools, without needing to learn a command line based system.

My Machine:

This project was attempted on a fairly old Dell 8100 Inspiron Series, with 512 in the RAM and a first generation Pentium 3 processor. It has an 80GB hard drive and is currently running as a dual-boot windows/Linux system. This certainly is not the most amazing of machines, but it is a fairly little tugboat and it was able to accomplish everything necessary.  

The Distribution

After deliberating on which distribution of Linux I came down to three basic choices, Debian with KDE, red hat, or Ubuntu (which is Debian based). Although all three are seemingly capable of the task, each having different strengths and weaknesses I choose to run unbent. Ubuntu is a fairly new distribution; it is very user friendly and has a good deal of support. It is capable of doing all the cool command line aspects of Linux while having a very simple to follow GUI that almost anyone could use. This seemed optimal for the situation because many different types of people will be potentially using the system. Also Ubuntu is fairly sleek in that it doesn't lag the system much at all for high resolution data processing. Installing Ubuntu was very simple, just download or burn a cd, all those directions and documentation can be found readily on the internet.

The Programs:

Running the Telescope: I looked at three main programs for running the telescope Ktelescope, Talon, and Xephem. I had an incredibly difficult time with all of these. Firstly, it is obvious that Ktelescope is for KDE so that was out. Second talon was neither impossible to find and once you managed to find it-installation had poor documentation and kept coming up with errors.

Capturing CCD Images/Data Reduction: I looked at a few programs to capture CCD images and do some data reduction. I looked at Fv, AIP, Astroart, and GCX. Astroart was paid and thusly anti-open source. AIP did not have good documentation. GCX was the perfect answer. Quick download easy to install (a basic make make install process) and bonus feature it can not only take images, but also reduce them and run the telescope, all with a fairly simple graphic interface. GCX has clear dewscriptions for the processes of reduction and very good documentation. It can control your telescope, cameras, and reduce your data. The less complicated the better I say.

Sky Mapping: I tried several programs for sky mapping, including Stellarium, Skymap, Nightfall, and Celestia. Bottom line-there are a million of these guys out there. Skymap.org is pretty cool as just an online resource, but it has more pretty-picture type stuff. I could not get Nightfall to install, and Steallirum installed but died on startup (I believe due to the lack of guts in my machine or a lost decency I just couldn't find). Celestia is a beautiful 3-d modeling program that is fairly scientifically accurate; it has a huge database, good online support, and incredible features like time adjustment, rotation, views and spacecraft. For a simple planetartium i am using Kstars. It is very easy and shows stars from your area with the information of your zip code, as well as clear views of how to find constellations. Some programmers even built some of our favorite Sci-Fi ships for download. Celestia also runs on windows and Mac, and its install process is extremely simple.  

Other Fun Tools: I found lots of interesting programs for astronomy that are readily available everything from solar/lunar/tidal clocks and views to ephemeris programs, to educational programs that teach the basics of eclipses, stellar explosions, and black holes. The key is to find good documentation and support, not everything is easily installed and doesn't always work on every system, however I was truly impressed with what was out there.

Other Notes:

I was unable to find a program to give a red screen for night vision. I looked through all the desktop settings and could find nothing. Though it was suggested that I mess with my graphics card settings, I chose to resolve this by cheating and taping a piece of red cellophane over the monitor.   

Other processes involved in scientific research were also available Numarrary for math, physics programs were also abundant. However, I chose to install the science packages for Ubuntu making it a Scibuntu, which pulled in all the packages for math and science programs already available. Because the project was design as more of a bare bones kind of thing, I did not install anything extra that may be necessary for other projects.