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Fast Track Training - Step 5 - WBPP calibration - did anyone notice the moving object?

John MacDougall
in PixInsight
Hi all - I've just started working through these very useful tutorials.  Adam, your teaching approach/style has been very helpful, so far.

Today I was working through the Fast Track Training videos, specifically the WBPP calibration (Step 5 and its discussion).  I didn't take your advice and I loaded the entire set of 182 debayered frames.  It took a while, but as I was blinking the set of frames I noticed an object:

1) The object first appears to be flashing as PixInsight Blinks through the frames - I think the apparent flashing was due to the fact that this object only appears on the frames from the Feb 25th dataset.

2) As the frames from the 19th and 20th ran out and PixInsight was then only Blinking the frames from the 25th, it can now be seen that this object takes on smooth motion...but is definitely moving relative to all the other stars in the field.

As a point of reference, the "moving object" is approximately centered on pixel x=4236 and y=1190 on frame "Flaming Star_00075_2022-02-25_05_39_42Z_c_cc_d"

You can zoom into that area and then run the Blink process on the frames to get a better look.

I tried to make a movie using the Blink process, but I got some kind of API error about the ffmpeg.exe.  Adam, I'm sure you will cover that in a future video :-) 

I've attached a couple of screenshots, one from Feb 20th and one from Feb 25th, and I have added a circle around the object.  As well I have also attached a screenshot of the Blink process window to show the approximate location of the zoomed area.

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts?

Comments

  • BlockHeadBlockHead
    I do cover the FFmpeg software in a future video (in the Blink series). 
    Good catch on this observation as well.
    I think you will enjoy the last section of FastTrack Training. 
    Do you see how it is called "Asteroid Bonus?"
    You might enjoy checking out that section.
    -the Blockhead
  • John MacDougall
    OK...I get ya...thanks!!!
  • John MacDougall
    I wanted to follow up on this...I'm slowly moving through the FastTrack example.  Inspecting the rejection_high image (the output from the ImageIntegration process) shows evidence of the Asteroids.  See the attached image.  Kinda cool.

    Adam, you had mentioned this in one of your videos - PixInsight doesn't migrate the Astrometric solution for the output from the ImageIntegration process.  That is too bad, but you did cover how to migrate it.

    I'm having a lot of fun with your videos.
    Asteroids.jpg
    933 x 639 - 189K
  • BlockHeadBlockHead
    When you use the full WBPP pipeline, it will re-compute a plate solution at the end automatically. 
    However, for purposes of FastTrack- where understanding how things work is important- you need to apply it yourself. An integrated image will never have a solution carried through. The solutions given to subframes are just approximate answers. The alignment reference is the only frame with a real solution. So finding this updated solution on the integrated (images) 

    -the Blockhead
  • ROBERT FRAILE
    I have just started the FastTrack sequence and wanted to comment on the Bonus Asteroid.  
    I noticed when going through the High Rejection image following ImageIntegration that there were three trails that were rejected, one in the vicinity of the asteroid, Pakhmutova, noted in the earlier video. So, I obtained the astrometric data from one of the registered images for the other two trails and through MPChecker resolved them to be asteroids 2006 DD227 and 2004 RW328.
    Now I am alsways going to check my High Rejection images for other unexpected objects.
    That is really cool!

    Thank you
  • BlockHeadBlockHead
    Indeed.. rejection maps can be a short cut to find transient objects (instead of blinking a gazillion frames and scanning them). Two points:

    1. There will be a faint limit in terms of what is rejected...so you will only find significant outliers in your rejection maps. If you want to make a discovery...very likely you need to look at the calibrated data.
    2. There are software like Astrometrica (and others) that have algorithms that look for moving objects in your frames and present them to you. This is also useful if you are really into this.

    -the Blockhead
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