DoubleStationMaps.py
software for creation of the maps for the double station video observations of the meteors
language - Python, using Skyfield library
optimized for Anaconda environment
source code download
entry parameters setup directly inside the code in section "Entry parameters"
time_step
time interval for center of the field-of-view plotting (1 hour default)
obs_year year of observation
obs_month month of observation
obs_day day of observation
obs_hour_beg beginning observation hour [UT]
obs_hour_end end observation hour [UT]
obs_hour_map time of the map
azimuthFOV, altitudeFOV field-of-view center (in degrees, south = 0o)
station
coordinates of the station - Kunžak,
Ondřejov prepared - unused station commented ( # at the beginning of
the line), it is possible to add more stations in the same format
station_name name of the station
map_width_degrees width of the map in degrees
limiting_magnitude limiting magnitude for the stars
Software uses Hipparcos catalogue (stars up to 10th
magnitude), which is downloaded into the working directory during the first run (file hip_main.dat, 53 MB). Other downloaded files are efemerides of the planets (de421.bsp, 17 MB) and constellation coordinates table (constellation.fab,
10 kB). It is possible to download all the files before the first run and save them to software directory.
The map is plotted in a new window. It is saved automatically in
the png format. Name and format of the file can be changed using fig.savefig('FOV-chart.png', bbox_inches='tight') command at the end of the program.
Example:
Kunžak, 2020-12-14, 17 - 6 UT, interval 1 hour, field-of-view center (170, 45), size of the map 75 x 50 degrees,
limiting stellar magnitude +7.0, maps for 20, 23 and 3 UT.
Ondřejov, 2020-12-14, 17 - 6 UT, interval 15 minutes, field-of-view
center (45, 45), size of the map 30 x 20 degrees, limiting
stellar magnitude +8.0, map for 23:30 UT
Any comments and suggestions are welcome!
Pavel K.
15.12.2020
