Astrometrica is a simple to use Windows application which will read in raw telescope data (FITS files) for a set of observations, and check to see if there are any moving objects in them. You can 'blink' data files to see the object moving, mark its name if its know about, and even report a new asteroid to the Minor Planets Center.
If you haven’t already, download the Astrometrica software and our customized configuration files (in the Images or Documents section).
Launch You will see a screen that looks like the one below:Configuration FileThe first step is to load the configuration file. To do this, click on the small spanner icon on the left-hand side of the menu bar or by going to File>Settings.
Click on the Open button at the bottom of this window and you will see a box in which to load the configuration file.
Browse to the location on your computer where you downloaded the configuration file. There are currently two files, one for FTN and the other for FTS - select the correct file for the telescope you used.
Select the file and click Open. Then click Ok in the Program Settings window.
MPCOrb
The MPC Orbit database contains orbital elements of minor planets that have been published in the Minor Planet Centre Circulars, the Minor Planet Orbit Supplements and the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars.
You need to download this database for Astrometrica to use so it can identify your images.
To do this go to Internet>Download MPCOrb
Please Note: Windows XP users will get a message asking if they wish to unblock Astrometrica - click yes to this message.
Also, this process requires a reverse DNS lookup to start the download, which can fail if you are behind a firewall. You can download and install this database manually by going to MPC website.
Astrometrica will then reload the databse which can take a few minutes. When the software returns to normal, go to Internet>Update MPCOrb
Another small window will appear with tick boxes or different elements of the database. Tick them all and click Ok. Astrometrica will then download new updates for the database.
We recommended that you update the MPCOrb every time you come to use Astrometrica because you will then have the most up-to-date information about the moving objects in the sky.
Congratulations! You have now set up Astrometica and can start using it for monitoring known asteroids and discovering new ones!
