STEREO Ahead September 1-7, 2012 - HD Dynamic Processing - Test Run
213 views · Published 5 October 2012 · 0:20 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: Astronomy Live · 2012 · Science & Technology
Testing a new technique for processing the raw STEREO Heliospheric Imager data. NASA's method of automatically processing the heliospheric imager data relies on using previous images to calibrate the current images. The tenuous heliosphere is not visible in the uncalibrated data due to glare from the sun. Processing the images based on the images that preceded it inevitably leads to processing artifacts from bright planets and stars. In order to process the raw data, I used PixInsight's dynamic background subtraction to remove the glare from the sun from each image using only the data present in that same image. This seems to produce a much clearer star field at the expense of some residual solar glare. This is a test run using the images at a 2 hour cadence from September 1-7th from STEREO Ahead, looped once. Future videos will provide the entire month of September, and then I will begin processing the data from October as it is uploaded.
