SST 302 ASTROPHYSICS

Introduction to
SAOImage DS9
Hira Fatima
Institute of Space and
Planetary Astrophysics
 SAOImage DS9

SAOImage DS9 is an astronomical imaging and data visualization application.

DS9 supports FITS images and binary tables, multiple frame buffers, region manipulation, and
many scale algorithms and colormaps.

DS9 supports advanced features such as 2-D, 3-D and RGB frame buffers, mosaic images,
tiling, blinking, geometric markers, colormap manipulation, scaling, arbitrary zoom, cropping,
rotation, pan, and a variety of coordinate systems.

SAOImage DS9 development has been made possible by funding from the Chandra X-ray
Science Center (CXC) and the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Center (HEASARC).

Additional funding was provided by the James Webb Space Telescope Mission office at Space
Telescope Science Institute to improve capabilities for 3-D data visualization
 Chandra Mission

An x-ray telescope collects x-ray emission (called "x-ray photons") from a star, galaxy,
or other source.

X-ray telescopes orbit the earth in highly sophisticated spacecraft that are carefully
controlled by astronomers on the ground.

After a star or galaxy or other object is observed by an X-ray telescope, the

information gathered about that object is relayed back to earth, where astronomers
use computers to do their analysis

X-ray data is rich and complex, containing quite different information than the image in
visible light through a telescope on earth.
 Chandra Mission

X-ray photons are much more energetic than optical photons. They have
temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. They allow astronomers to study very
energetic objects and events, such as collisions of galaxies, and matter swirling into
black holes.

Chandra uses x-ray detectors to record different kinds of information (position,

energy, time of arrival) about each individual x-ray photon.

No single x-ray detector can accurately record all three types of information, so
Chandra has two different x-ray detectors, the High Resolution Camera (HRC) and
the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), that specialize in recording one or
another type of data.
 FITS Files

•The standard data format used in astronomy

•Stands for 'Flexible Image Transport System‘

•Endorsed by NASA and the International Astronomical Union

•Used for the transport, analysis, and archival storage of scientific data sets
• Multi-dimensional arrays: 1D spectra, 2D images, 3D data cubes
• Tables containing rows and columns of information
• Header keywords provide descriptive information about the data

• FITS support is available in a variety of programming languages that are used for
scientific work, including C, C++, C#, Fortran, LabVIEW, Mathematica, MATLAB,
Python, and R.
 Pixel and Image Resolution

Short for Picture Element, a pixel is a single point in a graphic

image. Graphics monitors display pictures by dividing the
display screen into thousands (or millions) of pixels, arranged
in rows and columns. The pixels are so close together that
they appear connected

Resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image.

Resolution is sometimes identified by the width and height of
the image as well as the total number of pixels in the image.
For example, an image that is 2048 pixels wide and 1536
pixels high (2048X1536) contains 3,145,728 pixels (or 3.1
Megapixels).
Downloading SAOImage DS9
http://ds9.si.edu/site/Download.html

it is FREE
Downloaded DS9 Setup
DS9 Installation Steps

Step 1: Double click the setup

Step 2: Click Unzip button
Press OK.
 Double click the
DS9 shortcut to
open it.

DS9 Shortcut
 Connecting DS9 to Virtual Observatory

By connecting your DS9 to

virtual observatory you can
get access to hundreds and
hundreds of observations
Chandra has made in last
years.

Go to Analysis tab> Virtual

observatory
NOTE:
If you are connecting it for the first time
set Virtual Observatory Preferences
settings first.

Setting and Saving Preferences

Go to Edit> Preferences
Go to VO
Make sure that
settings should
be like as shown
in the figure.

Click Save.
Go to Analysis> Virtual
Observatory
Check the first option.
Now you are good to go for your analysis!
 DS9 Interface

1-Menu bar

The menu bar

provides access to all
of ds9's capabilities.
Tearing off a Menu

All ds9 menus can be "torn

off" to be a separate window
from the main GUI.

To tear off a menu, select the

dashed line
Place the torn
Menu to any
convinient place.
2- Information panel

The information panel displays

information about the data file
1- Object name
2- Image value
3- Position (in WCS, physical, and
image coordinates)

Image value and position are updated

in real time as the cursor is moved.
 3- Panner

The panner allows the user

to view areas of the frame
which are outside of the
current field of view.
4- Magnifier

The magnifier
displays a
magnified view
of the current
cursor location.
 5- Buttons

The button bar duplicates

many of the options
available from the menu
bar. The buttons provide
quick access to change the
most frequently-used ds9
actions
Changing Color
Scheme

Click on Color
Then select
any color
scheme say he
Try different
colors.
6. Display frame
The display frame is
the area of ds9 where
the FITS image is
shown
7. Colorbar
The colorbar displays the
colormap, bias, and
contrast settings. The
colormap correlates the
colors used in the image
with the pixel values in the
data