AstroImageJ: Image Processing and Photometric Extraction for Ultra-Precise Astronomical Light Curves

TL;DR

AstroImageJ is a user-friendly, cross-platform software tool designed for ultra-precise astronomical photometry, integrating image calibration, data reduction, and light curve analysis tailored for exoplanet transit studies.

Contribution

It introduces an astronomy-specific extension of ImageJ that simplifies processing and analyzing astronomical images for high-precision light curves, accessible to users with minimal experience.

Findings

Supports standard FITS and common image formats

Provides automated WCS and plate solving via astrometry.net

Enables quick processing and analysis for exoplanet transits

Abstract

ImageJ is a graphical user interface (GUI) driven, public domain, Java-based, software package for general image processing traditionally used mainly in life sciences fields. The image processing capabilities of ImageJ are useful and extendable to other scientific fields. Here we present AstroImageJ (AIJ), which provides an astronomy specific image display environment and tools for astronomy specific image calibration and data reduction. Although AIJ maintains the general purpose image processing capabilities of ImageJ, AIJ is streamlined for time-series differential photometry, light curve detrending and fitting, and light curve plotting, especially for applications requiring ultra-precise light curves (e.g., exoplanet transits). AIJ reads and writes standard FITS files, as well as other common image formats, provides FITS header viewing and editing, and is World Coordinate System (WCS) aware, including an automated interface to the astrometry.net web portal for plate solving images. AIJ provides research grade image calibration and analysis tools with a GUI driven approach, and easily installed cross-platform compatibility. It enables new users, even at the level of undergraduate student, high school student, or amateur astronomer, to quickly start processing, modeling, and plotting astronomical image data with one tightly integrated software package.