How can i align star field FIT images taken with CCD in PYTHON?

Question

I have seven of star field images taken with CCD. Extensions of them are FIT. I'm trying to align them by Python but, i have confused. This time is my very first attempt to align images. I found a few module related with alignment of fits images but they seem to me very confusing. I need a help.

Answer 1

The APLpy module ( https://aplpy.github.io/ ) does what you need to do. However, it might not be the most straightforward thing to use for a first-timer.

What I would recommend is using PyRAF, which is a python wrapper for the IRAF data reduction software developed by NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Organization) in the 80's/90's to deal with CCD data reduction. You can get pyraf by typing pip install pyraf . Once you have pyraf, I would recommend following Josh Wallawender's IRAF tutorial ; skip to Section V ("Basic Reduction Steps for Imaging Data"). Keep in mind you are using PyRAF, so any IRAF-specific things (sections I-IV) don't necessarily apply to you. PyRAF is a much easier to use system.

The specific PyRAF tasks you need are imalign and imcombine. You'll also need to give a file with the rough shifts between each image (the help file for imalign is a fantastic resource, btw, and you can access it via epar imalign and clicking on the "Help" button when the GUI pops up).

I hope this gives you a starting point. There are other ways to do image combining in python, but astropy is kind of finicky for first-time users.