Japanese version       Home Page       Updated on January 22, 2006

How to Discover Comet or Asteroid     The sample images used in this page are taken by KenIchi Kadota. The sample images used in this page are just sample. Kadota took the sample images of an asteroid 2000 NM which had been already discovered. This page does not mean that Kadota discovered a new object actually from the images as described here. This page introduces how to discover a new moving object, comet or asteroid, from two images taken with a proper interval time using the PIXY System 2. Go to the PIXY System 2 page. Here are the two sample FITS images used in this page. Please download them. 2000NM-1.fts 2000NM-2.fts These two images cover the same field, taken with an interval of 14 minutes using a 18-cm reflector. Now let's compare the two images and search a moving object, comet or asteroid, using the PIXY System 2. Here are the steps to search a moving object using the PIXY System 2. Select [Tool] - [Image Collation] menu and open a virtual desktop. (*) Select [Operations] - [Open Image] menu and open the first image. Select [Operations] - [Open Image] menu and open the second image. Select [Operations] - [Matching] menu. Wait for some seconds. Select [Operations] - [Create R-GB Image] menu and an R-GB image appears. Search a colorful star in the R-GB image. (*)   Push Multiple Examination button when using the older system until 2003 June 18 version. Let's follow the steps in detail. First of all, run the PIXY System 2 and select the [Tool] - [Image Collation] menu in the main menu window. (*) (*)   Push Multiple Examination button when using the older system until 2003 June 18 version. Then a new virtual desktop appears. First, open the two images to compare. Select the [Operations] - [Open Image] menu and open one of the sample images you downloaded. After the first image appears, select the [Operations] - [Open Image] menu again and open the other image. Then select the [Operations] - [Matching] menu and wait for some seconds, while the PIXY System 2 is matching the two images to overlap precisely. Finally, search comets or asteroids by the R-GB method. The R-GB method is a way to search variable or moving stars designed by KenIchi Kadota. Two images are composed, one represents red color and the other represents blue and green color, and a color image is created. Whole of the new image becomes monochrome, however only variable or moving stars become red or greeny blue. Select the [Operations] - [Create R-GB Image] menu and create the R-GB image. When the R-GB image appears, click right button of your mouse on the image and you can adjust the brightness, zoom up, and so on. In case of the sample image, you can discover a moving star a bit below of the image center. Moving object in the sample images. It moved from the red point to the blue point between 14 minutes. When you would like to blink the two images, select the [Operations] - [Create Blink Image] menu.