Aladin

Aladin is a reliable program that allows you to acquire sky maps from dedicated services and analyze star properties, distances or coordinates. This astronomical analyzer allows you to associate images to coordinates, match object luminosity, create cross references, as well as draw shapes or contours.

Aladin is a simple to use application for viewing and analyzing digitized star maps and sky atlases. You can open astronomical images, surveys, or superimpose data from astronomical catalogues. The application is capable of retrieving a multitude of data collections, information sheets, from Simbad databases, SkyBoT, NED, or missions and surveys from the VizieR service.

The astronomical images you can load and analyze can be acquired from servers such as SkyView+, UKIDSS, SDSS, VLA, DSS or other archives. Aladin offers a series of tools for selection, cross-reference creation or filter applying. Moreover, you can view several images in parallel, by switching to a multi-view split screen. You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in or out on an image.

Aladin displays some of the analysis tools in the panel on the right of the window. You may easily calculate distances, measure overplot photometry, draw contours, create tags, cross references or associate images to any point on the map. Moreover, you can adjust the contrast of the selected image by modifying the RGB layers, draw isocontours or ellipses.

The software supports adding filters to the astronomical images, such as mark brightest and faintest stars, draw proper motion of the celestial bodies or the dimensions of the galaxy. You can overlay the contours of the selected image onto another one of your choice.

Aladin also allows you to work with advanced tools for astronomy analysis, such as specific Simbad and VizieR photometry pointers, automatic distance measurer or spectrum analyzers. The application allows you to export the data to EPS files, FITS documents, TSV or VoTables and the images to FITS, JPEG, PNG formats.