[Aavso-photometry] Point Spread Photometry using IRAF

[Bruce J. Skelly]

You probably already know this but, I just wanted to  add that our own  
Chuck Pullen has written a nice manual called "The Zen of IRAF", that  
I used to get up and running.  You can get it here.

Also, IRAF support from NOAO has ended, but the group at iraf.net  
continues supporting and developing.  You may want to drop by and lay  
a little coin on them for their efforts, or buy some IRAF stuff from  
their Cafe Press store.

If you have a Mac, the SciSoft package for Mac OS X, is a couple of  
clicks to install and get up and running.  The easiest IRAF install  
I've ever done.  You can get it here  Again, a volunteer effort that  
could use a little donation.

Bruce
On Feb 28, 2009, at 5:58 AM, arne wrote:

> Brad Walter wrote:
>> A few of us in our club are starting the journey of learning how to  
>> use
>> IRAF, particularly with the goal of doing point spread photometry.  
>> We are
>> using IRAF 2.12 on Ubuntu Linux 2.22 and are trying to figure out  
>> what
>> packages we need to install in addition to the basic IRAF packages.  
>> In
>> particular which PSF application(s) will work with this version of  
>> IRAF and
>> which of these do we want to use. I see references on the internet to
>> DAOHOT, DAOPHOT2 and MATPHOT. I am at the very beginning of a steep  
>> learning
>> curve of both Linux and IRAF so I am not sure which questions to  
>> ask. Also
>> which external packages do we need in addition to whichever PSF  
>> package to
>> do preliminary processing before we can use the PSF package. I have  
>> seen
>> references that indicate we need to install the DIGIPHOT and APHOT  
>> packages
>> first. I'm not sure if these are internal packages or external  
>> packages that
>> install with the basic IRAF installation.  I know some AAVSO  
>> photometry discussion group members are very experienced
>> IRAF users and developers.
>
> To the best of my knowledge, all of that material comes "preloaded"  
> and
> will be handled during the "make" process.
> Once you install iraf, you need to start the program and then just
> load the appropriate packages from the command line.  DAOPHOT-II is
> part of iraf, and can be reached by entering
>
> noao
> digiphot
> daophot
>
> in order.  You do not need to find anything extra on the web.
> Be sure to read the Massey photometry tutorial.  You might check the
> download site, as I'm currently running version 2.14 of iraf.
>
> psf fitting is an art, and I'd suggest first using the standard  
> aperture
> photometry parts of iraf to learn the system, how to display and  
> process
> images, etc.  Then get into psf-fitting.  I can give you some guidance
> as you go along, and if we can find a common meeting somewhere (come  
> to
> SAS/AAVSO!), then I can give you some hands-on guidance.
> Arne
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