Workflow for color CMOS observations

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 20:05

Hi all!

I'm fairly new to AAVSO observing - I've submitted a few observations and they seem to match reasonably well with other data, but I'd like to improve on that. My current system is a ZWO ASI294MC on an 8" RC scope, and I've been using a homemade Python script to reduce my data. That seems to be working well enough, but I'd like to move toward a more professional/reproducible software like AstroImageJ or VPhot, something like that. My question is, what software/combination of software would work best for my setup? The necessary steps as I understand it are:

1) Calibrate data

2) Debayer and extract green channel

3) Run photometry on green channel

4) Transform magnitudes from TG to V

The calibration and photometry are straightforward enough, but I'm struggling to find information on how to do steps 2 and 4 in any of the big name software. Again, I've written my own script that can do all this, but if possible I'd like to use a more standard program for more precise results. 

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Color CMOS workflow

This looks like you're on the right track.
 

Since a color CMOS is treated as a DSLR, take a look at  https://www.aavso.org/dslr-camera-photometry-guide

George