KStars v3.1.0 is released!

I'm glad to announce KStars first release of 2019: v3.1.0 for MacOS, Linux, and Windows. This release focuses on improvements to stability & performance of KStars. In 3.0.0, we introduced quite a few features which resulted in a few regressions that we worked hard to iron out in this release.

Ekos Scheduler

Eric Dejouhanet fixed a few bugs with the Ekos Scheduler along with making steady improvements to cover all corner cases for multi-object multi-night scheduling which can become quite complex.

Ring-Field Focusing

Eric also added a new feature to the Focus module: Ring-field focusing. This method limits the area which stars are detected between an inner and an outer ring. This can be useful in images where
galaxies or nebulaes can be mistaken as stellar object which often lead to erroneous HFR reporting.

This can only be used for full-field focusing.

Meridian Flip

Wolfgang Reissenberger migrated the Meridian Flip handling code to the Ekos Mount tab. This makes meridian flip possible even if there is no capture process going. If the mount is tracking and passes the meridian, it can be triggered to flip now in the Mount Module.

Ekos Documentation

Yuri Chornoivan migrated online Ekos documentation to KStars official documentation. This was a tremendous effort due to the volume of the documentation data involved. Now Ekos documentation are properly managed by us in KDE and should get translations like the rest of the official documentation.

Ekos PAA for Non-GOTO mounts

Sebastian Neubert introduced manual workflow for users who would like to use Ekos Polar Alignment Assistant Tool with manual non-GOTO mounts. Now the users are prompted to rotate the mount when it is required to do so until the process is complete. This is Sebastian's first code contribution to KStars, welcome to the team!

MacOS Build Script

Robert Lancaster developed a comprehensive script along with detailed documentation for building KStars with Craft on MacOS. This enables users to wish to either develop for KStars or use the latest bleeding edge versions from trying it out with a single script that pulls all the sources and compile them accordingly with the aid of KDE's spectacular Craft technology.

DSLR LiveView

The LiveView window received a few enhancement to enable zooming and panning for supported DSLR cameras.

Other Fixes & Improvements

• The FITS Viewer window is now automatically raised to the foreground when a new image arrives.
• Dark Library now considers all DSLRs to be shutterless.
• Mounts are grouped by manufacturer in the Equipment Profile Editor.
• Preliminary support for websocket to INDI::CCD on the client side.
• DBus interface expansion to provide more fine control over KStars.
• Fixed relative focuser bug in autofocus mode.
• Improved multi-channel histogram by providing dedicated controls to each channel.
• Fixed Auto-Stretch affecting raw image values.
• Support for compressed FITS (*.fits.fz) in INDI. This can cut the transmission time to 30%!
• Improved display of Parked status.
• KStars defaults to limited resource mode on ARM architecture.
• When there is binning change, always FORCE setting of frame values even if they did not change

KStars 2.8.7 Released!

Another minor KStars release is now available for Linux, MacOS,  & Windows. KStars 2.8.7 brings several bug fixes and new improvements!

So what's new in this release?

• Sounds! While KDE users on Linux enjoyed sound notifications since they were introduced in KStars, users on non-KDE desktop and on other OSes couldn't get the sounds. This is now fixed by using Phonon & libVLC. There is a known issue with the sounds being abruptly cut-off under MacOS, we are investigating this bug.
• Fixed annoying issue with slightly incompatible frame sizes for DSLR captures. The frame size is now always subframed to the maximum resolution entered by the user when using a DSLR for the first time in Ekos.
• GPS fixes: When a new GPS location is received, KStars will now explicitly changes the current location to GPS Location. The time is also updated accordingly with the GPS UTC & Offset values.
• Fixed orientation of solved Align frames. Now all solved images shall rotate correctly in the KStars Sky Map to reflect the orientation of the captured image.

• Various fixes for Rotator Control.

3D Cube FITS & Debayer support in KStars

Recently I was finally able to close BUG#305960 where a user requested support for 3D Cube FITS support in KStars. The FITSViewer tool always supported monochrome images since its inception, as this is what most CCD cameras in astronomy use. But single-shot color CCDs and DSLRs' utilization within the astrophotography world kept growing over the last few years.

Now the FITSViewer tool can display any 2D (monochrome) & 3D (color) cube FITS, and while most of the operations in KStars are geared toward single-channel images, the migration to 3 channel support was relatively smooth.

In addition to the 3D cube support, the FITSViewer tool can debayer images captured from color cameras and stored in RAW format with a specific color filter array (CFA).

DSLR users will gladly welcome this feature as they can inspect their color RAW images in color and may adjust the debayer parameters to produce a clear image of their target. Internally, KStars converts the debayerd image to a 3D Cube FITS without changing the RAW data at all. While the user may save the file as a 3D Cube FITS, it is not recommend. In fact, the debayer functionality should only be used to inspect the image, and the RAW image should always be processed under a dedicated astrophtography tool like PixInsight in order to carry out proper calibration procedure before any integration and registration processes.

In addition to DSLRs, the SBIG CCD INDI driver now also supports color CCDs. More INDI CCD drivers will have color support soon.