Image Undistortion MaximDL Plugin

Pinpoint builds up a distortion model while plate solving an image by comparing the positions of stars detected in the image with the positions of the same stars in a reference catalog.
The plugin will work with images solved using either the full version of Pinpoint or the LE version shipped with MaximDL.
This MaximDL plugin uses that distortion model and applies an inverse mapping to present the undistorted version of the image.

The plate solution of the image should have good coverage and a low residual for this plugin to work well. Using a catalog which includes stars down to the limiting magnitude of the image is desired.

The removal of image distortion is especially useful when trying to construct a mosaic, since any distortion at the edges of the images will cause problems when trying to line up the mosaic panes.

The image should already be calibrated prior to the undistortion process.

Usage:

Plate solve the image using pinpoint.
Run the plugin, which will remove the distortion from the image.
Running the plugin on a duplicate of the original image will allow you to blink the two and see the effects.

Note that this is a computationally expensive operation and can take several minutes to run, depending on image size and PC speed.

Below is an animation showing the result of running the plugin on an image with distortion sent to me by someone with a fast uncorrected scope.
The first frame is the original image, the second is the corrected image, the third is a synthetic image showing the accurate positions of the stars using a little known feature of the Pinpoint plate solving engine which uses the reference catalog star positions to plot the stars.

Config options:

· None

Version history:
v1.0 - Initial release.
v1.1 - Fix to work with Pinpoint LE.

Undistort v1.1

If you download this to give it a go, please post feedback on the MaximDL Yahoo group, or email me directly at: winfij_AT_gmail_DOT_com
One final note - if you have any errors, please note the exact error messages and let me know!

Regards,
John

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