Blueshift UNLIMITED

Why we succeed

We expect messy files: errors, omissions, all of it.

We've all misspelled an object name, or forgotten it altogether, and shot dozens or hundreds of misnamed subs. Or, a personal favorite: slewed to a new object, forgot to rename it, and ended up with a brand new batch of subs named for the wrong object.

Blueshift finds them and sorts them by error type. Then you fix dozens, even hundreds of those pesky bogies with just two clicks.

What Blueshift builds

Blueshift builds a living, breathing library for your subs, in two parts.

The Blueshift Archive: a clean new folder tree holding a normalized copy of every frame. Your originals stay untouched.

The database: every frame scored and searchable, with FWHM, eccentricity, PSF SNR, and an image quality score for each one. Assemble a batch and you see its SNR before you export it.

Blueshift: What it does

• Import

  • Catalogs your entire FITS archive — decades of data, dozens of drives, one database, one uniform naming standard
  • Copies your existing FITS files into a normalized, formalized directory tree in the Blueshift Archive — your originals stay untouched
  • Normalizes wild object naming against a 20,000+ curated DSO database with two-click fixes
  • Flags and quarantines “bogies” (bad TELESCOP, camera, OBJECT, FILTER, IMAGETYP cards) for two-click correction
  • Detects duplicate frames
  • Individual Calibration Frames — each type gets its own directory branch in the Archive and its own records in the database

    • Bias Frames
    • Dark Frames
    • Flat Frames
    • Darkflat Frames
  • Master Calibration Frames — each type gets its own directory branch in the Archive and its own records in the database

    • Master Bias
    • Master Darks
    • Master Flats
    • Master Dark Flats
• Scores every frame with real astro metrics — FWHM, eccentricity, PSF SNR — and a composite per-object image quality score
• Filters and queries frames by any combination of object, filter, date, gear, and quality
• Exports curated stacks as zero-byte file pointers your imaging software reads directly — no more copying gigabytes of frames all over your hard drive
• Tracks which frames you've already sent to processing
• Culls junk frames in three clicks — preview first, then delete from disk or catalog only
• Reviews and rewrites FITS headers in place, with a diff preview
• Keeps an imaging log

System Requirements

• Required OS: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit (Intel/AMD)
• Required RAM: 8 GB
• Recommended RAM: 16 GB

What it doesn't do

Blueshift works with deep-sky objects only. Individual stars and solar system objects are not included.

Blueshift currently assumes all files are FITS files.

Coming Features

• Support for .xisf files
• Working with mapped external file services, including AWS S3 buckets, Dropbox, and Google Drive

Be sure to have LOTS of disk space

Your Blueshift Archive grows with every night you image, so plan for the collection you'll have, not just the one you have now.