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Getting Started

AstroIndexer indexes your astrophotography files, measures quality metrics with PixInsight-grade accuracy, detects patterns with Imaging Intelligence, and helps you plan your imaging season.

1

Install & Launch

Download for your platform, install, and launch. A 30-day free trial gives full access to all features with no account required.

2

Scan Your Library

Point AstroIndexer at your image folders. The 7-stage scanner discovers FITS/XISF files, extracts metadata, normalizes targets and filters, and writes everything to the database.

3

Analyze & Explore

Browse your library in the Gallery, run Quality Analysis to score every frame, explore patterns with Imaging Intelligence, and plan future sessions with the Planner.

Feature Reference

Each feature page in the built-in User Manual (press F1 in the app) describes one capability with step-by-step instructions, mental models, and troubleshooting. Below is an overview of what each feature does.

Core Workflow

Folder Scanning

A 7-stage pipeline that discovers FITS/XISF files, extracts FITS header metadata, normalizes target names and filter identifiers, runs optional quality and ADU analysis, and writes results to the database. Supports case-insensitive extensions and handles files from all major capture software (NINA, SGPro, APT, Seestar, etc.).

Gallery

A 3-column hierarchical browser for navigating your image library: Catalogues and Targets on the left, Variants and Panels in the center, Filters and Files on the right. Supports virtual scrolling for libraries with 100,000+ images, quick-preview with FITS header data, and batch operations.

Equipment Manager

Manage telescope, camera, and filter setups. AstroIndexer auto-detects equipment from FITS headers (TELESCOP, INSTRUME, FILTER keywords) and tracks performance metrics across all your imaging train combinations.

Analysis & Quality

Quality Analysis

Measures FWHM (star sharpness), HFR (star size), SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), and eccentricity (star elongation) using Moffat PSF fitting. Produces a 0-100 quality score per frame with PixInsight-grade accuracy (within ~5% of SubframeSelector values). Automatically tags rejects and identifies best frames for stacking.

Imaging Intelligence

Six intelligent analysis modules discover patterns in your imaging data: environmental pattern recognition, exposure time optimization, sensor performance heatmaps, session quality analysis, quality pattern predictions, and AI-generated improvement insights. Includes a Stacking Advisor that recommends optimal frame selection.

Tagging System

Organize frames with quality tags (reject, needs work, ready, good, exceptional), warning tags (focus drift, trailing, cloud), and custom labels. Tags integrate with the Quality Analysis scoring system and can be used to filter in Gallery and Data Viewer.

Statistics

Aggregated metrics and charts across your entire library. Equipment performance trends, session-over-session comparisons, imaging time breakdowns, and collection growth tracking.

Planning & Atlas

Session Planner V2

Manages the full imaging project lifecycle through 5 states: Queued, Planned, Scheduled, Active, and Completed. Includes target discovery with suitability scoring, equipment and exposure plan configuration, night scheduling with altitude/moon calculations, and NINA sequence export.

Sky Atlas

Interactive celestial map showing your imaging coverage, registered image overlays via plate solving, coverage heatmaps, and real-time position updates. Helps identify gaps in your collection and plan future targets.

Catalogue Completion

Track your progress through Messier, NGC, IC, Sharpless, and other astronomical catalogues with interactive visual grids. Shows completion percentage, identifies missing objects, and helps plan what to image next.

Tools & Utilities

Data Viewer

Spreadsheet view of all file metadata with customizable columns, sorting, filtering, and CSV export. See every FITS header value, quality metric, and tag for your entire library in one table.

Calibration Library

Manage master dark, flat, and bias frames with automatic temperature and exposure-time matching. Batch-apply calibration to your light frames and track calibration frame freshness.

Quality Review & Tools

Blink comparator for visual frame inspection, folder analysis for storage management, and object detector for identifying targets in untagged files.

Supported File Formats

Full Support

  • FITS — .fits, .fit, .fts (case-insensitive)
  • XISF — .xisf (PixInsight native format)
  • TIFF — .tif, .tiff (with metadata)

Partial Support

  • RAW — CR2, NEF, ARW via dcraw
  • JPEG/PNG — Limited metadata extraction

Capture Software

  • N.I.N.A, SGPro, APT, Voyager
  • Seestar S50, ASIair
  • PixInsight, Siril

Software Integration

AstroIndexer integrates with the tools you already use.

PixInsight

Export file lists for BatchPreprocessing, import SubframeSelector measurements, and compare quality scores with PixInsight's own analysis.

N.I.N.A

Import NINA sequence files, read NINA metadata, and export target lists and exposure plans as NINA sequences directly from the Session Planner.

Other Tools

Compatible with SGPro, APT, Voyager, and any software that writes standard FITS headers. CSV export works with any spreadsheet or analysis tool.

In-App User Manual

AstroIndexer ships with a comprehensive built-in User Manual covering every feature with step-by-step instructions, mental models, and troubleshooting. Press F1 or go to Help → User Manual to access it.

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