STARDUST

STARDUST is a suite of (mostly) PV-WAVE programs designed for automatic acquisition and processing of ion images. These programs can be used for relatively simple tasks (acquiring a set of images of specific masses and exposure times) as well as the much more complex process of automatic interstellar grain searches (and the manipulation of the resulting data). This document gives both an overview of the system and a deeper look at the details of the code. While the programs are fairly robust (I hope) and a novice should be able to use them without too much trouble, to really understand them and deal with problems as they arise requires a working knowledge of PV-WAVE. The source code for STARDUST programs is kept in the directory /users/wavelib/STARDUST. To get started, have a look at the Overview below and the Example. For detailed instructions and/or source code for a given program, simply click on its name.

These codes are used throughout to specify what type of program is being referenced. Note that the ".pro" is not needed when you call a PV-WAVE program.

(M)=PV-WAVE Main Program (must type .run program_name to run)
(P)=PV-WAVE Procedure (must type program_name, arguments to run)
(F)=PV-WAVE Function (must type result=program_name(arguments) to run)
(C)=C-shell Script (must type program_name arguments at UNIX prompt)

Overview of most important programs:

These programs are the most commonly used in the whole system. Note, however, that there are many other essential programs which are called from these.

mapping programs:

stardust.pro(M): main program for mapping
sdoff(C), sdproc(C), sd_offline.pro(P) sd_process.pro(P): particle definition/ image processing programs for mapping

useful during mapping:

sd_gridplot.pro(P): Makes plot showing imaged areas
sd_pos_stuff.pro(P): Allows interactive changing of mapping parameters
sd_viewinfo.pro(P): Shows contents of a run information file

Data analysis and display programs:

sd_read.pro(M): Main program for re-displaying images, viewing results of analysis, printing, etc.
sd_grainres.pro(P): Read processing results from individual runs into gigantic arrays
sd_readdata.pro(M):Play with gigantic arrays (from sd_grainres) to look for interstellar grain candidates, etc.
sd_mosaic.pro(P): Make ion image "mosaics"
sd_prim.pro(P), sd_prim_int.pro(P), sd_printpmask.pro(P): Print STARDUST images and particle masks

EXAMPLE (How do I actually use this stuff??)

Program Details (Important variables,files, sub-programs, etc.)

INDEX of all STARDUST Programs

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