Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!murdu!ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au!u3364521 From: U3364521@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (Lou Cavallo) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: summary re: amiga, ccd, astronomy image-processing Message-ID: <992@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> Date: 3 Sep 90 13:58:26 GMT References: <28827@nigel.ee.udel.edu> Organization: I.A.E.S.R., Melbourne University Lines: 47 G'day, JW> In article , jwright@cfht.hawaii.edu JW> (Jim Wright) writes: JP> JMPIERCE%USMCP6.BITNET@vm.tcs.tulane.edu (JIM PIERCE) writes: JP> Well, there are _no_ ccd digitizing/ image-manipulation programs JP> for the Amiga readily available. Mount Palomar uses an A2000 and + JP> [...deleted to save some bandwidth...] + JP> ... I had hoped that the programmers interested in image-processing JP> on the Amiga would have written a viable program by now. JW> World class observatories don't just roll off a production line. Each JW> one is unique. And as much as I like the Amiga, it just isn't up to JW> this job. Depending on the configuration, we get single images that JW> are 8 megabytes in size. And the goal is to get as many of these as JW> possible within each astronomer's time allotment. We're talking serious JW> bandwidth and cpu horsepower. And there are mumblings about 16MB or JW> 32MB images coming up. A programmer's nightmare! :-) Sorry, but I'm genuinely confused. Wasn't this thread basically trying to determine if Amigas are being/could be used for jobs currently performed by Macintoshes/IBM clones in this area? I can't (yet, perhaps if at all) see that those PCs are ``that much'' better equipped for the apparently CPU intensive tasks you outline. At any rate I've been reading this thread to find out more specifics as to why that _may_ be so. If it is then the problems could be addressed and it might even interest developers into trying to develop Amiga solutions for this area. If we're talking Cray size problems here then we've left the original thread IMHO. JP> Some commercial setups have output that only requires a JP> computer with software to access the data. That means that the JP> CCD camera doesn't output computer specific data! JW> This is a far cry from Lick, Palomar, Keck, CFHT, et. al. I don't know, JW> there just might be a market for an off-the-shelf computerized home JW> observatory. Could be fun. A bit of competition for Distant Suns. :-) This I would like to see. :-) yours truly, Lou Cavallo.