Basic Colour Imaging

This course provides a simple look at the different image formats from the Faulkes telescopes and how to go about manipulating and converting these images into a more useful format, using a simple image processing technique. This course provides a simple and effective way of teaching aspects of light and colour in the curriculum. There is a very creative aspect to these activities that users and students interested in art will appreciate.

Background Science

The pages below will guide you through the background science to colour and astronomical imaging.

FITS Data

You can use your own data for this project, or you can search for any object you wish and download data sets you like from the FT Image Archive.

Alternatively, you can download these packed FITS files.

Processing FITS Files with Iris

These software instructions will show you how to use Iris to processes your FITS data using a very simple image processing technique, and export them into the more universal JPEG format.

Making Colour Images

These instructions will show you how to make colour images with the JPEG files you created in Iris, using a number of software packages.

Completed Images

If you complete a colour image from the above instructions, and you would like to submit it for other users to see, you can do so by submitting it here.