Contents 
Mira Pro x64
Contents
New Features
Mira Documentation and Help System
About this Document
Tech Support
Getting Started
Glossary of Terms
Selecting Source Images
Setting Application Properties
Command Dialogs
Screen Capture
Multi Tab Interface
Mira's Special Folders
Changing the GUI Theme
Critical Concepts
Tip of the Day
Tutorials
Overview
Displaying an Image
Displaying an Image Set
Creating Plots from Images
Introduction to Image Registration
Making a Scatter Plot of Measurements
Using FITS Keywords to Analyze Image Data
Introduction to Aperture Photometry
Doing Time Series Photometry
Introduction to File Event Scripting
Cleaning Artifacts from an Image Set
Introduction to Source Extraction
Introduction to Astrometric Calibration
Examples
File Lists
Creating File Lists
Opening Files from File Lists
Images
The Boost Transfer Function Option
Image Rotation
Adding Labels to an Image
Editing the FITS Header
Image Registration
Plots
Plot Windows
Plotting Examples
Column Plot
Row Plot
Line Profile Plot
Plotting an Averaged Line
Changing Plot Series Attributes
Plotting in World Coordinates
Comparison of Histogram Preferences
Contour Plotting Smoothing
3-D Plots
3-D Pixel Representations
3-D Z-Scaling
Measurements
Distance and Angle
Selecting Cells in a Grid Control
Tutorial: Making a Scatter Plot of Measurements
Fixing Header Problems in Photometric Data
Importing a Photometry Catalog
FITS Format
FITS Format Overview
Open FITS File
FITS File Summary
FITS Keywords
FITS Header Pane
Add Metadata
View and Search FITS Header
FITS Header Editor
FITS Image Orientation
World Coordinate System
FITS Image Orientation
Image Sets
Overview
Image Set Options
Image Set Properties
Image Set Toolbar
Image Set Applications
Image Sets Menu
Duplicating an Image Set
File Lists
Overview
Creating file lists
Editing file lists
Opening files from file lists
Opening Images
Overview
File opening and saving commands
Opening image files
Open FITS File
Using Drag & Drop
Creating an image catalog
Duplicating an Image
Duplicating an Image Set
Opening files from file Lists
Using File Opening Plug-ins
Selecting Source Images
Importing a Binary Image
Importing a Text Image
Saving Images
Saving a single image
Saving an image set
Saving all image set members
Saving an image set to a Folder
Saving an image set with a filename Suffix
Saving an image set to a file list
Exporting as a binary image
Exporting as a text image
Image Cursor
Overview
Image Cursor Properties
Setting default and local properties
Image Window Properties
Image Plot Properties
Histogram Properties
Centroid Properties
FWHM Preferences
Radial Profile Properties
Palette Properties
Transfer Function Properties
General Properties
Selecting source images for commands
Overview
Image Types
Mira Pixel Types
Image Display
Displaying Images
Image Windows
Image Bar
Set X-Axis Linear Format
Set Y-Axis Linear Format
Set Pixel Value Format
Animation Bar
Magnifying the Image
Palettes
Overview
Image Palettes
Palette Pane
Palette Properties
Using the Palette Property Trackbars
Rubber Banding the Palette Graph
Importing Palettes
Transfer Functions
Overview
Transfer Function Properties dialog
Choosing Transfer Function Properties
Using the Boost Transfer Function Option
Default Transfer Function Properties
Transfer Function Pane
Transfer Function Popup Menus
Capture Cursor to TF command
User Interface
User Interface Overview
Working with Toolbars
Initializing Toolbars and Docking Panes
Docking Panes
Reset Bars and Menus
Reset Docking Panes
Command Dialogs
Command Toolbars
Main Message Pane
Image Cursor Toolbar
Image Keys Pane
Status Bar
Accelerator Keys
Profile Control
Status Bar
Save Window Position
GUI Theme
Changing the GUI theme
Context Menus
Image Context Menu
Image Context Menu for an image set
Plot Context Menu
3-D Plot Context Menu
Grid Context Menu
Dialog Styles
Command Dialogs
Dialog Buttons
Docking Panes
Overview of Docking Panes
Docking Panes Toolbar
Image Bar
Animation Bar
Image Keys Pane
Measurement Panes
Script Manager Pane
Initializing Toolbars and Docking Panes
Reset Docking Panes
Property Profiles for Commands
Overview
Profile Control
Grid Controls
Overview
Report Windows
Grid Context Menu
Measurement Panes
Table Properties
Overview
Table Appearance Properties
Table Printing Properties
Menus
Tear-off menus
Main Context Menu
Default Menu Bar
Align Images Menu
Reset Bars and Menus
Pictures of Menus
Creating new text documents
Default File Menu
Calibration Menu
Diagnostics menu
Edit Menu
File Menu
Measure Menu
Plug-ins
File Opening Plug-ins
Image Processing Plug-ins
Toolbars
Working with Toolbars
Command Toolbars
Reset Bars and Menus
Image Keys Pane
3-D Animation Toolbar
3-D Rotation Toolbar
Cursor Tools Toolbar
Image Cursor Toolbar
Image Plot Toolbar
Image Set Toolbar
Image Tools Toolbar
Image Bar
Calibration Tools Toolbar
Interactive Repair Toolbar
Main Toolbar
Measurements Toolbar
Mira Windows
Image Windows
Plot Windows
Grid Controls
Image Windows
Overview
Animation Pane
Image Bar
Image Set Toolbar
Image Window Keystroke Commands
Image Keys Pane
Adjusting the Image Cursor
Command Modes
Cursor Command Modes
Roam Mode
Cursor Mode
Plot Windows
Overview
Plotting Images and Data
Creating a Plot from Table Data
Plotting Examples
Plot Bar
Plot Animation Bar
Plot Properties
Plot Series Pane
Plot Marker Properties
Image Plot Properties
Save Window Position
Chart Windows
Chart Windows
Plotting Images and Data
Creating a Chart from Table Data
Chart Command Menu
Chart Axis Limits
Chart Properties Pane
Chart Series Properties
Chart Titles
Chart Legend Properties
Save Window Position
3-D Plot Windows
Overview
3-D Animation Toolbar
3-D Rotation Toolbar
3-D Drawing Attributes
3-D Light Source Dialog
3-D Viewpoint Dialog
3-D Window Dialog
Save Window Position
Report Windows
Overview
Grid Controls
Report Commands
Report Window Menu
Save Window Position
Grid Properties
Overview
Table Appearance Properties
Table Printing Properties
Text Editor Windows
Overview
Creating a new text document
Text Editor Edit Menu
Text Editor View Menu
Save Window Position
Script Editor Window
Script Editor Toolbar
Script Editor Context Menu
Script Editor View Menu
Save Window Position
File Open/Save Dialog
Open Command
Opening & Saving Files
Opening Files from File Lists
Working with FITS Format
Overview
Open FITS File
FITS File Summary
FITS Format Overview
FITS keywords
View and Search FITS Header
FITS Header Editor
Pixel Scale Sensitive FITS Keywords
FITS Header Pane
FITS image orientation
List COMMENT Keywords
List HISTORY Keywords
List Statistics Keywords
List WCS keywords
MIRAPROC keyword
Editing the FITS header
Modifying keywords
Adding metadata at file open or file save
Creating an image list from keywords
Searching images for keyword values
Fixing Header Problems in Photometric Data
Image Information Editor (RGB images)
Coordinate Systems
Overview
Image Coordinate System
Pixel Coordinate Definition
Subpixel Coordinate Definition
World Coordinate System
Image Display Orientation
FITS Image Orientation
Image Coordinate Display
Coordinate Commands
Go to cursor coordinates
Go To Object
Astrometric Calibration
Set an arcsecond scale
Set an equatorial scale
Set a linear scale
Set independent linear scales
Set linear world coordinate units
Calibrate a linear scale
Setting brightness units
Alignment Commands
High precision image registration
Align on Object
Align on Point
Align by WCS
Coordinate Readout
Set X-Axis Linear Format
Set Y-Axis Linear Format
Set Pixel Value Format
Select Image Properties
World Coordinate System
Overview
World Coordinate System Keywords
Deleting the WCS
Astrometric Calibration
Overview
Tutorial
Entering coordinate data
Changing reference point data
Calibration Preferences dialog
Plate Solution Strategy
Other preferences
Calibrating Images
Overview
Selecting Source Images
Creating Synthetic Images
Trimming an image section
Adding metadata at File Open or Save
Modifying header keywords
File Event Scripting
Astrometric Calibration
Express Image Calibration
Express Image Calibration
Bias Correction Properties
Dark Correction Properties
Flat Correction Properties
Cosmetic Correction Properties
Creating a Master Bias
Create Master Bias
Image Combining Properties
Creating a Master Dark
Create Master Dark
Image Combining Properties
Create Master Flat
Create Master Flat
Flat Frame Selection Criteria
Image Combining Properties
Create Illumination Flat
Create Illumination Flat
Flat Correction Properties
Image Combining Properties
Create Pixel Flat
Create Pixel Flat
Flat Correction Properties
Image Combining Properties
Cosmetic Repairs
Creating a Pixel Mask
Applying a Pixel Mask
Clip Pixel Values
Clip High Values
Clip Low Values
Editing and Creating a Blemish Mask
Applying a Blemish Mask
Filtering Images
Overview
Removing Extreme Pixel Values
Cosmic Ray Filter
De-speckle Filter command
Clip High Values
Clip Low Values
Rank Filtering
Rank Filter
Median Filter
Minimum Filter
Maximum Filter
Smoothing Image Details
Rectangle Filter
Elliptical Filter
Binomial Filter
Gaussian Filter
Block Average Filter
Block Sum Filter
Sharpening Image Details
High Pass Filter
Unsharp Mask
Maximum Entropy command
Maximum Entropy example
Enhancing Edges
Gradient Filter
Rotational Gradient Filter
Rotational Gradient example
Laplacian Filter
Miscellaneous Kernel Filters
Custom Filter Kernel
3x3 Custom Filter command
Measuring Images
Overview
Measurement Panes
Image Measurements Toolbar
Image Cursor Toolbar
Image Keys Pane
Moving the image cursor to a coordinate
Setting Application Properties
Testing using synthetic images
Setting statistical estimator properties
Opening a table in Microsoft Excel
Tutorial: Working with Measurements in a Grid
Angle Measurements
Command overview
Marker properties
Aperture Photometry
Overview of aperture photometry
Apphot Pane for photometry results
Tutorial: Introduction to Aperture Photometry
Tutorial: Doing Time Series Photometry
How Magnitude and Errors are calculated
Editing target data and standard star data
Automatic detection of objects
Plotting a light curve
Kwee - van Woerden
Setting marker attributes
Preparing a report for the AAVSO
Setting the aperture size and shape
Setting photometry keywords
Fixing header problems in photometric data
Importing a photometry catalog
Calculate Julian Date
Definitions of measurements
Definitions of errors
Understanding signal to noise ratio
Aperture Photometry Toolbar
Aperture Photometry Properties
Aperture Photometry Properties dialog
Point Markers
Calibration Results
Image Information
Photometry Keywords
AAVSO Reporting
Other Properties
Measurement Output
Astrometric Calibration
Overview
Tutorial
Plate Solution Strategy
Centroid Measurements
Command overview
Centroid properties
Distance & Angle Measurements
Command overview
Measuring Distance and Angle
Example
Angle Measurement Definition
FWHM Measurements
Command overview
FWHM properties
PSF Fit Properties
Labeling Images
Overview
Label Properties
Examples
Line Measurements
Command overview
Marker properties
Plot Line Measurements
Command overview
Marker Properties
Plot Point Measurements
Plot Point Measurements
Marker Properties
Shape Properties
Point Measurements
Command overview
Marker properties
Region Measurements
Command overview
Marker properties
Region properties
Statistics Measurements
Command overview
Statistics Measurements
Statistics properties
List Statistics Keywords
Remove Statistics Keywords
Marker Properties
Overview
Drawing Properties
Centroid Properties
Region Properties
Copying & Pasting Markers
Copy Markers
Paste Markers
Scatter Plots
Scatter Plot command
Tutorial: Making a Scatter Plot of Measurements
Selecting Cells in a Grid Control
Point Sampling
Overview
Pixel Table Pane
Viewing and editing pixel values
Plotting Images and Data
Overview
Plot Bar Pane
Creating a Chart from Table Data
Creating a Plot from Table Data
Examples of plot types
Examples of row plots
Setting Application Properties
Horizontal Slice Plot
Vertical Slice Plot
Stack Plots at Right
Reset Stacked Plot Origin
Plot Windows
Overview
Creating a Plot from Table Data
Plot Bar
Plot Animation Bar
Plot Point Data Pane
Plot Keys Pane
Plot Context Menu
Set Plot X-Axis Format
Set Plot Y-Axis Format
Plot Series Data
Plot Measurements
Go to Source Image
Plot Averaging Modes
Saving a plot as a text file
Save Window Position
Stack Plots at Right
Reset Stacked Plot Origin
Chart Windows
Chart Windows
Creating a Chart from Table Data
Chart Command Menu
Chart Axis Limits
Chart Properties Pane
Chart Series Properties
Chart Titles
Chart Legend Properties
Save Window Position
Working with Plot Series
Plot Series Pane command
Example: Changing Plot Series Properties
Viewing Plot Series Data
Default Plot Series Properties
Overplotting & Animating
Go to Source Image
Copying & pasting plot series
Default Marker Properties
Setting marker attributes before the plot
1-D Curve Fitting
Overview
1-D Fit Toolbar
1-D Fit Properties
1-D Fit Menu Commands
Sigma Clipping the 1-D Fit
Using 1-D Fit Coefficient Forcing
Using 1-D Point Selection Regions
Using Point Deletion in the 1-D Fit
Using Series Selection for the 1-D Fit
1-D Fit Proeprties
Sigma Clipping Page
Set Coefs Page
Drawing Page
Column and Row Profile Plots
Column profile plots
Making a column profile plot
Row profile plots
Making a row profile plot
Plotting an averaged line
Overview
Plot Averaging Modes
Changing the Plot Appearance
Changing Plot Attributes
The Plot Attributes dialog
Using a dialog shortcut
X Axis Properties
Y Axis Properties
Plot Labels
Frame Properties
Selecting a Coordinate System
Plot coordinate systems
Using World Coordinates
Comparison of coordinate systems
Line profile plots
Command
Creating a Line Profile plot
Preferences
Setting Line Profile preferences
Centroid Preferences
Marker Properties
Radial profile plots
Making a radial profile plot
Radial Profile Properties
PSF Fit Properties
Histogram plots
Histogram plot of entire image
Histogram plot at the image cursor
Histogram Properties
Comparison of Histogram Preferences
Making a Bit Histogram plot
Plot Measurements
Overview
Plot Point Measurements
Plot Line Measurements
Calculating Plot Statistics
Statistics Measurements
Statistics Properties
Mark Statistic
Plot Marker Properties
Plot Notes Pane
Scatter plots
Scatter Plot command
Tutorial: Making a Scatter Plot of Measurements
Selecting Cells in a Grid Control
Pixel Series plots
Plotting a value through an image set
3-D plots
3-D Surface Plot command
3-D Plot Type Examples
3-D Z-Scaling Examples
Preferences
3-D Viewpoint
3-D Window Dialog
3-D Drawing Attributes
3-D Light Source
Surface Plot Z Limits
Contour plots
Contour Plot command
Interactive Contour Plotting Toolbar
Contour Plot Properties
Contour Drawing Properties
Interactive Contour Plot command
Interactive Contour Properties
Contour Plot Smoothing
Copy & Paste
Example
Copying plot data to the clipboard
Pasting plots from the clipboard
Copying the window bitmap
Printing Plots
Overview
Properties
Overview
Printing Placement Properties
Printing Overlay Properties
Printing Heading Properties
Printing Text Properties
Window Properties
Plot Properties
Plot Series Pane
Processing Images
Overview
Command Dialogs
Selecting Source Images
Image Types
Image Region Commands
Testing calibration strategies using synthetic images
Image Keys Pane
File Event Scripting
Adding metadata at File Open or Save
Creating an image list from keywords
Searching images for keyword values
Cosmetic Repairs
Interactive Repair
Interactive Repair Properties
Removing cosmic rays from an image set
Blemish Masks
Creating and editing a blemish mask
Applying a blemish mask
Pixel Masks
Creating a pixel mask from an image
Editing a pixel mask
Applying a pixel mask
Clipping extreme pixel values
Clip High Values
Clip Low Values
Clip Pixel Values
Removing Stars from Images
Overview
Changing the aperture properties
Viewing data for template samples
Properties
Overview
Markers
Background
Sample Data
Combining Images
Image Combining Properties
Image Combining Methods
Combine Image Set
Combine Files
Normalize Image
Setting normalization preferences
Region Statistics
Aligning Images
Overview
Aligning on a point
Aligning on an extended object
Aligning using the WCS calibration
High Precision Registration command
Overview
Tutorial: Introduction to Image Registration
Example using Point Tracking
Image Registration Properties
Image Registration Properties Dialog
Resampling
Background
Image Registration Residuals
Marker Properties
Resampling Properties
Tracking Properties
Image Region Statistics
Overview
Estimators
Editing & Copying
Overview
Duplicating to a new window
Emptying the Clipboard
Math Commands
Overview
Arithmetic Operations
Change Pixel Type
Combine Image Set
Fit Background
Image Arithmetic
Normalize Image
Region Statistics
Value Arithmetic
Using Plug-ins
Geometry Commands
Overview
Rotating Images
Rotation Menu
Affine Transformation
Expand Image
Imbed Image
Mirror
Reverse
Rotate
Rotate by angle (from Image Toolbar)
Scale
Shift
Transpose
Cropping to specified bounds
Cropping to the Image Cursor
Cropping by a rectangle
Align Horizontal
Align Vertical
Working with RGB images
Overview
Applying a palette to an RGB image
Merging color channels into an RGB Image
Merging color channels into an LRGB Image
Converting intensity to RGB
Converting intensity to Grayscale
Converting RGB to 16-bit Luminance
Converting to RGB to 8-bit Luminance
Removing color noise
Extracting channels from an RGB image
Commands for Intensity data
Extracting byte planes
Converting the data type
Converting to RGB
Undo
Using undo
Repairing Artefacts and Cosmetic Defects
Overview of Methods
Cleaning artefacts from an image set
Interactively Repairing Defects
Evaluating repair techniques using synthetic images
Blemish Masks
Creating and editing a blemish mask
Applying a Blemish Mask
Pixel Masks
Creating a Pixel Mask
Editing a Pixel Mask
Applying a Pixel Mask
Removing Stars from Images
Overview
Changing the aperture properties
Viewing data for template samples
Properties
Overview
Point Properties
Other Properties
Extracting Sources from Images
Using the MExtract Module
Definitions of Extracted Properties
Running the Pipeline
Tutorial
Preferences
Properties for the Source Extraction Tutorial
Source Extraction dialog
Procedure page
Background page
Detect page
Filter page
Match page
Difference page
Post Process page
Post Processing Options
Centroid Properties (Source Extraction)
FWHM Properties (Source Extraction)
PSF Fit Properties
Aperture Photometry Properties
Variability Properties
Image Diagnostics and Calculations
Overview
Create Synthetic Image
Bit Histogram Plot
Calculate Airmass
Calculate Gain
Calculate Image Scale
Calculate Julian Date
Calculate Readout Noise
Mira Project Interface
Overview
Mira Project Manager
Mira Project Selector
Mira Project Interface Commands
Mira Scripting Interface
Overview
Script Editor Window
Script Manager Pane
Top-level Script Manager
Editing script keywords
Related Topics
Script Editor Toolbar
Script Editor View Menu
Script Editor Context Menu
Mira Project Interface
File Event Scripting
File Event Scripting
Tutorial: Introduction to File Event Scripting

Mira Pro x64 User's Guide

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Working with FITS Format

FITS is a digital data format developed for storing and transporting astronomical data in form of images and tables. The acronym FITS stands for "Flexible Image Transport System", which was developed in the 1970's at Kitt Peak National Observatory and was standardized in 1981. It has been maintained by NASA for more than 2 decades. A FITS format file consists of one of more Header-Data Units, with each "HDU" consisting of an ASCII text "header" containing metadata, followed by a multi-dimensional array that may contain pixel data for an image, or table data in the form of ASCII text or binary data. The FITS header and data array adhere to a rigid structure defined in the standard. It is critical to note that FITS is a data format, not an image format, as it was originally designed to hold one HDU of image data. It was later extended to hold multiple HDUs which may also hold table data. Mira provides numerous tools for working directly with the header and data as listed below. Commands for working directly with FITS data are described below.

FITS Format Overview

Defines and describes the FITS format and Mira's implementation.

FITS Keywords

Defines the standard FITS keywords and additional keywords used by Mira.

Open FITS File

Opens one or more FITS files, where each file may contain one or more HDUs.

Save FITS Extension File

Saves the Image Set from an Image Window to a FITS file containing 'IMAGE' type extensions.

FITS Image Orientation

Defines the coordinate orientation used by FITS format images.

Pixel Scale Sensitive FITS Keywords

Lists Keywords that are updated by commands that change the spatial scale of the image.

Editing the FITS Header

Describes the general procedure for editing or modifying the FITS header information.

FITS Header Editor

Displays the FITS header information and permits the information to be edited. The header is opened in an independent window, separate from the image window.

FITS Header Pane

Displays the FITS header information and permits the information to be edited. The header is opened in a docking pane owned by the image window.

View and Search FITS Header

Displays the FITS header and permits text searching, opening in Excel, and copying to a Text Editor window.

List FITS File Header

OBSOLETE. This has been replaced by the View and Search FITS Header command.

List COMMENT Keywords

Describes how comments are stored in the FITS image header.

List HISTORY Keywords

Describes how the image processing history is stored in the FITS image header.

List Statistics Keywords

Displays the keywords and values resulting from Statistics Measurements.

List WCS Keywords

Displays the keywords used for describing a World Coordinate System attached to the image.

Modify Keywords

Changes keyword values in the FITS image header.

Add Metadata

Changes (adds, replaces, and renames) keyword metadata when the image is opened or is saved to a FITS format file. This command configures the metadata changes but the changes are actually committed based on global settings in the General Properties (Ctrl+R) dialog.

Create Image Keyword List

Creates a table of keyword values in a collection of images.

Search Keyword Values

Creates a table of keyword values meeting numerical criteria in a collection of images.

MIRAPROC Keyword

Encodes calibration information into the image header. Mira uses this to prevent repeating the specific steps of calibration.

Related Topics

Contents

FITS Format Overview

 


Mira Pro x64 8.83 User's Guide, Copyright Ⓒ 2026 Mirametrics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.