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For PixInsight

Solve and annotate your images with starsolve in PixInsight

A small PixInsight script adds a blind plate solver to the Script menu. It solves the active view with the local starsolve engine, writes the astrometric solution into the view — so PixInsight's own tools can use it — and opens an annotated copy in a new window with the RA/Dec grid, constellation figures, deep-sky objects and named stars.

1. Download the two files

You need the script package and the star database it uses.

PixInsight 1.9.5 or later is required. The package includes the solver for 64-bit Linux, Windows and macOS (universal binaries for Intel and Apple silicon).

2. Install it in PixInsight

  1. Extract starsolve-pixinsight.zip to a folder where you keep your PixInsight extras, for example ~/PixInsight/starsolve.
  2. Move the downloaded starsolve.ssdb into the data/ folder inside that extracted folder, next to catalogs.bin.
  3. In PixInsight, open Script → Feature Scripts… and click Add.
  4. Choose the starsolve.js file inside the extracted folder. It appears under Script → Astrometry → starsolve.

If you would rather not download the database by hand, skip step 2: the script's dialog has a Download button that fetches starsolve.ssdb for you. It also asks for the database location the first time, so you can keep it anywhere you like.

3. Use it

  1. Open an image in PixInsight.
  2. Run Script → Astrometry → starsolve.
  3. Tick the layers you want (constellations, grid, deep-sky objects, named stars) and click Solve & Annotate.

The active view gets the astrometric solution (its summary shows in the ImageSolver status information), and an annotated copy opens in a new window named <image>_starsolve.

If something doesn’t work

“solver not found”
Check that the extracted folder still has bin/linux/ or bin/windows/ (with astap_cli and starsolve inside), and that the Solver folder in the dialog points at the right one for your system.
“star database not found”
Point the Star database field at starsolve.ssdb. It is the same database this website's viewer uses.
“Not solved”
The frame needs clearly visible stars and should be roughly in focus. A frame from a very long focal length may be outside the database's range (see below).
Linux: libraries look wrong
The script runs the solver with LD_LIBRARY_PATH cleared, so PixInsight's bundled libraries are not used by it. If it still fails, run bin/linux/starsolve --help in a terminal to check the binary.

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