=============== Chapter 5. Ekos =============== **Ekos** is an advanced cross-platform (Windows®, Mac® OS, Linux®) observatory control and automation tool with a particular focus on Astrophotography. It is based on a modular extensible framework to perform common astrophotography tasks. This includes highly accurate GOTOs using astrometry solver, ability to measure *and* correct polar alignment errors, auto-focus & auto-guide capabilities, and capture of single or stack of images with filter wheel support. Ekos is shipped with KStars. .. youtube:: un2KVJY3Yis :width: 100% Ekos introductory video Features: - Control your telescope, Camera (& DSLRs), filter wheel, focuser, guider, adaptive optics unit, and any INDI-compatible auxiliary device from Ekos. - *Built-in* native :doc:`autoguiding ` with support for automatic dithering between exposures and support for Adaptive Optics devices in addition to traditional guiders. - `Extremely accurate GOTOs `__ using astrometry.net solver (both Online and Offline solvers supported). - Load & Slew: Load a FITS image, slew to solved coordinates, and center the mount on the exact image coordinates in order to get the same desired frame. - Measure & Correct Polar Alignment errors using astrometry.net solver. - Easy to use Polar Alignment Assistant tool. A very quick and reliable tool to polar align your German Equatorial Mount! - Capture and record `video streams in SER format `__. - Completely `automated scheduler `__ to control all your observatory equipment, select the best targets for imaging given current conditions and constraints, monitor weather conditions, and capture your data while you are away! - *Smart* Dark Library: All your dark frames with different binning/temperature/frame settings are saved for future use. Ekos re-uses dark frames intelligently without taking unnecessary captures. You can configure how long you want to reuse all the dark frames. - Define multiple driver profiles for local and remote setups. Switch among them easily. - Auto and manual focus modes using Half-Flux-Radius (HFR) method. - `Automated *unattended* meridian flip `__. Ekos performs post meridian flip alignment, calibration, focusing, and guiding to resume the capture session. - Automatic focus between exposures when a user-configurable HFR limit is exceeded. - Powerful sequence queue for batch capture of images with optional prefixes, timestamps, filter wheel selection, and much more! - Export and import sequence queue sets as Ekos Sequence Queue (``.esq``) files. - `Center the telescope anywhere in a captured FITS image `__ or any FITS with World Coordinate System (WCS) header. - Automatic flat field capture, just set the desired ADU and let Ekos does the rest! - Automatic abort and resumption of exposure tasks if guiding errors exceed a user-configurable value. - Support for dome slaving. - Complete integration with KStars Observation Planner and SkyMap. - Fully scriptable via `D-Bus `__. - Integrate with all INDI native devices. ============================= .. toctree:: ekos-setup ch05s02 ekos-profile-wizard ekos-profile-editor ekos-logs ekos-capture ekos-focus ekos-guide ekos-align ekos-scheduler ekos-analyze ekos-extensions ekos-tutorials