SAOImage DS9 is an astronomical imaging and data visualization application. DS9 supports FITS images and binary tables, multiple frame buffers, region manipulation, and many scale algorithms and colormaps. It provides for easy communication with external analysis tasks and is highly configurable and extensible via XPA and SAMP.
DS9 is a stand-alone application. It requires no installation or support files. Versions of DS9 currently exist for Solaris, Linux, MacOSX, and Windows. All versions and platforms support a consistent set of GUI and functional capabilities.
DS9 supports advanced features such as multiple frame buffers, mosaic images, tiling, blinking, geometric markers, colormap manipulation, scaling, arbitrary zoom, rotation, pan, and a variety of coordinate systems. DS9 also supports FTP and HTTP access.
The GUI for DS9 is user configurable. GUI elements such as the coordinate display, panner, magnifier, horizontal and vertical graphs, button bar, and colorbar can be configured via menus or the command line.
DS9 is a Tk/Tcl application which utilizes the SAOTk widget set. It also incorporates the X Public Access (XPA) mechanism to allow external processes to access and control its data, GUI functions, and algorithms.
New releases of the DS9 binaries, including new features and bug fixes, are made available 3 times a year on January 15th, May 15th, and September 15th.
Notes:
DS9 version 6.2 is not available for Windows, Solaris and MacOSX Application users at this time.
MacOSX X11 Users: The first time DS9 6.2 is invoked, there may be a delay due to the MacOSX X11 windows manager.
DS9 Version 6.2 Binaries
Linux
LinuxMacOSX using X11 Window System (command-line program for advanced users)
Linux64
for OS version 10.6 (Snow Leopard)Source
for OS version 10.5 (Leopard)
for OS version 10.4 (Tiger)
SourceArchive
Older archived versions of DS9 are available here.DS9 Version 6.1 Binaries
Solaris
SolarisMacOSX Application
for OS verison 10.6 (Snow Leopard)Windows
for OS verison 10.5 (Leopard)
for OS version 10.4 (Tiger)
Windows 7/Vista/XPSource
Source
XPA Version 2.1.13 Binaries
Solaris
SolarisLinux
LinuxMacOSX
Linux64
for OS version 10.6 (Snow Leopard)Windows
for OS version 10.5 (Leopard)
for OS version 10.4 (Tiger)
Windows Vista/XP/2000/NTpyds9
The pyds9 module uses a Python interface to XPA to communicate with DS9. It supports communication with all of DS9’s XPA access points.
Source
Documentation
S-Lang XPA
SLxpa is a plugin which binds the XPA library and DS9 to the S-Lang language. It makes XPA callable directly from the S-Lang interpreter and provides dozens of functions to control and interact with DS9 from modeling and analysis applications such as ISIS.S-Lang XPA
Documentation
Reference Manual
Reference Manual (postscript)
Reference Manual (pdf)
User Manual
User Manual (postscript)
User Manual (pdf)
FAQ
New Features
Release Notes
Story of SAOImage DS9
Tutorials
Contact Information
If you encounter any problems or have suggestions with SAOImage DS9, please contact us: saord @ cfa.harvard.edu
William Joye
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden St.
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Links
SAOImage DS9 provides visualization support for a number of popular astronomical analysis software packages, of which a few have been listed below:
CIAO: Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations
SAS: XMM-Newton Science Analysis System
IRAF: Image Reduction and Analysis Facility
fv: The Interactive FITS File Editor
Acknowledgment
SAOImage DS9 development has been made possible by funding from the Chandra X-ray Science Center (NAS8-03060) and the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Center (NCC5-568).
If you have found SAOImage DS9 to be helpful in your research, the following acknowledgment would be appreciated: "This research has made use of SAOImage DS9, developed by Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory" or reference the following paper 2003adass..12..489J