Cedar: The Software Powering Hopper™

Cedar™ is the astronomical software that powers your stargazing experience with Hopper. This system connects Hopper to the Cedar Aim app on your phone or tablet (iOS or Android) to create a seamless observing experience.

How Cedar Works

Cedar's components work together to help you precisely aim your telescope.

On the Hopper device:

• Image Acquisition: Cedar-camera captures short-exposure images of the star field.

• Star Detection: Cedar-detect identifies stars, measures their precise positions, and ranks their brightness.

• Pattern Matching: Cedar-solve compares detected star patterns against millions of known configurations to determine exact pointing coordinates.

• Adaptive Processing: Cedar-server coordinates all components and adjusts to changing sky conditions to maintain optimal performance.

On your mobile device:

• Object Database: Cedar-sky provides access to over 11,000 celestial targets from major astronomical catalogs including Messier, NGC, IC, and IAU objects, plus the planets.

• User Interface: Cedar-aim presents an intuitive interface for selecting targets and receiving guidance.

• Wireless Connection: Your device connects directly to Hopper's WiFi hotspot for real-time communication.

Always Improving

Cedar-update keeps your system current with the latest features and enhancements through over-the-air updates for Hopper and app store updates for Cedar Aim.