Processing technique
Calibration Frames
The reference exposures that remove a camera's own signature from an image: bias frames capture the sensor's read pedestal, dark frames the thermal signal that builds up during an exposure, and flat frames the uneven illumination and dust shadows of the optics. Subtracting and dividing by these calibration frames turns raw data into a faithful record of the sky.
Highlights
- ›Bias, dark, and flat frames — removing the camera's fingerprint
Related techniques & equipment
Across the observing chain
Knowledge connections
- Associated withDeep-Sky Imaging
- Associated withError Analysis & Calibration
- Associated withCCD
- Associated withAstronomical Image Processing
- Associated withAstronomical Image Processing
- Associated withThe Imaging Workflow
- Associated withPixInsight
- Associated withDeepSkyStacker
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.