<chapter id="ekos">
<title>Ekos</title>
<indexterm><primary>Ekos</primary></indexterm>

<para>
    <emphasis role="bold">Ekos</emphasis> is an advanced cross-platform (&Windows;, &MacOS;, &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 <emphasis>and</emphasis> correct polar alignment errors, auto-focus &amp; auto-guide capabilities, and capture of single or stack of images with filter wheel support. Ekos is shipped with &kstars;.
</para>
<mediaobject>
  <videoobject>
    <videodata contentdepth="315" contentwidth="560" fileref="https://www.youtube.com/embed/un2KVJY3Yis"/>
  </videoobject>
  <caption><para><phrase>Ekos introductory video</phrase></para></caption>
</mediaobject>
<para>Features:</para>
<itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Control your telescope, Camera (&amp; DSLRs), filter wheel, focuser, guider, adaptive optics unit, and any INDI-compatible auxiliary device from Ekos.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            <emphasis>Built-in</emphasis> native <link linkend="ekos-guide">autoguiding</link> with support for automatic dithering between exposures and support for Adaptive Optics devices in addition to traditional guiders.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            <ulink url="https://knro.blogspot.com/2013/10/demo-of-ekos-alignment-module.html">Extremely accurate GOTOs</ulink> using astrometry.net solver (both Online and Offline solvers supported).
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Load &amp; 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.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Measure &amp; Correct Polar Alignment errors using astrometry.net solver.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Easy to use Polar Alignment Assistant tool. A very quick and reliable tool to polar align your German Equatorial Mount!
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Capture and record <ulink url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJFZWwlAQRM">video streams in SER format</ulink>.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Completely <ulink url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85L3J_iiXZ4">automated scheduler</ulink> 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!
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            <emphasis>Smart</emphasis> 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.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Define multiple driver profiles for local and remote setups. Switch among them easily.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Auto and manual focus modes using Half-Flux-Radius (HFR) method.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            <ulink url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsrcsPxUZA">Automated <emphasis>unattended</emphasis> meridian flip</ulink>. Ekos performs post meridian flip alignment, calibration, focusing, and guiding to resume the capture session.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Automatic focus between exposures when a user-configurable HFR limit is exceeded.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Powerful sequence queue for batch capture of images with optional prefixes, timestamps, filter wheel selection, and much more!
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Export and import sequence queue sets as Ekos Sequence Queue (<literal role="extension">.esq</literal>) files.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            <ulink url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg2HDFg_dCE">Center the telescope anywhere in a captured FITS image</ulink> or any FITS with World Coordinate System (WCS) header.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Automatic flat field capture, just set the desired ADU and let Ekos does the rest!
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Automatic abort and resumption of exposure tasks if guiding errors exceed a user-configurable value.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Support for dome slaving.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Complete integration with &kstars; Observation Planner and SkyMap.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Fully scriptable via <ulink url="https://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/dbus/">&DBus;</ulink>.
        </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
            Integrate with all INDI native devices.
        </para>
    </listitem>
</itemizedlist>

&tool-ekos-setup;
&tool-ekos-user-interface;
&tool-ekos-profile-wizard;
&tool-ekos-profile-editor;
&tool-ekos-logs;
&tool-ekos-capture;
&tool-ekos-focus;
&tool-ekos-guide;
&tool-ekos-align;
&tool-ekos-scheduler;
&tool-ekos-analyze;
&tool-ekos-extensions;
&tool-ekos-tutorials;

</chapter>
