Montage Modules
Montage is a toolkit comprised of several modules, rather than a single executable. This design has many benefits: end users are able to adapt the code for their own purposes, and the software can be scaled across large-scale, parallel systems. The modules generate multiple files during mosaic creation that can be used as QA tools to ensure proper background matching and photometric and astrometric accuracy.
Below is an overview of each module for creating mosaics, and analyzing and processing FITS files.
See the m101 Tutorial for a complete mosaic-creation workflow.
Also, the sample script for creating a Pleiades mosaic is a good introduction to using Montage.
| Convert FITS images or mosaics into grayscale or color JPEG images | mJPEG |
| Create a FITS header template for use in mosaic creation | mMakeHdr |
| Create a 2MASS, SDSS or DSS mosaic based on a size and location | mExec |
| Create a mosaic from images already in the same projection | mAdd mAddExec |
| Re-project and mosaic your images, without background rectification | mImgtbl mProjExec mAdd |
| Re-project and mosaic your images, with background rectification | mImgtbl mProjExec mOverlaps mDiffExec mBgModel mFitExec mAdd |
Analyze FITS Files:
| Generate metadata from a set of FITS images | mImgtbl |
| Generate metadata from a set of header files | mHdrtbl |
| Filter an image metadata table down to those records representing FITS files that overlap a footprint on the sky | mCoverageCheck mSubset |
| Retrieve the header from a FITS image | mGetHdr |
| Check the validity of a FITS image's header | mHdrCheck |
Process FITS Files:
| Create a set of tiled images or header templates from a FITS file or header | mTileImage mTileHdr |
| Re-project FITS images | mProject mProjectPP |
| Convert FITS data to a different data type (ie, integer to floating-point) | mConvert |
| Replace a particular set of values in a FITS image with NaNs (or vice-versa) | mNaN |
| Remove the background from an image | mFlattenExec |
| Replace a FITS image's header with one from an ASCII header template | mPutHdr |
| Re-size a FITS image | mShrink |
| Create a "cutout" of a FITS image | mSubimage |
