Help
Uploading Images
There are two ways to publish your solar observations on SpectroSolHub:
1. Directly from JSol'Ex or INTI (recommended)
These processing tools have a built-in SpectroSolHub publishing feature. After processing your SER file, simply click the "Publish to SpectroSolHub" button. The software will automatically create the observation session, upload all processed images with the correct metadata, spectral line information, and solar geometry. This is by far the easiest and most reliable method.
2. Manual upload
You can also upload images manually from the My Observations page. Create a new observation session, fill in the equipment and spectral line details, then upload JPEG images one by one. Note that manually uploaded images will lack the solar geometry metadata needed for de-rotation animations unless you provide it in the API call.
1. Directly from JSol'Ex or INTI (recommended)
These processing tools have a built-in SpectroSolHub publishing feature. After processing your SER file, simply click the "Publish to SpectroSolHub" button. The software will automatically create the observation session, upload all processed images with the correct metadata, spectral line information, and solar geometry. This is by far the easiest and most reliable method.
2. Manual upload
You can also upload images manually from the My Observations page. Create a new observation session, fill in the equipment and spectral line details, then upload JPEG images one by one. Note that manually uploaded images will lack the solar geometry metadata needed for de-rotation animations unless you provide it in the API call.
Publishing from JSol'Ex is strongly recommended because (support for INTI is coming soon):
- Automatic metadata: solar geometry (disk center, radius, B0, L0, P angles) is computed from the observation date and included automatically. This is required for timelapse animations with de-rotation.
- Consistent titles: the software assigns consistent image titles across sessions (e.g. "Improved image", "Continuum"), which is essential for animation frame matching.
- Batch upload: all processed images from a session are uploaded at once with the correct spectral line, equipment, and observation date.
- Less effort: no need to manually fill in forms or worry about metadata fields.
Each account has a storage quota (both in total bytes and number of images). You can see your current usage on the observation creation and edit pages.
Why quotas? SpectroSolHub is a free, community-driven platform. All server and storage costs are paid out of the developer's own pocket. Storage is the biggest expense: every image is stored in three sizes (original, medium, thumbnail) on cloud object storage, and costs add up quickly as the community grows. Quotas ensure that the platform remains sustainable and fair for everyone.
If you need more storage, please reach out on the Discord server.
Why quotas? SpectroSolHub is a free, community-driven platform. All server and storage costs are paid out of the developer's own pocket. Storage is the biggest expense: every image is stored in three sizes (original, medium, thumbnail) on cloud object storage, and costs add up quickly as the community grows. Quotas ensure that the platform remains sustainable and fair for everyone.
If you need more storage, please reach out on the Discord server.
How Animations Work
SpectroSolHub can generate smooth timelapse animations from your solar observations taken on consecutive days. The system automatically selects the best frames, compensates for solar rotation, and produces a fluid animation showing how the sun evolves over time.
When you open the animation page for an image, the system automatically selects frames using the following process:
- Find consecutive observation sessions from the same observer with the same spectral line (e.g. H-alpha). The more consecutive days, the longer and smoother the animation.
- Identify the image title to use. In each observation session, the first image determines the title. The title that appears most often across all sessions in the streak is selected (e.g. "Improved image" or "Continuum").
- Pick the reference image: the latest observation's image with the selected title. This image determines the animation's center point and date range.
- Collect all matching frames: all images from those sessions that share the same title and spectral line are included in the animation.
The image title is how SpectroSolHub groups images across different observation sessions. For example, if you upload images titled "Improved image" every day, they will be grouped together for the animation. But if you name one day's image "Continuum" and the next "Improved image", they won't be matched together.
For the best animations, use consistent titles across your daily observations. If you use processing software like JSol'Ex or INTI, the titles are usually set automatically and will be consistent.
You can rename an image by clicking on its title in the observation edit page. This is useful if you accidentally used an inconsistent title and want to fix it so that the animation picks up the correct frames. Simply go to My Observations, open the session, and click on the image title to edit it.
For the de-rotation animation to work, each image must include solar geometry metadata (disk center coordinates, solar radius, B0, L0 angles). This metadata is automatically provided by processing software like JSol'Ex or INTI. Images uploaded manually without this metadata will not be included in animations.
On the animation page, you can manually adjust the frame selection using the calendar view. Click on any day to add or remove frames. You can also share your custom selection using the share link, so others see exactly the same animation you created.