Streak detection using fast Radon transform


  Guy Nir  ,  Barak Zackay   ,  Eran O. Ofek  
Weizmann Institute

We present an algorithm for blind detection of streaks in astronomical images, which is both fast and optimal. The algorithm runs at O(N log(N)) where N is the number of pixels in the image, and is sensitive to streaks with signal to noise of ~1 count per resolution element. This algorithm can also be expanded to find short streaks and multiple streaks in a single frame. We test this method on images taken at the Weizmann Institute and find low Earth orbit satellite as well as GPS satellite streaks.