The Observers Notebook -Tycho Tracker Software

Episode 230 In this episode of The Observers Notebook, host Tim Robertson talks with Daniel Parrott, the creator of Tycho Tracker — a powerful software tool that brings professional-level asteroid detection and measurement to amateur astronomers around the world. Daniel shares the story behind Tycho’s development, explains how synthetic tracking helps detect faint moving objects, and offers practical tips for observers submitting data to the Minor Planet Center. They discuss GPU, (graphics processing unit) acceleration, photometric tools, common beginner mistakes, and how community science is reshaping asteroid discovery. Tycho now also supports lightcurve generation, rotation period analysis, and variable-star photometry, expanding its utility far beyond asteroid hunting. Whether you’re a seasoned asteroid hunter or just curious about how software can turn your backyard telescope into a discovery machine, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration. You can contact Daniel at: tychotracker@gmail.com Tycho Tracker Home page: For more information you can visit the ALPO web site at: You can also support this podcast at Patreon: Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud:

You can listen to The Observers Notebook -Tycho Tracker Software online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Observers Notebook -Tycho Tracker Software is an episode from Observers Notebook by Observers Notebook- The Official ALPO Podcast.

This episode is 01:08:35 long.

This episode was published on Feb 14, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Observers Notebook when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.