BinaPhot: Efficent photometry on variable systems

Differential photometry involves measuring the brightness difference between astronomical 
sources located within the same telescope’s field of view. The result is a relative measurement, 
as it is determined with respect to other celestial objects. This method significantly reduces 
the impact of seeing variations, atmospheric airmass, and the passage of clouds on the relationship 
between the fluxes of the observed sources.

BinaPhot is a Python-based tool designed for the photometric analysis of eclipsing binary systems. 
It automates key steps in differential photometry to ensure precision and efficiency. BinaPhot
optimizes observational data by calculating effective apertures and accurate air mass values, 
leveraging advanced algorithms for error estimation and signal-to-noise analysis. Its streamlined 
workflow is tailored for astronomers, offering robust solutions for analyzing light curves and 
extracting critical stellar parameters.

MAIN FEATURES OF BINAPHOT

1) Optimization I:
	- Custom performance for each telescope using a configuration file with instrumentation details.
	- Automatic detection of the filters used in the images.
	- Automatic identification of unsaturated stars in the image to calculate the average seeing 
	(in pixels and arcseconds).
	

2) Precise Time Calculation:
	- From the acquisition time (middle of the exposure), it calculates the epoch, sidereal time, 
	and JD/HJD times with high precision.
	
	
3) Optimization II:
	- Computation of effective airmass: Uses an optimized value for the variable system instead of 
	the one provided in the image header, particularly useful for wide-field telescopes.
	- Determination of effective aperture: calculates the relationship between aperture radius and SNR 
	for the variable system and comparison stars, selecting the radius that maximizes the SNR.
	- Differential photometry:
		- Aperture: Uses the effective aperture calculated in the previous step.
		- Sky annulus: 4 times the FHWM of the image.
		- Sky dannulus: Configured to have an area 200 times greater than the aperture area with radius 3 times the FWHM of the area.

4) Error Calculation:
	- Theoretical error: Computed from the SNR for each star’s magnitude 
	($\text{theoretical_error} = 2.5 \cdot \log_{10}(1 + 1/\text{SNR})$).
	- Final error: Since the theoretical error underestimates the real error, an additional adjustment is implemented.