**Preliminary...seek corrections**
For this example, I am using data taken on the Mauna Kea 88" on the 19th and 20th of May, 2001.
looker.pro: Looking remotely on Lowell's computer is pretty slow, so we look locally at /taz/echiang. Marc's IDL library is there, in the directory buie.idl. First, scp all the reduced fits images over to /taz/echiang/data. In this case, there were different nights of data that included observations of the same objects, so we scp'd both nights of data into the same directory. (Another option would be to use symbolic links but keep the data in separate directories.) The key file, in this case /gryll/data6/buie/reduced/mko88.key, should also be copied into /taz/echiang.
To run looker, use the script "look.bat:"
Using Looker
After entering your initials, select "File > Start New Field". Pick the first file for a given object; this one will appear red. Then select "File > Add to Image List" and pick the next file for that object. It will appear in cyan, and the two images will not be aligned. Looker expects you to align them, so left-click on a star in the red image, and middle-click on the same star in the cyan image. If you like the alignment, right-click to begin studying the image.
If you see a potential object, left-click on the red image. Look at the zoom box; determine if the object is a cosmic ray. Cosmic rays are a few bright pixels, while actual objects are more diffuse. Asteroids are moving very quickly and may be streaked in a single exposure. Middle-click on the object in the cyan image. A velocity will appear. Typical KBO velocities are less than 6"/hr; faster objects may be asteroids or Centaurs.
If you decide the object is not a KBO, click the "N" button next to "Flags:". If you think it is a KBO, click "New Object" to continue looking through the image. Whatever you click on will appear in the .obj file for that object; lines will either be flagged "Y" or "N" and your initials will appear next to it.
If there are more than two images of an object, select "File > Add to Image List" and add the next image. The red image will be unchanged; the cyan image will be the new exposure. Align the two images. The position of the KBO in the old cyan image will be marked with a green circle. When you see the object in the new cyan image, right-click the object in the red image, then middle-click it in the cyan image. To go back to the old cyan image, go to "File > Change Secondary Field". Find the KBO in all the images taken of it.
To do a second pass with Looker when someone has already Looked, select "File > Select Existing Field." To agree with their KBOs, right-click the object in the red image, and middle-click the object in the cyan image. Click on "New Object." To disagree, click "N".
Once the .obj files are finished, scp them back to Lowell for the collection of astrometry.