Bright Component Research Articles

Underwater image restoration via attenuated incident optical model and background segmentation

Underwater images typically exhibit low quality due to complex imaging environments, which impede the development of the Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Network (SAGSIN). Existing physical models often ignore the light absorption and attenuation properties of water, making them incapable of resolving details and resulting in low contrast. To address this issue, we propose the attenuated incident optical model and combine it with a background segmentation technique for underwater image restoration. Specifically, we first utilize the features to distinguish the foreground region of the image from the background region. Subsequently, we introduce a background light layer to improve the underwater imaging model and account for the effects of non-uniform incident light. Afterward, we employ a new maximum reflection prior in the estimation of the background light layer to achieve restoration of the foreground region. Meanwhile, the contrast of the background region is enhanced by stretching the saturation and brightness components. Extensive experiments conducted on four underwater image datasets, using both classical and state-of-the-art (SOTA) algorithms, demonstrate that our method not only successfully restores textures and details but is also beneficial for processing images under non-uniform lighting conditions.

Building Shadow Detection Based on Improved Quick Shift Algorithm in GF‐2 Images

Shadows in remote sensing images contain crucial information about various features on the ground. In this study, a method for detecting building shadows in GF‐2 images based on improved quick shift was proposed. First, six feature variables were constructed: first principal component (PC1), brightness component (I), normalized difference shadow index (NDSI), morphological shadow index (MSI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Then, the image was segmented to obtain homogeneous objects, which were then classified using a random forest model. Two improvements were added to the quick shift algorithm: using PC1, I, and MSI as input data instead of RGB images; and adding Canny edge constraints. Validation in six research areas yields Kappa coefficients of 0.928, 0.896, 0.89, 0.913, 0.879, and 0.909, confirming method feasibility. In addition, comparative experiments demonstrate its effectiveness and robustness across different land cover types while mitigating the segmentation scale effect.

Radio Images inside Highly Magnetized Jet Funnels Based on Semianalytic GRMHD Models

By performing general-relativistic radiative transfer calculations, we show the radio images of relativistic jets including highly magnetized regions inside jet funnels, based on steady, axisymmetric, and semianalytic general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics models. It is found that multiple ring images appear at the photon frequency of 230 GHz for nearly pole-on observers, because of the strong light-bending effect on photons generated at the separation surface, which is the boundary between the inflow and outflow flows in the jet funnel. A bright teardrop-shaped component, which extends from the bright rings of the separation surface, also appears in the counterjet region. The diameter of the brightest outermost ring originated from the counterjet is ∼60 μas, which is consistent with the ringlike images of M87 at 86 GHz observed with GMVA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Greenland Telescope, whose ring diameter is ∼64−8+4μas . The thinner and smaller-diameter rings are exhibited when the black hole spin magnitude is higher. These morphological features are expected to appear without being prominently affected by the detailed magnetohydrodynamic plasma parameters of our general-relativistic ideal magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) jet model, since the location of the separation surface is mainly regulated by the black hole spin. Our GRMHD model and the emission features of the images in the horizon-scale, highly magnetized jet funnel may be tested by future observations, e.g., the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope and the Black Hole Explorer.

Structure of the concept of «musical patriotic culture of schoolchildren»

The relevance of the study is due to the increased attention to the patriotic education of the younger generation and the search for new forms and means of its implementation. The paper substantiates the need to introduce the concept of “musical patriotic culture of schoolchildren” and proposes its structure. Music adds a bright emotional component to develop a sense of patriotism in schoolchildren. The systematic introduction of elements of musical culture, reflecting the history of the country, into the targeted educational process, introducing schoolchildren to musical national traditions enriches and makes the process of patriotic education of schoolchildren more effective.

Ammonium-rich bright areas on Ceres demonstrate complex chemical activity

The dwarf planet Ceres has been proven to be a world with an extraordinary diversity of chemical species formed in aqueous environments. Dantu crater, being one of the largest and deepest impact craters on Ceres, offers valuable insights into the geological history and composition of this enigmatic world. Its particular position, within a topographic low, can be considered a window into the composition of Ceres’s subsurface. One of the intriguing aspects of Dantu is the presence of several bright areas called “faculae”. These bright materials, distributed unevenly on the Cerean surface, are believed to be residua from salty fluids, likely still circulating in the subsurface and capable to extrude onto the surface, as demonstrated by the identification of fresh hydrohalite (NaCl·2(H2O)) on the bright faculae in another exceptional crate, Occator. The detailed investigation of the Dantu’s faculae reveals the presence of at least two different “populations” of bright materials, compositionally distinct even if in close geographical proximity. These faculae appear different, white and yellow, in the color images (RGB: R = 0.917 μm, G = 0.653 μm, B = 0.438 μm) taken by the Dawn camera. The spectra show that the first population -white- is mainly composed of sodium carbonate, similar to other identified bright areas on Ceres; the second one -yellow- is likely dominated by ammonium-rich components. The spectra of the yellow faculae show specific and clear bands, associated to ammonium bearing phases, but the exact species producing such spectral features are not unambiguously identified. A potential candidate is ammonium bicarbonates, but we cannot exclude other compounds and combinations of different species. Other occurrences of these yellow faculae have been identified in a few other areas, even if less numerous and with a much smaller extent with respect to the Dantu crater. The discovery of a very bright component different from the carbonates and salts previously identified increases the variety and complexity of the salty aqueous solutions on Ceres, offering tantalizing clues about the potential for habitable environments and subsurface fluid reservoirs on this dwarf planet.

Applying dimensionality reduction methods to extract physiological and diagnostic features for clinical Hyperspectral Images

The most valuable information of Hyperspectral Image (HSI) should be processed properly. Using dimensionality reduction techniques in two distinct approaches, we created a structure for HSI to collect physiological and diagnostic information. The tissue Oxygen Saturation Level (StO2) was extracted using the HSI approach as a physiological characteristic for stress detection. Our research findings suggest that this unique characteristic may not be affected by humidity or temperature in the environment. Comparing the standard StO2 reference and pressure concentrations, the social stress assessments showed a substantial variance and considerable practical differentiation. The proposed system has already been evaluated on tumor images from rats with head and neck cancers using a spectrum from 450 to 900 nm wavelength. The Fourier transformation was developed to improve precision, and normalize the brightness and mean spectrum components. The analysis of results showed that in a difficult situation where awareness could be inexpensive due to feature possibilities for rapid classification tasks and significant in measuring the structure of HSI analysis for cancer detection throughout the surgical resection of wildlife. Our proposed model improves performance measures such as reliability at 89.62% and accuracy at 95.26% when compared with existing systems.

Low-Light Mine Image Enhancement Algorithm Based on Improved Retinex

Aiming at solving the problems of local halo blurring, insufficient edge detail preservation, and serious noise in traditional image enhancement algorithms, an improved Retinex algorithm for low-light mine image enhancement is proposed. Firstly, in HSV color space, the hue component remains unmodified, and the improved multi-scale guided filtering and Retinex algorithm are combined to estimate the illumination and reflection components from the brightness component. Secondly, the illumination component is equalized using the Weber–Fechner law, and the contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) is fused with the improved guided filtering for the brightness enhancement and denoising of reflection component. Then, the saturation component is adaptively stretched. Finally, it is converted back to RGB space to obtain the enhanced image. By comparing with single-scale Retinex (SSR) algorithm and multi-scale Retinex (MSR) algorithm, the mean, standard deviation, information entropy, average gradient, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity (SSIM) are improved by an average of 50.55%, 19.32%, 3.08%, 28.34%, 29.10%, and 22.97%. The experimental dates demonstrate that the algorithm improves image brightness, prevents halo artifacts while retaining edge details, reduces the effect of noise, and provides some theoretical references for low-light image enhancement.

Domain walls and vector solitons in the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation

We outline a program to classify domain walls (DWs) and vector solitons in the 1D two-component coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS) equation without restricting the signs or magnitudes of any coefficients. The CNLS equation is reduced first to a complex ordinary differential equation (ODE), and then to a real ODE after imposing a restriction. In the real ODE, we identify four possible equilibria including ZZ, ZN, NZ, and NN, with Z(N) denoting a zero (nonzero) value in a component, and analyze their spatial stability. We identify two types of DWs including asymmetric DWs between ZZ and NN and symmetric DWs between ZN and NZ. We identify three codimension-1 mechanisms for generating vector solitons in the real ODE including heteroclinic cycles, local bifurcations, and exact solutions. Heteroclinic cycles are formed by assembling two DWs back-to-back and generate extended bright-bright (BB), dark-dark (DD), and dark-bright (DB) solitons. Local bifurcations include the Turing (Hamiltonian–Hopf) bifurcation that generates Turing solitons with oscillatory tails and the pitchfork bifurcation that generates DB, bright-antidark, DD, and dark-antidark solitons with monotonic tails. Exact solutions include scalar bright and dark solitons with vector amplitudes. Any codimension-1 real vector soliton can be numerically continued into a codimension-0 family. Complex vector solitons have two more parameters: a dark or antidark component can be numerically continued in the wavenumber, while a bright component can be multiplied by a constant phase factor. We introduce a numerical continuation method to find real and complex vector solitons and show that DWs and DB solitons in the immiscible regime can be related by varying bifurcation parameters. We show that collisions between two DB solitons with a nonzero phase difference in their bright components typically feature a mass exchange that changes the frequencies and phases of the two bright components and the two soliton velocities.

Proper motions in the sub-kiloparsec jet of 3C 78: novel constraints on the physical nature of relativistic jets

ABSTRACT Jets from active galactic nuclei are thought to play a role in the evolution of their host and local environments, but a detailed prescription is limited by the understanding of the jets themselves. Proper motion studies of compact bright components in radio jets can be used to produce model-independent constraints on their Lorentz factor, necessary to understand the quantity of energy deposited in the intergalactic medium. We present our initial work on the jet of radio–galaxy 3C 78, as part of Catalogue of proper motions in active galactic nuclei using Very Large Array Studies (CAgNVAS), with a goal of constraining nature of jet plasma on larger (>100 parsec) scales. In 3C 78, we find three prominent knots (A, B, and C), where knot B undergoes sub-luminal longitudinal motion (∼0.6c at ∼ 200 pc), while knot C undergoes extreme (apparent) backward motion and eventual forward motion (∼−2.6c, 0.5c, at ∼ 300 pc). Assuming knots are shocks, we infer the bulk speeds from the pattern motion of Knots B and C. We model the spectral energy distribution of the large-scale jet and observe that a physically motivated two-zone model can explain most of the observed emission. We also find that the jet profile remains approximately conical from parsec to kiloparsec scales. Using the parsec-scale speed from very long baseline interferometry studies (∼0.1c) and the derived bulk speeds, we find that the jet undergoes bulk acceleration between the parsec and the kiloparsec scales providing the first direct evidence of jet acceleration in a conical and matter-dominated jet.

ANGULAR STRUCTURE OF THE RADIO GALAXY 3C280 AT DECAMETER WAVELENGTHS

The image of the 3C280 radio galaxy at decimeter wavelengths consists of two emission regions, the centers of which are separated by about 13 arc seconds. These regions are lobes of the radio galaxy with bright compact components or hot spots embedded in them. We present the results of a study of the source structure in the decameter wavelength range, carried out with the URAN-1 – URAN-4 radio interferometers using a especially technique developed. We show, that at the decameter wavelengths, the source model contains two extended components with the size and position as the lobes have in the decimeter range and a compact detail corresponding to one of the hot spots. The radio emission of other hot spots is not detected at the decameter waves due to their low flux density. The spectra of the radio galaxy components and their variation in the range from decameter to decimeter wavelengths are determined in this study. It is found, that extended lobes provide about 70% of 3C280 flux at low frequencies in contrast to the high-frequency image of the radio galaxy, where compact hot spots predominate in the source radiation.

The Galactic supernova remnant CTB 1: optical and X-ray emission analysis

ABSTRACT We present the kinematic results for the supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 1, obtained with the PUMA equipment of the 2.1-m telescope at San Pedro Mártir National Astronomical Observatory, Baja California, Mexico. The observations were made on the H α line using a Fabry–Perot interferometer. The kinematics derived from the Fabry–Perot velocity cubes allowed us to estimate a kinematic distance for this SNR. We estimate that CTB1 is about 3.8 kpc from the sun, corresponding to a linear diameter of 19 pc, with an expansion velocity of $286 \rm ~ km ~s^{-1}$. Additionally, we analyse the diffuse X-ray emission from CTB 1 using data from the XMM–Newton observatory. From the best fits to the spectrum of southwest and northeast regions, we obtained a hot plasma temperature $\sim 0.1-0.3 ~\rm keV$ with an overabundance in O and Ne and a lower abundance in Fe, which could be caused by a SNR with a stellar progenitor between 10 to $70 \, \rm {\rm M}_{\odot }$. The initial energy of the supernova explosion is estimated between (0.6–1.0) × 1050 erg for soft X-ray emission. The X-ray emission also presents a non-thermal component of low surface brightness in the hard X-ray band. Images in radio and X-ray emission allow us to classify CTB 1 as mixed-morphology supernova type. The evolution models show that the cloudy ISM model is the only one that reproduces the mixed morphology type observed in the SNR CTB 1.

Bayesian radio interferometric imaging with direction-dependent calibration

Context. Radio interferometers measure frequency components of the sky brightness, modulated by the gains of the individual radio antennas. Due to atmospheric turbulence and variations in the operational conditions of the antennas, these gains fluctuate. Thereby the gains do not only depend on time, but also on the spatial direction on the sky. To recover high-quality radio maps, an accurate reconstruction of the direction and time-dependent individual antenna gains is required. Aims. This paper aims to improve the reconstruction of radio images, by introducing a novel joint imaging and calibration algorithm including direction-dependent antenna gains. Methods. Building on the resolve framework, we designed a Bayesian imaging and calibration algorithm utilizing the image domain gridding method for numerically efficient application of direction-dependent antenna gains. Furthermore, by approximating the posterior probability distribution with variational inference, our algorithm can provide reliable uncertainty maps. Results. We demonstrate the ability of the algorithm to recover high resolution high dynamic range radio maps from VLA data of the radio galaxy Cygnus A. We compare the quality of the recovered images with previous work relying on classically calibrated data. Furthermore, we compare the results with a compressed sensing algorithm also incorporating direction-dependent gains. Conclusions. Including direction-dependent effects in the calibration model significantly improves the dynamic range of the reconstructed images compared to reconstructions from classically calibrated data. Compared to the compressed sensing reconstruction, the resulting sky images have a higher resolution and show fewer artifacts. For utilizing the full potential of radio interferometric data, it is essential to consider the direction dependence of the antenna gains.

A New Emission Mode of PSR B1859+07

Previous studies have identified two emission modes in PSR B1859+07: a normal mode that has three prominent components in the average profile, with the trailing one being the brightest, and an anomalous mode (i.e., the A mode) where emissions seem to be shifted to an earlier phase. Within the normal mode, further analysis has revealed the presence of two submodes, i.e., the cW mode and cB mode, where the central component can appear either weak or bright. As for the anomalous mode, a new bright component emerges in the advanced phase while the bright trailing component in the normal mode disappears. New observations of PSR B1859+07 using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) have revealed the existence of a previously unknown emission mode, dubbed the Af mode. In this mode, all emission components seen in the normal and anomalous modes are detected. Notably, the mean polarization profiles of both the A and Af modes exhibit a jump in the orthogonal polarization angle modes in the bright leading component. The polarization angles for the central component in the original normal mode follow two distinct orthogonal polarization modes in the A and Af modes respectively. The polarization angles for the trailing component show almost the same but a small systematic shift in the A and Af modes, roughly following the values for the cW and cB modes. Those polarization features of this newly detected emission mode imply that the anomalous mode A of PSR B1859+07 is not a result of “phase shift” or “swooshes” of normal components, but simply a result of the varying intensities of different profile components. Additionally, subpulse drifting has been detected in the leading component of the Af mode.

The heart of Sakurai’s object revealed by ALMA

We present high-angular-resolution observations of Sakurai’s object using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, shedding new light on its morpho-kinematical structure. The millimetre continuum emission observed at an angular resolution of 20 milliarcsec (corresponding to 70 AU) reveals a bright compact central component whose spectral index indicates that it is composed of amorphous carbon dust. Based on these findings, we conclude that this emission traces the previously suggested dust disc observed in mid-infrared observations, and therefore our observations provide the first direct imaging of this disc. The H12CN(J = 4 → 3) line emission observed at an angular resolution of 300 milliarcsec (corresponding to 1000 AU) displays a bipolar structure with a north–south velocity gradient. From the position–velocity diagram of this emission, we identify the presence of an expanding disc and a bipolar molecular outflow. The inclination of the disc is determined to be i = 72°. The derived values for the de-projected expansion velocity and the radius of the disc are vexp = 53 km s−1 and R = 277 AU, respectively. On the other hand, the de-projected expansion velocity of the bipolar outflow detected in the H12CN(J = 4 → 3) emission is of approximately 1000 km s−1. We propose that the molecular outflow has an hourglass morphology with an opening angle of around 60°. Our observations unambiguously show that an equatorial disc and bipolar outflows formed in Sakurai’s object during the 30 years following the occurrence of the born-again event, providing important constraints for future modelling efforts of this phenomenon.

Rotational and radio emission properties of PSR J0738−4042 over half a century

ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive study of the rotational and emission properties of PSR J0738−4042 using a combination of observations taken by the Deep Space Network, Hartebeesthoek, Parkes (Murriyang) and Molonglo observatories between 1972 and 2023. Our timing of the pulsar is motivated by previously reported profile/spin-down events that occurred in 2005 September and 2015 December, which result in an anomalously large braking index of n = 23 300 ± 1800. Using a Gaussian process regression framework, we develop continuous models for the evolution of the pulsar spin-down rate ($\dot{\nu }$) and profile shape. We find that the pulse profile variations are similar regardless of radio observing frequency and polarization. Small-scale differences can be ascribed to changes in the interstellar medium along the line of sight and frequency-dependent changes in magnetospheric radio emission height. No new correlated spin-down or profile events were identified in our extended data set. However, we found that the disappearance of a bright emission component in the leading edge of archival profiles between 1981 and 1988 was not associated with a substantial change in $\dot{\nu }$. This marks a notable departure from the previous profile/spin-down events in this pulsar. We discuss the challenges these observations pose for physical models and conclude that interactions between the pulsar and in-falling asteroids or a form of magnetospheric state-switching with a long periodicity are plausible explanations.

The luminosity functions of kilonovae from binary neutron star mergers under different equation of states

ABSTRACTKilonovae produced by mergers of binary neutron stars (BNSs) are important transient events to be detected by time domain surveys with the alerts from the ground-based gravitational wave detectors. The observational properties of these kilonovae depend on the physical processes involved in the merging processes and the equation of state (EOS) of neutron stars (NSs). In this paper, we investigate the dependence of kilonova luminosities on the parameters of BNS mergers, and estimate the distribution functions of kilonova peak luminosities (KLFs) at the u, g, r, i, y, and z bands as well as its dependence on the NS EOS, by adopting a comprehensive semi-analytical model for kilonovae (calibrated by the observations of GW170817), a population synthesis model for the cosmic BNSs, and the ejecta properties of BNS mergers predicted by numerical simulations. We find that the kilonova light curves depend on both the BNS properties and the NS EOS, and the KLFs at the considered bands are bimodal with the bright components mostly contributed by BNS mergers with total mass $\lesssim 3.2\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$/$2.8\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and fainter components mostly contributed by BNS mergers with total mass $\gtrsim 3.2\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$/$2.8\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ by assuming a stiff/soft (DD2/SLy) EOS. The emission of the kilonovae in the KLF bright components is mostly due to the radiation from the wind ejecta by the remnant discs of BNS mergers, while the emission of the kilonovae in the KLF faint components is mostly due to the radiation from the dynamical ejecta by the BNS mergers.

Evaluation of biosafe alternative to eosin in hematoxylin and eosin staining procedure: A comparative study.

Hematoxylin and eosin staining is the globally accepted staining technique for histology and histopathology sections. Hematoxylin is a natural dye as compared to eosin which is a synthetic dye manufactured from chemicals. Eosin acts as a counterstain to hematoxylin giving a sharp contrast to its blue color. Eosin being a chemical, can cause health hazards and environmental pollution. Using eco-friendly materials and going organic is the demand of this era. Curcuma longa rhizomes are proven to contain curcuminoids that exhibit various medicinal properties and curcumin the bright yellow component of the plant, that is, being used as a colorant. This natural dye from C. longa provides a significant alternative to eosin as they are safer to use without health hazards and are biodegradable and have easy disposability. To evaluate and compare the staining qualities of C. longa (turmeric) with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). A total of 100 paraffin-embedded tissue block specimens of various pathological tissues were stained with H and E and hematoxylin and curcumin (H&C). Evaluation and comparison of the staining efficacy were done for all the pathological tissues. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis. H&C staining gave comparable results with H and E staining with a statistically insignificant P value (p > 0.05). Curcumin has shown equivalent staining to that of eosin. Thus, it can be used as a better alternative.

AGN feedback in an infant galaxy cluster: LOFAR-Chandra view of the giant FRII radio galaxy J103025+052430 at z = 1.7

In the nearby universe, jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN) are observed to have a dramatic impact on their surrounding extragalactic environment. The effect of jets at high redshift (z > 1.5) is instead much more poorly constrained. However, studying the jet impact at cosmic noon, the epoch in which both star formation and AGN activity peak, is crucial for fully understanding galaxy evolution. Here we present a study of the giant (∼750 kpc) radio galaxy 103025+052430 located at the centre of a protocluster at redshift z = 1.7, with a focus on its interaction with the external medium. We present new LOFAR observations at 144 MHz, which we combine with VLA 1.4 GHz data and 0.5–7 keV Chandra archival data. The new radio map at 144 MHz confirms that the source has a complex morphology, which can possibly fit the hybrid morphology radio galaxy classification. The large size of the source enabled us to perform a resolved radio spectral index analysis, a very unique opportunity for a source at this high redshift. This revealed a tentative unexpected flattening of the radio spectral index at the edge of the backflow in the western lobe, which might be indicating plasma compression. The spatial coincidence between this region and the thermal X-ray bubble C suggests a causal connection between the two. In contrast to previous estimates for the bright X-ray component A, we find that inverse Compton scattering between the radio-emitting plasma of the eastern lobe and cosmic microwave background photons can account for a large fraction (∼45%–80%) of its total 0.5–7 keV measured flux. Finally, the X-ray bubble C, which is consistent with a thermal origin, is found to be significantly overpressurised with respect to the ambient medium. This suggests that it will tend to expand and release its energy into the surroundings, contributing to the overall intracluster medium heating. Overall, 103025+052430 enables us to investigate the interaction between AGN jets and the surrounding medium in a system that is likely the predecessor of the rich galaxy clusters we all know well at z = 0.

Crystal Structure of Bright Fluorescent Protein BrUSLEE with Subnanosecond Fluorescence Lifetime; Electric and Dynamic Properties.

The rapid development of new microscopy techniques for cell biology has exposed the need for genetically encoded fluorescent tags with special properties. Fluorescent biomarkers of the same color and spectral range and different fluorescent lifetimes (FLs) became useful for fluorescent lifetime image microscopy (FLIM). One such tag, the green fluorescent protein BrUSLEE (Bright Ultimately Short Lifetime Enhanced Emitter), having an extremely short subnanosecond component of fluorescence lifetime (FL~0.66 ns) and exceptional fluorescence brightness, was designed for FLIM experiments. Here, we present the X-ray structure and discuss the structure-functional relations of BrUSLEE. Its development from the EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent proteins) precursor (FL~2.83 ns) resulted in a change of the chromophore microenvironment due to a significant alteration in the side chain conformations. To get further insight into molecular details explaining the observed differences in the photophysical properties of these proteins, we studied their structural, dynamic, and electric properties by all-atom molecular-dynamics simulations in an aqueous solution. It has been shown that compared to BrUSLEE, the mobility of the chromophore in the EGFP is noticeably limited by nonbonded interactions (mainly H-bonds) with the neighboring residues.

MORPHOFIT: An automated galaxy structural parameters fitting package

In today’s modern wide-field galaxy surveys, there is the necessity for parametric surface brightness decomposition codes characterised by accuracy, small degree of user intervention, and high degree of parallelisation. We try to address this necessity by introducing MORPHOFIT, a highly parallelisable python package for the estimate of galaxy structural parameters. The package makes use of wide-spread and reliable codes, namely, SEXTRACTOR and GALFIT. It has been optimised and tested in both low-density and crowded environments, where blending and diffuse light makes the structural parameters estimate particularly challenging. MORPHOFIT allows the user to fit multiple surface brightness components to each individual galaxy, among those currently implemented in the code. Using simulated images of single Sérsic and bulge plus disk galaxy light profiles with different bulge-to-total luminosity (B/T) ratios, we show that MORPHOFIT is able to recover the input structural parameters of the simulated galaxies with good accuracy. We also compare its estimates against existing literature studies, finding consistency within the errors. We use the package in a companion paper to measure the structural parameters of cluster galaxies in order to study the wavelength dependence of the Kormendy relation of early-type galaxies. The package is available on github1 and on the Pypi server2.