Using VisualSpec to check your Be star spectra

Okay, installing VisualSpec is not always an easy thing to do. Here are my tip & tricks - well, it did work for me so here it is.

First, what is VisualSpec? It is a free software that is widely used in the astronomical spectroscopy community that can read spectral profiles and analyse them. It is also connected to BeSS Be Star Spectra database so it makes it easy to compare your own spectra with latest ones in the database or perform some report/analysis of any Be star you like!

VisualSpec is available there: http://astrosurf.com/vdesnoux/


After setup, here is a trick to register the tabctl32.ocx file VisulSpec needs. It is taken from: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/tabctl32ocx-file-missing/1d615fca-1414-4d79-8951-5d6353ed3105

Step 1: Open a command prompt with Administrator privileges: 

1. Click Start, type in cmd in the Start Menu search box, right click on the cmd option displayed in the search results, and click on Run as Administrator.
2. Click on Allow or Continue at the User Account Control prompt that should be displayed next. 

Now you should have a command prompt with Administrator privileges open.

Step 2: Execute a re-registering process of the tabctl32.ocx file by running the following commands one after the other. I am providing one command in one line, type them in one by one and hit Enter after each command (assuming VisualSpec is installed in the C:\vspec directory otherwise change it to your setup): 

• cd \vspec
• regsvr32 /u comct332.ocx
  regsvr32 /u comdlg32.ocx
  regsvr32 comdlg32.ocx
  regsvr32 comct332.ocx
  regsvr32 /u mscomct2.ocx
  regsvr32 mscomct2.ocx
  regsvr32 /u mscomctl.ocx
  regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx
  regsvr32 /u MyConsole.ocx
  regsvr32 MyConsole.ocx
  regsvr32 /u RichtX32.ocx
  regsvr32 RichtX32.ocx
  regsvr32 /u tabctl32.ocx
  regsvr32 tabctl32.ocx
  
• exit

From there, open VisualSpec and open a spectral profile (you can also drag-drop a FITS file from Windows explorer) - here I am looking at my order 34, ie Halpha, of 12 Vul:

Activate the link to CDS by using the menu Assistant / CDS Query. Just to click on the small buton to fill in automatically the target name and OK. It will open a web page from the CDS, just leave it open for your VIsualSpec session.

Then click on the BeSS icone at the bottom right:

 

 VisualSpec does some analysis of the wavelength calibration (usefull to check your calibration is okay) and open the last two spectral profile from BeSS database so it is very easy to check if there has been any change (for exemple an outburst)!

observatory surrounded by flowers