Dark frames, light frames, bias frames

[twelly27]

Hi everyone

I have been taking single shots of the moon for a couple of months now, and I'd like to try and learn how to stack but I don't understand the types of frames DSS (deepskystacker) wants me to use. If anyone could please explain how to get:

1. Light frames

2. Dark frames

3. Bias frames

and if I've missed any other frames please let me know.

id also like to know if I am trying to stack do the pictures need to be in the same position in the picture or do they just need to be all the same exposure times and ISO settings, below is my best moon picture I've done will others like it be good quality to stack? I would appreciate the help,

Regards Chris

[Guest]

Hi Twelly27,

You don't need to stack images of the moon really, a single shot with a good camera is good enough as it is so bright, yours is fine.

Stacking is for deep sky objects that you can't see with the naked eye, or if you take an AVI video with a webcam of planets, the idea is to take many exposures and stack them to bring out the detail in the image.

Just start with light frames and stack them for your first try, then move on to lights and darks, darks are taken at exactly the same settings as lights only with the lens cap on, these are then subtracted from the final image in Deep Sky Stacker. It doesn't matter if the image has moved as long as it hasn't rotated so you need to track the image with a good mount.

I could go on and on but i don't want to give you too much to think about at the moment, small steps is the key to this hobby.

Olly

[Bizibilder]

You can get an advantage by stacking DSLR shots of the Moon (or Sun). If you look at the tutorial here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/153712-simple-white-light-solar-imaging/ you can see the method. This is written for Solar imaging but the principles and methods apply equally to pictures of the Moon.

This http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/178049-the-moon-18-february-2013/ is a stacked image that I took last night using a 120mm Scope and Canon 1100D.

[cgarry]

You do need to stack frames to get the best image of the moon, this improves the signal/noise ratio allowing you to apply sharpening to bring out the detail. This will produce superior results to individual frames.

However, you would use RegiStax for this stacking, not DSS.

The bottom of this page has a comparison of a stacked vs non-stacked lunar image:

http://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/example-uasge/example5

Cheers,

Chris

[Leveye]

You can take a bracketed 3 exposure shot of the moon and do an HDR of it in a program like photomatix pro or photoshop. Most DSLR's have a setting for taking shots like this set the exposures for -2 0 +2

[Guest]

Ok ignore everything i said, what do i know....lol

[twelly27]

I have registax however it says and I quote, the program can't start because CV210.dll is missing from your computer, try reinstalling the program to fix this problem

i have reinstalled it about 5 times still the same dont know what to do

any suggestions or other program's?

[cgarry]

Did you install version 6.1 and then the version 6.1.08 update afterwards?

As for an alternative, try: http://www.astrokraa...utostakkert.php

Cheers,

Chris

[twelly27]

ahh i didnt know one was an update, i thought it was the newest version, ill check that out now

thanks

chris

[cgarry]

You would not be the first person to make that mistake...

[twelly27]

ive just looked up tutorials on youtube for registax and they are all using AVI files, do they have t be those ore can i use a number of single photos?

[cgarry]

What format are your images in?

[twelly27]

it says JPEG, i woudnt know how to get any others tbh

[cgarry]

You can just load all the JPEGs into RegiStax.

[twelly27]

ahh thats good then. ill just have to play about with everything thanks for the info.

[cgarry]

If you have trouble getting RegiStax to stack your images, try running them through PIPP to crop and centre them before using RegiStax.

http://sites.google....ropipp/example-uasge/example5 (The same link I posted before)