Deep sky stacker

[icpass]

Hi

I managed to get lots of widefield subs of the milky way with the dslr whilst at sailsbury star party.

I have tried to stack them in DSS but with not much luck.

The problem is all frames were taken on a tripod and i have a small amount of rotation in each and this is noticable in the final image.

How can i stop this and if not is there another program i can use.

I have tried maxim but the files are so big it cant handle it.

Ian

[roundycat]

I use Maxim for STL11000 files which are about 21MB each. Trying to stack more than about ten or twelve at a time gives my computer/Maxim a headache so I don't do it. Stack them in manageable numbers using the normal sigma reject algorithm and then stack the stacks using an average output. It doesn't take any longer although if you are expecting to set it running and go to bed it's not much help.

Dennis

[icpass]

Dennis

Thanks for that will give it a go.

Ian

[Wobbly Bob]

Ha Ha, simples, you should have taken more images from my simple 400D. Much smaller files

BTW thanks for all your help Ian, its was a spendided night only spoiled by me freezing me thingys off

Bob

[icpass]

Bob ,your welcome and thanks again for a great week.

[Beyond_Vision]

The problem may down to distortion in the lens which will give any stacking program a headache as the field is rotated.

You really need to have an equatorial tracking mount to avoid this. You could try using the lens distortion tool in Photoshop on each frame then stack them. You will need to apply the same correction to each

Regards

Kevin

[icpass]

Thanks kevin,will give it a go

[SteveP]

I use Maxim for STL11000 files which are about 21MB each. Trying to stack more than about ten or twelve at a time gives my computer/Maxim a headache so I don't do it. Stack them in manageable numbers using the normal sigma reject algorithm and then stack the stacks using an average output. It doesn't take any longer although if you are expecting to set it running and go to bed it's not much help.

Dennis

Dennis

Just an aside.... what version of Maxim are you using? Mine is 5.08 and it allows you to stack a whole folder of images without having to load them all into memory simultaneously thus avoiding running out of memory. It's under

Stack > Select > Add Folder

It will also calibrate the frames as well

Then you can set it running and go to bed!

HTH

Steve

[roundycat]

Hi Steve,

it may be down to my clonky way of working. I use 4.58 and usually calibrate, hot pixel and clone repair prior to aligning using manual 2 star.If I don't want to save the calibration I then have to combine frames with them all open. If I save the cal and alignment I can then close them all and combine by using 'combine files' as you suggest. I guess I ought to start saving the calibrated files.

Dennis