Milky Way 2 - stacked files

[SquarePeg]

Finally had a chance last night to edit the RAW files from Saturday night and try a star stacking program. I used the free Sequator program. Pretty easy to download and use even on my old windows laptop that barely has any available memory.

This one is a stack of 10 RAW files and 4 dark frames. f/2, ISO 6400, 11 seconds. The stacking did eliminate some of the noise but also caused some other issues that I had to fix in post using Affinity. Likely the issues were user error on my part.

Nubble light 3 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

This one is a bit more dramatic processing. Single shot, f/2, ISO 6400, 11s - edited in Affinity Photo and Snapseed on my ipad. It’s a bit noisy but I love the shooting stars within the MW. I may have to upload this one to my pc and try the Topaz Denoise filter as I’d like to print this one.

Milky Way with shooting stars by SharonCat..., on Flickr


Thoughts? Critique? Suggestions for processing changes? Advice for next time?

 

[jcdeboever]

I think it's fantastic.

 

[Peeb]

Love them both, but I may prefer the stacked one.

 

[Jeff G]

Beutiful shots!

 

[stapo49]

If we could have the stacked one with the shooting stars . Great stuff.

 

[K9Kirk]

Nice set.

 

[photoflyer]

Interesting that the stacked image does not include the satellites that the single image does. I really want to try image stacking. Good motivation.

 

[SquarePeg]

I think it's fantastic.

Thanks.

Love them both, but I may prefer the stacked one.

The stacking definitely reduced noise which makes for a better result.

Beutiful shots!

thank you.

 

[SquarePeg]

If we could have the stacked one with the shooting stars . Great stuff.

I may try the stacking again but this time will know to choose the photo with the shooting stars as my base. Maybe that will help.

Nice set.

Thanks!

Interesting that the stacked image does not include the satellites that the single image does. I really want to try image stacking. Good motivation.

there were a bunch of little marks that showed up on the finished stack. I removed them. I may have removed that as well.

 

[SquarePeg]

Interesting that the stacked image does not include the satellites that the single image does. I really want to try image stacking. Good motivation.

you may know this already - star stacking is different than focus stacking. I used the free sequator software which is for windows.

 

[CherylL]

Both are wonderful!

 

[tirediron]

Stellar (Pun fully intended)!

 

[photoflyer]

there were a bunch of little marks that showed up on the finished stack. I removed them. I may have removed that as well.

I have yet to capture the MW like that.

Those certainly look like satellites. On a clear night at the lake I go out to look for them. They are very distinct from aircraft. I've even gone out of my way to capture the ISS in an Astro shot.

They are becoming more and more problematic for astronomy and astrophotography and I was hoping stacking helps to hide them.

Can I borrow your lighthouse please?

This image was taken in Cape Town last week and later I noted a satellite along the edge of the mountain ridge on the left.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Those are great!
Arrggg. I tried loading Sequator last week and I didn't get anywhere. My compute is maybe 5-6 yrs old. May try Best Buy today and see if I can coax some sympathy out of a clerk to help me.

 

[SquarePeg]

Those are great!
Arrggg. I tried loading Sequator last week and I didn't get anywhere. My compute is maybe 5-6 yrs old. May try Best Buy today and see if I can coax some sympathy out of a clerk to help me.

It was not intuitive to get it loaded and running. But once it is loaded the step by step manual was very helpful. Also there are some tutorials on youtube on how to load and use it.