Processing & Stacking images

Lester · #1 18-02-2006, 08:09 PM

From my short time in IIS, I know that a number of you learned fellow astronomers/computer enthusiasts have produced very good digital images of the night sky.

From your experiences, what are the best programs to use for digital image processing and stacking? I am interested in both planetary and deep sky astro photography.

Do the programs stack the images and align them automatically, or is each image aligned manually?

Thank you.

seeker372011 (Narayan) · #2 18-02-2006, 10:10 PM

For deep space objects, IRIS has one major advantage-its free!

has a bit of a learning curve though. But it will do most things you need to do-including automatic alignment.If auto fails you always have the option of doing the process manually also in IRIS

Lester · #3 18-02-2006, 10:50 PM

Thanks Seeker,

Will look into Iris. I noticed that some of the photos in the magarzines have been processed with Registax. Although I have downloaded it onto the computer, haven't used it as yet.

Has any one had experience with Registax?

[1ponders] (Paul) · #4 18-02-2006, 10:59 PM

There are two common programs used for plantetary processing. The most popular is Registax for processing and secondly K3ccdtools for image capture and processing.

As Seeker has said IRIS does a great job, and yes it does take a bit to learn it but Jim Solomons IRIS Cookbook is a good way to start. Alternatively if you're prepared to spend the cash then ImagesPlus is becoming very popular and does a great job. Again there's a learning curve but is more menu and dialogue driven than IRIS which is command driven.

Both are great but you operate them in totally different ways.

ps. there are tutorials for Registax around. There are plenty of people here though that will be able to help you. Try a few searches for Registax and you'll find plenty

davidpretorius · #5 18-02-2006, 11:02 PM

registax still seems to be the best for planetary, whacking 800 frames through iris is a 1/2 hour job.

iris is great for dso's, but imageplus is probably the pick of the crop!

davidpretorius · #6 18-02-2006, 11:14 PM

there is a little outdated as i need to add some more stuff, but it gives you the basics of registax etc

http://precons.com/iceinspace/Articl...otracking.aspx

Lester · #7 19-02-2006, 09:34 AM

Thanks David and Paul for your feedback.

I need to do some playing around with Registax. Oh thats right a camera for planetary photography; I was set on the Phillips Toucam but now I have read that the Lumenera LU075 is the way to go.

JohnH · #8 19-02-2006, 09:58 AM

It depends.

I have not used a cooled astronomical CCD camera so I cannot speak for those devices however:

Registax IMHO cannot handle large files from DSLRs (48Mb tifs) - it will choke. Registars is the pick for alignment but not free.

Registax is good for webcam images (planetary work) and works well with smaller images.

K3CCDTools has an excellent reputation - both for capture and processing from CCDs and webcams - as such it is a nice all in one - but not free.

Then you have the larger processing tools - IRIS, free but user hostile (there is no other way to say it), Images Plus, excellent but not free and Maxim DL and MaxDSLR, those last two are $$$.

So, what to do? If you buy a Meade LPI or DSI you will get a pack of s'ware with it that is good to get you started, AutoStarSuite. If you buy the equivalent Orion gear it now comes with a cut down version of Maxim - that might be all you ever need.

For those two cases use the package supplied and then review after 6 months to see if you need something more.

If you are a DSLR owner - you are going to need something fairly quickly to help you with focus in particular but also acquisition, dark frame subtraction, stacking, flats etc etc. If you can live with IRIS great but IMHO it is almost hostile enough to put you of Astrophotography - so try DSLR Focus to help with focus and image acquisition, then ImagesPlus and Maxim for processing, join the user groups and make your choice they are all excellent, think of it this way - you would not cut corners on a mount or optics and expect good results would you?

Then you might want to think about autoguiding if you plan on doing that some of the packages provide this feature also but if not you can use GuideDog.

If you have a regular of long exposure webcam (eg ToUCam) the choice seems pretty clear K3CCDTools is the way to go, and Registax for post processing.

Happy to go on but that should get you thinking on the right lines....

JohnH · #9 19-02-2006, 10:02 AM

Just read you sig - based on your gear you must have known all I wrote - already

RB (Andrew) · #10 19-02-2006, 10:10 AM

John H well said.
I agree with you on all those choices.

Food for thought ah Lester, the mind boggles doesn't it?

For me, I use Registax for Planets, and ImagesPlus, Photoshop for DSO's.
Don't know too much about the Lumenera, I use the Toucam.

It's very exciting though with all that's available nowdays.

Striker (Tony) · #11 19-02-2006, 11:40 AM

I personaly use Imagesplus for stacking and calibrating and Photoshop CS is used as they say for making it look pretty.

When I did start I just used the free K3CCDtools version 1 for stacking all my DSO's..I just used the planetary wizard which worked fine for me.

I never had any luck with Iris....too techincal but it's free.

If you do want a program that is great with your 20DA then you cant go wrong with images plus....this program can also control your long exposures so it's a all in 1 that will do almost everything for you.

Even though I can do the same with Imagesplus I use DSLR focus to control all my long exposure for the reason being I know how it works and I like how it does the job.

Robert_T · #12 19-02-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lester

Thanks David and Paul for your feedback.

I need to do some playing around with Registax. Oh thats right a camera for planetary photography; I was set on the Phillips Toucam but now I have read that the Lumenera LU075 is the way to go.

Hi Lester, the LU075 is a high end planetary camera with a High End price (near enough to $2000 with software). Bird (aka Anthony Wesley) uses the LU075 but now prefers a Dragonfly express firewire camera, with, I believ, an even heftier price tag. These are black and white cameras and to shoot colour you need coloured filters and filter wheels etc. I hope to go this path sometime soon, but it's not something I recommend to someone starting out in planetary imaging.

The Toucam is capable of incredible shots and while the LU075 may have the potential to exceed it isn't by much. I use the Celestron Neximager which is in effect a Celestron badged Toucam, identical chip etc. I'm very happy with it and would certainly recommend as a great beginner to intermediate webcam. COmes with the 1.25in barrel etc all included for ~$260AU.

cheers,

davidpretorius · #13 19-02-2006, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lester

Thanks David and Paul for your feedback.

I need to do some playing around with Registax. Oh thats right a camera for planetary photography; I was set on the Phillips Toucam but now I have read that the Lumenera LU075 is the way to go.

toucam = $155, lumenera are much dearer but allow much faster frame rates, Bird uses point grey dragonfly camera along with a colour filter wheel.

my next camera purchase after the toucam is in this direction, ie a b/w fast frame rate with colour filters

Lester · #14 19-02-2006, 06:28 PM

Thanks fellas, thats a lot of info for one who is in the computer toddler stage. I think the Celestron Neximager might be a good starting point for my planetary photography.

After reading another thread; looks like I should be taking all my deep sky shots with the 20Da recording in the RAW mode and not JPEG to minimise detail loss during processing.

can't go to sleep now, there is too much to learn.

Hitchhiker · #15 19-02-2006, 06:57 PM

Hi Lester, I think the NexImage is a great camera for planetary imaging. Comes with everything you need to start straight away - just add Registax for free and you're away.

You only have to look at the results of the ToUCam and NexImage brigade on IIS to see what is possible!

RB (Andrew) · #16 20-02-2006, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lester

Thanks fellas, thats a lot of info for one who is in the computer toddler stage. I think the Celestron Neximager might be a good starting point for my planetary photography.

After reading another thread; looks like I should be taking all my deep sky shots with the 20Da recording in the RAW mode and not JPEG to minimise detail loss during processing.

can't go to sleep now, there is too much to learn.

Wise choices Lester.

And forget about sleep from now on.

Muddy Diver · #17 23-02-2006, 07:00 PM

And the neximage comes with a copy of registax in the box along with its own image capture software. Andrews in Sydney have them the cheapest I have seen. They have one in stock as of today at $225 ! Good price.

Lester · #18 23-02-2006, 09:13 PM

Thanks Muddy, I will look into it.