DeepSkyStacker Tutorial: A Beginners Guide for Astrophotography

I’ll take you through a step by step guide showing the best techniques and settings for DeepSkyStacker that will improve your astrophotography by stacking Light Frames, Flat Frames, Bias Frames and Dark Frames. If you find this video helpful, please like it and subscribe to this channel, but most importantly, let me know of the programs, settings and techniques that work best for you in the comment section below.
Download DeepSkyStacker for Free:
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"How to take Light, Flat, Bias & Dark Frames for Astrophotography"
• How to take Light, Fla...
"The Deep Sky Imaging Primer: Third Edition" By Charles Bracken
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Intro-0:00
Previewing & Selecting the Best Frames-1:12
Loading & Analyzing Light Frames-6:30
Loading Flat, Bias & Dark Frames-12:27
Registering & Stacking Settings-13:27
The Final Stacked Image-18:42
A Tease of What's to Come-19:36
“The heavens declare the glory of God”-Psalm 19:1
Follow Late Night Astronomy on:
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#DeepSkyStacker #Astrophotography #Stacking

[@hozaifashakeel7758]

3 months back i cmnted on one of his video "please bring a series on deep sky imaging" and guess what... one of the best astrophotography tutor is here with deepsky imaging tutorial🔥🔥🔥 THANKS A LOT DUDE❤❤❤

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Your comment means a lot to me. I am excited to go deeper into these topics throughout the rest of the year! It is such a rewarding hobby we all have an interest in!

[@mikelockwood2104]

agreed 100%

[@Mudly71]

Absolutely one of the best and concise tutorials of any kind I have watched in a long time. Keep up the good work I'll certainly be looking out for others you have posted.😊

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thank so much!

[@ObieGoth]

Really appreciate the detail in this tutorial, and the care taken to explain many of the settings. Time for me to try out some different stacking modes, and not just median.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks for taking the time to let me know that! Median is a solid choice too. Check out Kappa Sigma Clipping and let me know if you notice any difference at 1:1 pixel size.

[@stelaw6]

Your videos are 2nd to none,I've learnt more in 2 of your tutorials than in most vids I've watched over the last few years,plaim simple and straight to the point.glad i found your channel,thanks

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That's very nice of you to say! I'm glad you found them helpful and please let me know if you ever have any questions!

[@SergeiKotikov]

This channel is highly underrated. You've got my subscription, sir, and I'm looking forward to trying out what I've learnt here in the field! Cheers!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Your comment is much appreciated. I've got more astrophotography content coming in a few weeks! Take care and thanks for your support!

[@neverarguewithan18wheeler10]

This literally has to be THE MOST helpful astrophotography tutorial I have ever come across on KZbin!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

It is very nice of you to take the time to let me know that! I've got several other on different topics including PixInsight if that interests you! Let me know if you ever have any questions. I appreciate your support and clear skies!

[@PatJones82]

I’m so glad I found your channel. This is an EXCELLENT tutorial and is exactly what I needed as a newbie. So much appreciated sir! Thank You! I love your comment at the end about being disappointed with the image. I was thinking exactly that when it popped up on the screen. I would have stopped there being disappointed and not known that there was more that could be done. AGAIN…. AWESOME work, and I am grateful sir. :)

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad it was helpful and appreciate you taking the time to leave such a kind comment! Take care and let me know if you have any questions down the road!

[@timothyhart7155]

Awesome instructional video. It is the kind of information I need in my beginning quest to become an astrophotographer. Your teaching skills are very good. You talk at a slower pace, and you don’t have any speech difficulties, and you break things down into digestible segments. I had not seen any prior presentations on stacking and it is obviously very needed and necessary. It was great to stop at this point as you did, saying we will save this and now on to Pix-Insight. Perfect!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

You made my day with this kind comment! Thanks for your support and I'm glad you found the video helpful!

[@johnotoole9384]

Excellent video, I’ve been hitting and missing with DSS, put picked up at least 3 items I didn’t know before. Thanks.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad to hear you found it helpful. That's the great thing about this hobby is we always learn more as we get deeper into things.

[@DennisMammana]

I'm so impressed by your tutorial! After suffering through video after video of people muttering through their "tutorials" I came upon yours. EXACTLY what I need: clear, concise and wonderfully understandable. Thank you for the excellent video, and I really look forward to learning more from you and getting to know DSS!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I really appreciate that, Dennis. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way and clear skies!

[@zygmuntziokowski7877]

I’m so glad I found your channel. It is very good!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I appreciate that! Let me know if you have any questions on astrophotography!

[@geoffnash3098]

Ok I like what I see and understand slot better. Have watched your video a couple times and the fog is clearing. Best video on the internet. You take the time to explain things

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I really appreciate that and am glad you found the video helpful!

[@RossWehner]

Thank you Michael, this is a very helpful video. I appreciate the depth of detail you dig into for both the software and the technical aspects of what's happening under the hood.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I appreciate you taking the time to share that with me. Have you been out to image anything lately?

[@RossWehner]

@@LateNightAstronomy I just bought my first star tracker and photographed an hour of exposure time on Andromeda in Bortle 5 skies. Now I’m trying to get acquainted with DSS, StarNet++, PixInsight, and Photoshop. Your videos have been quite helpful throughout the whole learning process. 🙏

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@RossWehner Congratulations on your purchase and I'm glad you've found my video helpful.

[@milanradulovic3915]

This is soo hard, but at the same time so enjoyable and wonderful process. Want to learn for sure. In love!! :)

[@LateNightAstronomy]

It took me months to wrap my head around all of it. It's an enjoyble hobby with a steep early learning curve.

[@mikegphoto]

I previously used Nico Carver’s DSS tutorial for Andromeda but used yours for an M3 cluster edit. Thank you for this detailed DSS tutorial, it was helpful and I’m a new subscriber after checking your content out🔥

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I really appreciate that! Clear Skies!

[@paigebradley2490]

Wonderful tutorial. Thanks!!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks for your support and for watching the video!

[@avt_astro206]

Brilliant Tutorial!! I recently Shot Orion Nebula, and Got Some Good Results by stacking, Just with my Phone attached to a Telescope!! Clear Skies🔭🌌

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I will have to give that a try sometime! There are so many different ways to capture these deep sky objects!

[@smollkitteh1337]

The result just blew my head. You're getting me started

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm so glad to hear that! Have you been out to image any specific target?

[@janettebritton5800]

Thanks so helpful. Please continue 😊

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thank you! Will do!

[@AstroRef68]

This tutorial helped me a lot Thanks so much .

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad it helped!

[@condensermike]

Super in-depth. Thanks!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

You're very welcome. Please let me know if you ever have any questions!

[@AstroRef68]

Very very helpful Thanks so much for the simplicity

[@LateNightAstronomy]

My pleasure! Thanks for your comment and stop back by anytime if you have questions!

[@dionisiochavez9570]

Very good tutorial, thanks.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@letszoomit365]

Thanks again! 🙏 Soon I will be ready to try something out myself. Just have to wait for a clear weekendnight when I am also into doing this wich is hard to get I think but hope it could happen soon 😄👍

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Best of luck to you!

[@davidbyrd6534]

Thanks for this outstanding video. I would like to see you do a similar video with WBPP 2.4 or later for a two night imagining process each with flats, darks, flat darks and or bias frames. I think many people would greatly appreciate this endeavor.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Great suggestion! I'll keep that in mind for future videos!

[@friendhui4320]

Great teacher. 🤔 Watched video three times. 👍

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thank you very much! Love the picture of you and Ollie!

[@tomkoenig3047]

Thanks for recommending we download the drivers to open the picture files. I was able to download it from the Canon website, I just needed to load my serial number. The download worked fine. That was very valuable info.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm glad that worked out for you!

[@arshadwm]

I don’t have words to say thanks to you. I processed Orion but there’s no option to share it here. I exactly followed your instructions. God bless.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm so glad to hear that! Feel free to tag me on social media to share with me and others what you were able to do! Clear skies and God Bless.

[@arshadwm]

@@LateNightAstronomy can I have your social media address ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@arshadwm They are listed on my channel. Probably best accessed by going to the "about" section

[@peterturner1919]

Brilliant vid more please and one of my favourite scriptures

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. More videos to come....

[@brucehatch7388]

Charles Bracken now has an updated third addition available for "The Deep-Sky Imaging Primer" that you have a link to in your video description. I am studying it now and it is a great resource. You may want to consider updating your link for the third addition. Your tutorials have been a great help to me, are very much appreciated. Please keep up the effort.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That is great to know. I may have something to add to my Christmas list this year! Thanks for the heads up and for such a nice comment!

[@MADHIKER777]

Another winner!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks so much!

[@jahmararcher3716]

Really helpfull man thanks

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad it helped. Let me know if you ever have any questions!

[@twobrotherskayaking4736]

My first lights: Got a few frames on 01/08/23 as this was the first clear skies in about two months here in upstate NY (about 4 hours that night before more clouds rolled in). My first time trying to get any images and looks like only ten 10sec frames of what I thought was Uranus. Also got some video on IPhone 12 of Jupiter and two moons. But not great tracking and not sure that Uranus is actually in the images. Set up was my Redcat 51 with WO32mm guide scope, asi294mm and no filters, asiair plus, on AVX GEM mount. Nothing great for results but I got images and lots of stars, so I'm physicked and looking forward to more imaging if the clouds ever part ways here. I used DSS and your video, stepped through it very nicely. (I have an extensive background in IT so working with software is pretty much old hat for me.) Good directions, excellent pace, and very thorough! You made this quite easy. So much so that I did sub/all! Thanks so much and clear skies!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and thoughts on the video! Thanks so much and I hope you find my other astrophotography tutorials and reviews helpful.

[@dawidwitulski5712]

Big thank you

[@LateNightAstronomy]

My pleasure!

[@sarahalsalihy5932]

You are the best instructor __ Sarah from Iraq

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I really appreciate your comment and support of my channel!

[@swift98b]

I load the lights into Lightroom using "standard" preview size. Then you can scroll through them in Loupe mode and flag the losers. I take the losers and put them in a folder to save if needed in the future. This is a very quick way to screen your images.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Great advice!!!!

[@RossWehner]

Thanks!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it! Clear skies and keep me updated on how your imaging is going!

[@omg6630]

Hey bro, you did much for me as I am a beginner. You explained very easily and smoothly. As we most are from different countries and Languages so we are not fluent in spoken English. So please try to speak slowly. We want a-z videos for astrophotography. Love from Bangladesh🌹🌹

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I appreciate you saying that and am glad you find the videos helpful! Take care and clear skies!

[@ronrotunno522]

Excellent work (as usual) thank you. I have a question regarding my limited experience with DSS. The final image appears to be stacked once the program is run but I find that the final image is significantly shifted at the borders. In other words there is a quite uneven black border around the perimeter of the image. It doesn’t seem to affect the quality of the image and I can easily crop it out in PS but I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong. I’m imaging on an alt/az mount for now. Might that be the cause?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Wonderful question. When I get to the post processing video in a couple weeks you will notice that the first thing I do to the DSS final file is crop out the edges a bit where those black lines can occur. What you are seeing is a normal part of the stacking process!

[@ronrotunno522]

Thank you for the quick response. I’m looking forward to the image processing video!

[@zygmuntziokowski7877]

I am MAC guy and use Starry Sky Stacker, and very good. But what you stated still applies.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad to hear it. I'm still a PC guy but hope to one day be a PC & MAC guy :)

[@MarvelousLXVII]

Very nice video. I've had a few instances where my final stacked image is pure white and I cannot for the life of me figure out why.. I can stack on a different computer both with default settings and get different results.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Glad it was helpful! That is an off thing going on. Let me know if you figure out what was going on!

[@diegosaltes]

This video was excellent! clear, concise, and thorough. I live in a big city so I will never get super awesome photos due to light pollution unless I drive a couple of hours away to take the photos. Still, I’m giving it a try and see what I get!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks for taking the time to let me know that! Try Shooting open star clusters from where you are. The beehive cluster is high in the sky right now and will be more forgiving to light pollution than other dim galaxies and nebula. I was able to sneak out of town and get to some darker skies to image the Virgo cluster earlier this month and hope to post my final pictures sometime this week! Take care and Clear Skies!

[@cidzavala5522]

Thanks very helpful to me. Now I'm looking for video after this process lol. Editing and what software for photo editing to use

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Go to my playlist on astrophtography and it will have all of the videos in order. The next one should be on using Pixinsight.

[@markeliz547]

Great video, one question though. When I try to stack my images, (no darks, flats, or bias) a message shows up saying that only one frame will be stacked and that I need to turn up the star detection threshold. I tried turning it up but still the same issue. Do you have any idea what might cause this?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Make sure they are all the same exposure length. After that I would walk through the process in this video (minus what you didn't take) and see if it works.

[@user-rv3bc8wz9t]

great video!! When i try to put bias files in dss they go to light frames.Any idea on that? I can see they are loaded from camera correct. but they do not go to bias in dss

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Hmmm...that's a good question. You may want to email the DSS creators to see if they have a solution, I'm not too sure.

[@revolverocelot2063]

Bro can u please say any way for taking deep space astrophotography with a manual dobsonian by using any software pls

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Deep sky astrophotography with a manual dobsonian is very difficult due to exposure times needed for most objects. I have gotten some great images and videos of the planet using my dobsonian telescope. Feel free to take a look if you are interested. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYG8iWZppL2FnZo

[@wukuimimug7673]

Hi, my Seestar images is always green after stacking and i am unable to stretch out any colours in photoshop!

[@jeetbrahmbhatt5245]

If possible can you use gimp for the final processing as I don't have Lr or Ps premium I have to use other softwares. I'll have a decent idea what to do and what not to. Thanks and amazing tutorial keep it up.

[@meghjoshi7031]

Yep it's definitely possible. I haven't seen ps in my life...I have always used GIMP till now

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Great question. I started with GIMP for final processing and would suggest it as a starting point for those who are just getting into astrophotography.

[@Awesomegamer4567]

Do you have to do the light, flat, dark and bias frames to stack then you have a good image? If so how much do we take for each.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

You don't have to but it has helped my images a great bit. Check out my video on how to take light flat dark and bias frames. It should be linked in the description of this video or over on my astrophotography playlist.

[@arshadwm]

Thank You for the lovely video that helped me a lot. Is PI better then DSS ? Whenever I tried PI for stacking, it came up with error but same date stacked by the DSS without any error.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

By PI, do you mean PixInsight?

[@arshadwm]

@@LateNightAstronomy yes

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@arshadwm I have used PixInsight for stacking only once for a Comet image I was experimenting with. PixIsnight is powerhouse but I just haven't had a need for its level of stacking customization yet. I stack in Deep Sky Stacker and then process with PixInsight.

[@AstroRef68]

Hi great video One question You said register check picture and pres ok Will this option will stack or you have to go to STACK CHECKED PISTURE ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Could you include the timestamp of the portion you are referring to for me to take a look at it? Thanks!

[@astrolyfe8097]

Hi, I took a pic of orian nebula following you, because u were The only one with the actual process on how to do it so thanx. When my stacking was done, the final image didn't have colour or like really faint colour, can you tell me how I can the colours back in thanx.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

The colors will show up when you run that stacked image through a program like photoshop or PixInsight. Take a look at my tutorial using Pixinsight and adjusting saturation is one of the last things I do in the process.

[@napper1496]

i have a canon 600d,how do i get the light or/and dark frames on it? also how do i select RAW output settings?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I've got a video that goes over the best DSLR settings for canon cameras. Search for that on my channel and it will answer these and more questions on the best settings for your camera. Let me know if you have anymore questions after seeing that video.

[@0123456789jad]

hello I am new into astrophotography, may I ask if gradientxterminator does what "flat,dark,light,bias" do?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I don't believe. I think that will help more with light pollution that shows up in your final stacked image. Flat, dark, and bias remove lens imperfections and sensor noise.

[@arshadwm]

Hi. After Adding all the frames when DSS Starts stacking it says only frame will be stacked and I don’t know what to do ? Can u help ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Check to make sure all of the frames are the same exposure length and iso. There may be a random one in there that isn't which could be throwing off the processing.

[@Awesomegamer4567]

I've done untracked astrophotography of M31 galaxy, but I did the offset of light frames. but it wouldn't let me do offsets for flat and dark frames. is there a reason why?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm not sure about that. I would check out the deepskystacker website to see if you can find any answers over there! Best of luck to you!

[@goklasjuliusnababan7278]

hello! i wanna ask, why when i stack my dso images in dss it just stacking 4 frames of my all 60 frames, why it can't stack all my 60 images? i hope you reply this thx

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Make sure they are all checked in the processing box to be included. Also that they are the same file format as the others.

[@AnalyticalExplorer1]

What are dark, flat and bias frames? How to shoot those? Sorry if its a silly question. I'm fairly new to this.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Not a silly question at all. Check out this video I put together that will answer these questions and more! kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2e9nJKChqmCepo

[@refetastro]

Very helpful video As I tried asiair pro and asi 585mc camera DDS said files are incompatible Any idea why?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

It's possible the format of that camera is not compatible with Deep Sky Stacker. I would try emailing the creator of it over on their website and seeing if that is the problem!

[@refetastro]

@@LateNightAstronomy Interesting Thanks

[@southernexposure123]

I use DSS. Last night I shot for about an hour using an intervalometer. After stacking I sent the autosave to GIMP, which does a good job for me. After the first few stretches with levels and / or curves I had a large dark place covering about 1/4 to 1/3 of the screen. The dark part of the image was offset, but had straight lines as if part of the image was exposed a lot differently. I checked and all my images have the same ISO, shutter speed and aperture. I had DSS set the same as my other uses for the last few years. Do you have any idea if I did anything wrong and what it was? Thank you very much.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Hmm, I'm not too sure what that could be. Are you editing it as a high quality and low compression TIF file in GIMP?

[@southernexposure123]

​@@LateNightAstronomy A Tif, yes. A while after I posted the question I deleted 2 consecutive files - the only 2 with a small part of a tree in the lower corner - and the banding or whatever it was went away. The very bright Moon was near enough to Pleiades to just about wash it out in GIMP. I had the ISO 6400 and 5 second shutter. I'm about to go out again in a few minutes and try with a longer fL lens. I'll watch the histogram more closely this time. Thanks for your time.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@southernexposure123 Anytime. Take care and clear skies.

[@redkurn]

what did you use to get this shot of the nebula? i'd guess telescope, but the plane being in the shot, maybe not?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

In the description of this video are links to all of the videos leading up to this one. Short answer to your question is, Canon DSLR, Samyang 135mm lens and ioptron Sky Guider Pro tracking mount!

[@samiblidi9510]

As a new subscriber I want to thank you for the quality of your channel. I found this tutorial clear and helpful (for a french spoken). my question: can I use DeepSkystacker with my "bresser full HD DeepSky & guider camera" that I bought recently and have difficulties to use its toupsky software. is there any free software that i can use for image acquisition. thank you indeed for your help

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks for your compliment! I believe the images you capture from that camera should load fine in deepskystacker. One program you may want to check out that I haven't used much is www.firecapture.de/. It may be what you are looking for!

[@samiblidi9510]

@@LateNightAstronomy Dear Michael, i watched your interesting tutorial how can we do light flat bias and dark frames for DSLR. should I use the same method with my new bresser full hd DeepSky camera using its toupsky software. in that case which extension should i take raw jpg ser tiff or avi for video.... then should i use the Deepskystacker software as you explained in this tutorial. thank you in advance for your kind help

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@samiblidi9510 Not having used that equipment I would always suggest to shoot with the least compressed image possible. That would appear to be RAW and tiff from the list you just shared with me. Try out the steps with your equipment and let me know how it goes!

[@book3100]

It has a blink function? Wonder if it can be used like a blink comparitor...

[@LateNightAstronomy]

PixInsight has the blink function, if that's what you are referring to in the video.

[@book3100]

@@LateNightAstronomy yes. I'll have to look into it, might be useful for comets and neo's

[@adamfoit419]

So what do we do if we do if we only have a fixed mount and have a little star trailing in all of the pictures?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Give it a try and see what happens. You might end up with an interesting pictures. Star trails themselves can be fun to image.

[@kaisheldon2015]

Can someone tell me what dark, flat, and bias frames are used for?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I have a video that covers that topic. Please check the description of this video or search my channels playlist on astrophotography.

[@neverarguewithan18wheeler10]

I like your never-a-straight-answer shirt

[@CJFromGroveStreet]

I wanted to ask that instead of taking multiple exposures why don't just take one exposure and then copy paste it multiple times and then stack them . Will it work ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Great question. The data has to be unique or else there is virtually no benefit to the final image. The software is pretty much averaging out the slight difference from frame to frame and using the data to build a final composite. Turning for example 30, 2 minute exposure in to one hours worth of data.

[@christopherpsaros766]

When I go to load the picture files it freezes and says that it isn’t responding, is there a way to fix this?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I have not come across that problem. You might want to consider a fresh reinstall of the program and possibly checking with the creator of the software over email through the deepskystacker website.

[@varanops1619]

Can we do that with a smartphone and somthing to fix it to a telescope ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

You would need to have an equatorial tracking mount for your telescope. It's would be hard to do but is worth a shot if you have the equipment.

[@jjmcwill1881]

I took 246 images of the moon last night. I stacked in DSS but they didn’t align at all. I thought DSS was supposed to align the images? Should I use another program to align first?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I ave only used deep sky stacker for long exposure image of deep sky objects. You may want to look at a program called registax for the moon. I've got a video on how to use that for imaging the planets if you are interested!

[@patrickleitgeb]

Weird. I went through the whole stacking process but DSS didn't create an Autosave tiff file. There are many .txt files in the Lights folder, but I can't locate the stacked tiff file.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

If you are still at the last screen where it shows the preview image you should be able to click "save as" to choose file location if it didn't put it in the Light Folder.

[@patrickleitgeb]

@@LateNightAstronomy Interesting because when it was done stacking I never saw a preview image. When I ran DSS a couple of weeks ago on another set of images it worked fine. I'm not sure why it didn't generate a preview image nor a tiff file in the Light Folder this time. I may have to restart and try again.

[@AstrocosmicOfficial]

Hii! I a have a question, that is, is there a application like Pixinsight? Cuz, I dont want to spend that much money on that, but want to make images like Yours!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Good question. I would suggest playing around with your stacked images in a free program like GIMP first.

[@AstrocosmicOfficial]

@@LateNightAstronomy Thank You!

[@AstroRef68]

One quick question How do I remove recommended settings if I press it by mistake as become green? Thanks .

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm not sure. Is there a specific part of this process you can point me to where this has happened?

[@AstroRef68]

@@LateNightAstronomy For example I start with selections -Register check/ recomended setting/ if you are using a modified DSLR ( on green letter says “ reset white ballance setting) My question is if is green means being selected how do I unselect if I want to turn letters in blue colors? Thanks .

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@AstroRef68 I'm not sure about that. I would email the creator of the software of see if someone over on cloudynights.com can help you out.

[@ninjageezer6802]

what does FWHM stand for exactly ?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That looks at the size of the stars and can tell you if your tracking was a bit off or wobbly for an image.

[@ZopcsakFeri]

I'm already stuck at 7:17, where my selected files just won't appear in DSS. I select the folder, highlight the pictures, and when I hit click "Open", nothing happens. What might I be doing wrong? :( The explanations are super clear though, this is going to be a superb tutorial... just my DSS refuses to work :/

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I appreciate you saying that. What is the file format you are working with?

[@666hobart]

I see you have tuts for this and PixInsight, which do you prefer and use more often? If both could you give your reasoning? Thanks!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I use Deep Sky Stacker for stacking and PixInsight for enhancing/post processing. PixInsight has an incredibly sophisticated stacking process that far exceeds DSS. But it is also very complicated. I've used it a few times with good success but the amount of time it took me didn't justify it at this point for the equipment I use and targets I image.

[@barisoz]

I could not align the pictures, it process everything as where they are and final picture looks drifted. I did all the things that you did. Can you help me please? (Im trying to Croc's Eye Galaxy but after process i have 3 Croc's Eye Galaxy)

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Were all of your images taken on the same night? Also, you could pick one of the light frames as a reference frame to see if that might help align them better.

[@barisoz]

​@@LateNightAstronomy Yes i shoot them on the same night. I actually did chose a reference frame but it did not help. I mean it is better when i chose a reference frame but it drift anyways(Before chosing a reference frame the galaxy in the final image would look like straight long line. But after chosing a reference frame it would look like i have 2 or 3 more galaxy and stars in the image. With less drifting but several pieces of the same object). I did not shoot darks,bias,flats btw, i only shoot lights to try if it works the alignment thing. I know i wont have a good picture after stacking only the lights but i think it is enough to understand that if objects are drifting or not. Or should i try stacking with all of the things that required like FLAT,BIAS,DARK ? I can send you my images if you want to look at. I really dont know what is happening and how to fix.. Sorry for my bad english if there are mistakes.(im almost sure there were)

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@barisoz Feel free to email me your images that are coming out incorrectly. You can find my email address in the about section of the youtube channel.

[@ssbhide123]

Great tutorial! But I think 150 dark frames were too much. They tend to provide diminishing results after 20 frames. Since exposure time of darks is same as lights, I would rather prefer slightly noisier but more light data than dark frames.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That's a fair point. I had lost Orion to the tree line early in the night and decided to just ramp up the dark frames. On most nights and objects I tend to shoot around 75 dark frames.

[@forresterickson6225]

Can you provide images on which we could practice along?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That's a great suggestion and something I will look into for future videos!

[@forresterickson6225]

@LateNightAstronomy Having files would help us learn to use the DSS with out having to also have captured image files of similar quality to your files. I have some sporadic files which I have never once proccesed into something very useful and can not tell if it is because I operate DSS too poorly or my image captures are too poor. I have remained stuck for YEARS because of this problem.

[@IndianaStones1]

so what are you doing if you simply cant afford pixinsight. the deepsky stack picture is useless which programm can go the same histogramm trick?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

When I first began I started editing the file that came out of Deep Sky Stacker in GIMP. Once I knew I was going to be in this hobby for a while I bought Pixinsight and consider it one of my best purchases in astrophotography.

[@goklasjuliusnababan7278]

How to save dark, flats, and bias as dark,flats,dark in files?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I've got a video on those types of files that is in the link to this video!

[@hansanarandeepastrophotogr9876]

Sir, can i photograph m42 using my smartphone and my telescope?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That is difficult to do. I have taken some very short exposures of M42 using my telescope and iPhone but they did not turn out that well! You may find more luck than me, particularly if you have a polar aligned tracking mount.

[@hansanarandeepastrophotogr9876]

@@LateNightAstronomy ok thankx for the information💞

[@anao_dos_doritos]

i test your tutorial in a stack of orion nebula, DSS is making the stack now so later i will comeback and say if a like or not

[@anao_dos_doritos]

not worked, i give up with DSS

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I'm sorry to hear that. What was the error that prevented it from working?

[@vibez3453]

in the deepskystacker, all my photos are really dark, but in actual viewing they are perfectly fine. Any help?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That is correct. They will not brighten again until you "stretch" them in post processing software like photoshop or pixinsight. Check out my video on Pixinsight for information on how to do that.

[@vibez3453]

@@LateNightAstronomy alright will do! Is there a video on photoshop?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@vibez3453 There are several out there I'm sure but I have not done one on photoshop.

[@aerozg]

I don't understand, i am not getting any output file whatsoever? I have been following the tutorial to the letter, no autosave tiff file anywhere.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

That's odd. I would look to uninstall and reinstall the program. You may want to email the company/creator if that doesn't work to see what may be going on!

[@Zhorellski]

It kept freezing on my Win 10 64bit? Downloaded the latest version.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Did that work for you?

[@Zhorellski]

@@LateNightAstronomy DSS freezes?

[@TheRandomTurtleOfficial]

For me the final result is always either completely white or has an error message saying “vector T is too long” before crashing. I don’t know why this is happening.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I did some searcing on old forum topics regarding this problem and it's possible that DSS crashed because you told it that your bias frames were flats, and your flats were bias frames.

[@TheRandomTurtleOfficial]

@@LateNightAstronomy i figured that was the case so I tried it without any calibration frames to see if it would work, and the same thing showed up 🙁

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@TheRandomTurtleOfficial Try putting in your error to google search to see what comes up. Other than that, I'm not sure. I hope you get it figured out.

[@TheRandomTurtleOfficial]

@@LateNightAstronomy I’ll try, thanks.

[@sykyyy]

Hello, why you didn't use dark flat frames?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I have never used dark flats frames in my processing. I know some people do, but it's not something I've ever included in my imaging or post processing.

[@rizzmo8451]

I live in a very light polluted area and everytime my photos are stacked they come out extremely bright and washed out, they don’t darken or anything there’s just to much light, this is with dark frames included. What do I do?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

How long are the exposures you are taking and what camer and iso are you using? Without a light pollution filter, I normally shoot the sky at f2.8 for roughly 15 to 30 seconds under a bortle 5 sky.

[@rizzmo8451]

@@LateNightAstronomy I took 30 second exposures, pointed straight up at the sky from a phone. F1.8 and 12500 ISO

[@rizzmo8451]

@@LateNightAstronomy the images all turned out very bright and maybe it’s because I don’t have a filter or my exposure time was too long but I live in a bortle 8 area

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@rizzmo8451 Yeah, I would start by backing off on the iso and shortening your exposure time to 15 seconds to see if that helps any.

[@rizzmo8451]

@@LateNightAstronomy i will def try that next time it’s clear out, thank you!

[@ndamico]

Do you have to use raw files?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

No, but if your camera can shoot raw you will get better results due the extra data stored in those files.

[@ndamico]

@@LateNightAstronomy ok thanks

[@patindaytona]

Do you modify your DSLR with IR? Is that important?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Great question. I have not done that because the camera I use for astrophography I also use to film these videos and take pictures during the daytime. If you have the budget to do it, I would suggest buying or modifying a DSLR for the best results.

[@patindaytona]

@@LateNightAstronomy I recently purchased a night vision device. It's great for nebulae. with H-Alpha filter. Still want to try the DSLR though on some of the brighter ones though. Never tried stacking, will be interesting.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@patindaytona Let me know how it turns out!

[@attrell64]

Do you ever use dark flat frames?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

I never have. Do you find them helpful?

[@jtepsr]

why aren't my flat frames showing up in the program

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Are they the same file format as the others?

[@tomtoka]

ok, this is the part I am lost not ,I saw your video how to get FAT< DARK etc, but I will be using ASI462MC , so I am confused, now

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Could you be a little more specific as to what you are asking. Are you referring to capturing the light, flat, dark and bias frames? Or are you referring to something in DeepSkyStacker?

[@tomtoka]

@@LateNightAstronomy new here, lost, and I do appreciate your response and great vidoes you are doing, for picture capture I will be using ASI462MC instead of DSLR, and a different software, so, do I also need to do the DARK, BIAS etc frames, or I can just get start picture ( flat) and stack it? if you have a video where you show how to use the ASI, I woudl appreciate that, thank you

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@tomtoka If you have a cooled sensor for imaging you probably will not need to do the Dark Frames and possibly not the Bias Frames. You will still want to take the Flat frames however.

[@michaelcarman4875]

how to take the pics in the first place?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

If you check out the description of the video you will find a link to the previous videos in this series that go over capturing light, dark, flat and bias frames.

[@michaelcarman4875]

@@LateNightAstronomy ok thanks for your good answer!

[@dougrigel1997]

Very good video. BTW pixinsight cost over $200.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@greasygoblin3541]

How does DSS know which frames are lights, flats, biases, and darks? It looks like they all just got dumped into one area of the program.

[@LateNightAstronomy]

In the upper left part of the software you will see tabs for light, dark, flat, etc. Click on those when you want to upload that type of file.

[@greasygoblin3541]

@@LateNightAstronomy thank you!

[@SAME.AS.YOU0687]

When I stack image it gets too bright

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Is it too bright out of deep sky stacker or after you take it to another program to stretch?

[@SAME.AS.YOU0687]

@@LateNightAstronomy bright after stakinig in deep sky tracker

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@SAME.AS.YOU0687 If you take it into a program like GIMP, Photoshop or Pixinsight after stacking it should go ack to being an unstretched dark image before you start more work on it. Check out my video on Pixinisght to see what I'm talking about.

[@hondaxl250k0]

I loaded 1099 shot of Orion. 18 hrs just to register the pics. It’s been running all day 😔

[@LateNightAstronomy]

Depending on the CPU and Ram on your PC it can take a while. I've never had it take longer than an hour or so on my older laptop. How long are your exposures?

[@hondaxl250k0]

@@LateNightAstronomy I’m using a svbony sv305 Astro cam. And Sharpcap. My exposure is in the seconds. Less than 5. Can’t go much longer. I have no tracking.. o and using my great grandfathers 1950s Lafayette refractor on its original eq mount. Just having one hell of a time start to finish. But it’s what I have to work with. So here I am lol

[@hondaxl250k0]

@@LateNightAstronomy how many images do you normally stack? Hundreds or thousands?

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@hondaxl250k0 Good for you. It's always best to use what you have at hand when getting into this!

[@LateNightAstronomy]

@@hondaxl250k0 Most Deep Sky Objects I image now are made up of 100 to 200 light frames with exposure lengths between 60 and 90 seconds depending on the object and my light pollution.

[@IndianaStones1]

something must be wrong took my computer 10sek to look through 73 lightframes

[@LateNightAstronomy]

How has your processing been going?

[@IndianaStones1]

@@LateNightAstronomy atm im watching tutorials. Every attempt is atrocious. Also sofar i dont have much footage like maybe 10min stacks. I also try it with 2 devices at once a scope with 130/650 setup with nina and the seestar s50. Sofar only the seestar yielded useable results. The nina tracking is somewhat not working or i loose track.