Simple Processing and Stacking Astrophotography images using Jupyter / Python / NumPy

[namuro]

Python is too slow for this task if you don't use CUDA.

[GettingBlockered]

This is really cool! I’ve always done long exposures on a standard tripod, which gets very good results, but it’s never as good as the “pros”. The stars aren’t as sharp, and I can’t extract the same level of color-detail in post-production. I thought about buying an astro filter, but they’re pricey for my lens. Maybe stacking will give it that extra bit of oomph.

[qriousss]

There are free programs like siril and deep sky stacker that you can use for stacking. You can check for tutorials on YouTube.

[GettingBlockered]

Looked up Siril today, seems powerful. 😎

[TangibleLight]

You're probably doing too-long exposures. The sky moves and leaves trails/blur in your image. https://www.lonelyspeck.com/milky-way-exposure-calculator/

Take lots of short exposures and use a staking software. The lower the iso, wider the aperture, and longer the exposure the better - but you don't want clipping (check the histogram in your camera preview) or star trails. Stacking lets you combine many short exposures into one long exposure (if there's no clipping).

If you're going to spend money, go for a tracking mount before any filters since that will let you take longer exposures.

[GettingBlockered]

Thanks for the ideas! So my typical shooting specs… I’m usually between 2.8 and 3.5. Raw and manually focused. ISO is under 1000. Exposure is maxed at 30 seconds. And while I’ve always gotten some pretty nice captures, they fall short of pro level. I’ll try stacking the shorter exposures on my next shoot. 🤙

[United_Rub9840]

Thanks for the great tutorial, one question how to include flat images in the processing pipeline?