How can I stop DeepSkyStacker from overemphasizing stars in a Milky Way stack?
Asked 7/4/2016
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2 answers
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I stacked about 100 Milky Way frames. In Photoshop, stacking usually gives me a result I like, but sometimes alignment fails or uses too much scratch disk space, so I tried DeepSkyStacker instead.
Using DeepSkyStacker with its recommended settings, I saved the result as a 32-bit float TIFF and opened it in Photoshop. No matter how I process it there, the stars look too bright and dominant, and the Milky Way detail, color, and overall contrast look worse than my Photoshop-stacked result from a similar shoot.
Is this likely caused by a DeepSkyStacker setting, such as alignment or star detection? What should I adjust in DSS to get a more natural Milky Way result instead of overly bright stars?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
1
Change the star detection in DSS stacking parameter/settings. Change the number of stars by percent.
Originally by user67006. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user67006
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—based on the community answer, the main thing to adjust in DeepSkyStacker is the star detection threshold in the stacking/registering settings.
DSS can detect too many stars if the threshold is set too low, which may cause the stack to emphasize stars more than you want. Try changing the star detection percentage/threshold so DSS registers a more appropriate number of stars rather than every faint point.
In practice:
- Open the registering/stacking settings in DSS.
- Adjust the star detection threshold/percentage.
- Check how many stars DSS reports detecting.
- Re-run the stack and compare the result.
If your current result has overly bright, crowded stars and weaker Milky Way structure, the threshold is likely too aggressive. Raising it usually reduces the number of stars used and can produce a more natural-looking wide-field night-sky stack.
So the issue is most likely not the 32-bit TIFF itself, but the DSS star detection setting used before stacking.
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