Tried stacking my astro photos for the first time last night and it blew my mind

I've been taking single shots of the moon for months and thought stacking was just extra work for no real gain. But I saw a tutorial from a guy in Arizona who showed his raw vs stacked Jupiter and I had to try it. Took 200 frames of the Orion Nebula with my 8 inch dob and used DeepSkyStacker. The detail in the dust clouds was insane, I could actually see colors I never knew were there. Anyone else find that stacking changes your whole approach to what equipment you think you need?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookepark1mo ago

Does the stacking process make you look at cheaper gear differently now, like maybe a better camera or mount matters less than the software? I've been wondering if I should save up for a fancier scope or just get real good at stacking instead.

jade321mo ago

Dude, stacking completely changed my perspective! I was saving up forever for a fancy telescope, but then I tried taking a bunch of short exposures with my cheap camera and just stacking them. It made okay pictures look way better, like cutting out that ugly grainy noise. My mount is still a wobbly mess, but the software somehow lines everything up, even with my shaky tracking. Now I’d rather spend money on a stacking program than a super expensive scope, at least for now.