Gain and live stacking
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If you have a problem or question, please check the FAQ to see if it already has an answer : https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap-faqs
Gain and live stacking
Forgive me if this has already been asked, but I have an issue aligning images when live stacking with gain less than 400. I realize that it is a balance between exposure and gain, but even when I use the smart histogram recommendations, I can't seem to align images unless I dramatically increase the gain. My understanding is that I am losing detail at the higher gain, so would like to experiment at lower values while keeping my exposures to 20s or less. I have it set to align with only 10 stars which are present in the single pics. I'm working with an Celestron Edge 925 (.7 reducer) and ZWO ASI533MC Pro. Is there something else I am missing? Thanks
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Re: Gain and live stacking
Hi,
have you tried adjusting the settings in the 'Alignment' tab of the Live Stacking area? In particular you can try
* turning up the sensitivity of star detection
* turning on the 'optimize for faint stars' option
* keep an eye on the detected star numbers below the options - you should be aiming for 20+ detected even if you are only using 10-15 for aligning.
Overall, it sounds like the stars are just too faint with low gain. In most cameras there is no real problem with turning up the gain unless you saturate the image, and if your stars are too faint to detect then you are probably not getting to that point. Another thing to try would be to check your focus - if the focus is a bit off, it will make the stars spread out more, and they will therefore be fainter and harder for SharpCap to pick up.
cheers,
Robin
have you tried adjusting the settings in the 'Alignment' tab of the Live Stacking area? In particular you can try
* turning up the sensitivity of star detection
* turning on the 'optimize for faint stars' option
* keep an eye on the detected star numbers below the options - you should be aiming for 20+ detected even if you are only using 10-15 for aligning.
Overall, it sounds like the stars are just too faint with low gain. In most cameras there is no real problem with turning up the gain unless you saturate the image, and if your stars are too faint to detect then you are probably not getting to that point. Another thing to try would be to check your focus - if the focus is a bit off, it will make the stars spread out more, and they will therefore be fainter and harder for SharpCap to pick up.
cheers,
Robin