Stacked Gibbous Moon

[evacguy]

This is a stacked composite of the waxing gibbous moon, hand held. I've stacked 31 images. Also shown is a single shot from the stack. Images are taken with the 2.0x TC, man this thing rocks the GM 70-200mm f2.8!

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

 

[evacguy]

I've added another stack, this uses 51 images.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Why stacked images Ed?

 

[evacguy]

Why stacked images Ed?

Stacking astro images reduces the noise producing a sharper cleaner image revealing hidden details.

 

[GT12]

A different type of moon shot, but here is one taken this evening. 300mm vs your 400mm. Camera balanced somewhat on a rock, but nowhere near the resolution of your stacked images (or even your single shot) Ed.

 

[alexpler]

A different type of moon shot, but here is one taken this evening. 300mm vs your 400mm. Camera balanced somewhat on a rock, but nowhere near the resolution of your stacked images (or even your single shot) Ed.

View attachment 47581

Beautiful. I like this composition very much. Very poetic and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

As there is no DOF at that distance I don't see how stacking helps in the slightest!

 

[Brownie]

As there is no DOF at that distance I don't see how stacking helps in the slightest!

Stacking bracketed exposures can help with noise, same as HDR. Not sure it needs 51 images though, 5 or so should be enough.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Interesting. I don't really grasp how that could be, I'd expect there to be more noise! but there you go.

 

[Brownie]

Interesting. I don't really grasp how that could be, I'd expect there to be more noise! but there you go.

There are some good articles out there that could explain it far better than I can. It has to do with the S-N ratio, similar to HDR.

 

[evacguy]

Interesting. I don't really grasp how that could be, I'd expect there to be more noise! but there you go.

The more you stack the stronger the signal and the more you reduce the noise (random noise) - increasing your signal to noise ratio as suggested by Tim. However, there is a diminishing return on how much better your image gets with the number of 'lights' (or images) you include. This depends on the subject, with some nebulae requiring 100's or 1000's of images stacked to generate a great image. Also, in astro there are several types of noise that needs to be controlled in addition to random noise. Some of these other types of noise can only be reduced by taking calibration frames (of which there are about 4 different types) and including these within your stack. I haven't got that far so far with my astrophotography, so I'm only stacking lights at the moment.

 

[spudhead]

Ed have you got a set of images as the stack is built so we can see the difference?

 

[evacguy]

Ed have you got a set of images as the stack is built so we can see the difference?

The first of my 3 images is a stack of 31, the second is a single image from the stack and the third is a stack of 51. I haven't done any fewer than 31 images at this stage, but I can do more stacks with fewer images if you are interested.

 

[spudhead]

Just trying to see if the image gains detail Ed

 

[Brownie]

The first of my 3 images is a stack of 31, the second is a single image from the stack and the third is a stack of 51. I haven't done any fewer than 31 images at this stage, but I can do more stacks with fewer images if you are interested.

I think he's asking to see some of the individual shots in order to see the difference.

 

[spudhead]

I think he's asking to see some of the individual shots in order to see the difference.

Yep correct Tim

 

[evacguy]

Yep correct Tim

OK, single frames are easy. Here are 5 separate single frames, part of the 31 and 51 stack.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 2X Teleconverter
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

 

[spudhead]

Yep sort of see where it is going Ed

 

[Richard A]

In your original post, the stacked image definitely looks better than the single shot. Having said that, I’m just looking on my phone at the moment. With something as bright as the moon, you won’t gain much after about 20-25 shots. Sometimes even around 16 is better.

 

[MyDogsOwner]

I don't know if you used the stacking feature in PS or not, but I would like to suggest trying a Free app called Sequator. I think it does a better job stacking Astro images and it's easy to use. Vids on youtube taught me.

That's very impressive, esp for a hand-held stack! Great job!